Candice Young

Government/Economics 3rd Block

Mr. Chappell
6 October 2014
Issue Research ( Jamaica )
The country of Jamaica faces many issues as a nation. Although their problems may seem
large, there are some resolutions to them. Jamaica faces issues such as unemployment and
environmental issues.
The unemployment rate of Jamaica is 16.3%. Compared to other countries in the world,
Jamaica is ranked 146 out of 203 countries based on its unemployment rate. Many people of
Jamaica are not employed currently. While people are not employed, they are not able to buy
certain things they need in life. When there is less employed, there isnt much money circulating
in the economy which may lead to a weak economy. Jamaica does not need unemployment to
negatively affect the Jamaican economy. In Jamaica frictional unemployment is a huge concern
because many people are getting laid off or people are leaving school and cannot find jobs.
Frictional unemployment is when people are in between jobs. Frictional unemployment in
Jamaica is able to change due to technology and people may use the Internet to find jobs.
Cyclical unemployment is taking a big toll on Jamaica because there is a higher amount of
individuals willing to work rather than jobs available. Cyclical unemployment is when a business
is not doing too good, so they lay people off and rehire them when business starts to pick up. A
solution to the cyclical unemployment in Jamaica is that they could improve their demand so
businesses can produce more. Structural unemployment affects the Jamaican economy because
many people do not have the specific skills for a particular job. Structural unemployment is when
one is fired because they do not have the necessary skills for a particular job. A way to improve
this is to fix certain job requirements so the peoples jobs will reflect their skills. Unemployment
should be greatly improved in Jamaica.
The environmental issues of Jamaica include heavy rates of deforestation; coastal waters
polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air pollution in
Kingston from vehicle emissions. Jamaica has several environmental issues that only affects the
people of Jamaica, but the animals as well. The mining of bauxite led to the water pollution of
coastal waters and made the groundwater contaminated with red-mud waste. While the red-mud
waste got into the water, it decreases the amount of freshwater Jamaica has for consumption and
other things. The forests of Jamaica had decreased 7% annually between the years 1990-1995.
The air pollution in Kingston occurred due to its highly populated urban town. The
environmental issues of Jamaica is also affects its animals. The oil spills in Jamaica greatly
affects Jamaica because it can mess up the water supply Jamaica has. Many animals drink
Jamaicas water, but if it is infected with oil, animals may get sick. A way to prevent
environmental issues in Jamaica is to adopt the Polluter Pays Principle which states that the
polluter must pay for pollution mitigation. If people were required to pay for their polluting
actions, it may actually the number of pollution incidents. Paying for polluting will add up and
people will get tired of having to come out of their pockets for just polluting. Another way to
decrease pollution is Name and Shame which is when those who are found polluting are singled
out publicly so there wont be any more pollution occurring from that individual. This particular
method may actually help the environmental issues in Jamaica because people would be
ashamed of being publicly singled out just for simply polluting. If Jamaica decides to use any of
these methods, the environmental issues such as polluting may decrease and benefit Jamaicas
environment as a whole.
Jamaica is greatly flawed as are other countries that make up the world. Although it may
seem as if there is not a way to resolve certain problems, there is usually some form of
resolution.
















Works Cited
Sorenson, Brenda. "The Water Pollution Challenge Can Be Tackled - Columns." Jamaica
Observer News. 8 Aug. 2010. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.

"Encyclopedia of the Nations." Environment. Encyclopedia of the Nations. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.

Haughton, Dr Andr. "Jamaica Needs to Fix Its Unemployment Problem." Jamaica Gleaner
News RSS. The Gleaner, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.