It is amazing to me how in this age of information we Jamaicans continue to know so little about anything. We continue to be people who are excited by shining things, even when that shiny thing is a gun pointed at our heads.

So the Chinese want to build a logistics hub here in Jamaica, and they want to build it out on the Goat Islands, which are about a 20-minute boat ride south of Old Harbour Bay. This is exciting news. Jamaica has had five straight quarters of negative growth. We are in a recession. The Planning Institute of Jamaica says we should see growth of less than one per cent for the current quarter but these are desperate times in the land of wood and water.

Crime is rampant, bureaucracy's the order of the day and unemployment stands at above 16 per cent. Against this backdrop, news of a logistics hub that could provide as many as 10,000 jobs to us sounds like it would to a destitute man winning the Super Lotto.

But are we really taking a close look at what this logistics hub means for Jamaica? Progress cannot be all about development and development cannot be achieved at the expense of the people it is intended to serve.

Protected area

The Goat Islands are a protected area. As far as I know, it is a breeding ground for fish and other marine life, as well as a reserve for a number of protected amphibians. It is also the area in which thousands of fishermen and their families have earned their livelihood for generations. What is the value of all that; US$1 billion; US$10 billion or US$100 billion?

The Chinese want to invest more than US$1 billion to build this hub that will create thousands of jobs but is anyone asking how many Jamaicans will be employed there? Another question that should be asked is, when the breeding grounds for the fish are destroyed, who is going to employ these people and their families who have known only one way of life for generations?

That aside, when we destroy the reefs by destroying the Goat Islands to build this hub; because that is what it would mean, when a hurricane passes to the south of the island, what will break the giant waves that will sweep in on the vulnerable towns along the coastline?

Look, I am a practical man, and I am not sure the Chinese care very much about things like the environment. If they build this hub and in doing so it destroys Jamaica's south coast and the lives of tens of thousands of Jamaicans, if we make a noise they can always pack up their things and head back East and write this off as another bad investment. In doing so, they leave us holding the bag wherein we will have to wait 10,000 years to recover our reefs and our coastline and for the fish to return.

The Chinese do not have a great record when it comes to the environment. In most developed areas of China, you can literally see the air you breathe. Many of their rivers are drying up, and in other countries where they have 'invested' their record is appalling. Is this what we want for Jamaica?

This is not to say we don't need the investment. I am sure there are other sites in Jamaica that can accommodate the logistics hub without putting our environment and our people at risk. We are a proud nation and our leaders should not go into every relationship like a babymother with five kids, hoping that the next man who comes along will be her saviour. That is the kind of behaviour that leaves us pregnant and barefooted and in this particular case it could be a lot worse.

Send comments to levyl1@hotmail.com