by Diane Hodge

Created on: May 25, 2009   Last Updated: June 01, 2009

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE BIGGEST CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES?

WHY ARE THEY RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME?

This is a question I have been asking now for at least a decade.

By the biggest Caribbean countries I mean Guyana, which, while in South America is on the Caribbean Sea. Then there is Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They are supposed to be some of the most beautiful areas of the Caribbean. Yet there has to be something basically wrong in them, since their people are running away in droves. They speak English, Creole and Spanish. Let's look at them one by one.

Guyana used to be British and has been independent for more than forty years. Part of the South American continent, Guyana seems to have it all: gold, bauxite and others. Why is it still so poor? It can also feed its people, since it is tropical and rainy. Why?

Jamaica, another one of the big islands, used to be British and has now been independent for four decades. It has many natural resources too. Including some world famous music and musicians. Yet its crime rate is off the scale and its people too are fleeing the country. It could be one of the biggest and best tourist islands in the world. Why not?

Haiti, as we all know is proud of the fact that they were the first Black republic has been independent just a few years less than the United States. Yet after all that time, it is a totally deforested country, whose only export seems to be people. And people who have been left to themselves to reinvent the wheel. Most of them cannot read or write, and they are willing to brave any sort of conditions to get away. Why?

The Dominican Republic, touted as the best Caribbean destination also has people leaving by the planeload. They have wonderful hotels and great package deals. You would think that its people would be coming back to work at home instead of in other countries. Why aren't they?

I have not included Cuba, because of its particular condition. However, its people are well educated and well taken care of. Their main problem is that they are not permitted to leave.

An even bigger problem than why is: how can the small islands cope with the influx. Even a country the size of the United States is feeling the pinch. Imagine the condition of an island of 37 square miles and all these people, whose countries have millions, just pouring in. what are we to do?

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