"For the past 47 years, we have been working together as true friends and real partners." Tian Qi, China's ambassador to Jamaica, described the project as a testament to his country's relationship with Jamaica. Last month, the Jamaican government announced the groundbreaking for a children's hospital in Montego Bay, the first hospital to be built in the country in decades. To better understand how these interests are playing out in the region, CBC News travelled to Jamaica, the 10th and most recent Caribbean nation to formally sign on to BRI. That's why, for some, the highway is emblematic of a larger question surrounding China's growing interest and investment in the Caribbean:Įxperts say there are several key reasons why China is investing in the region: to extract mineral resources, to develop strategic ports and shipping lanes, and to provide opportunities for Chinese labour. "The locals don't drive it and yet they are the ones paying for it." "Some locals say the Jamaicans have been left paying for a highway that does not benefit them," said Jevon Minto, a local scholar who has researched the impact of Chinese development investments on Jamaica for the Inter-American Dialogue, a think-tank based in Washington, D.C. And the $32 toll for a 66-kilometre, one-way trip -collected by the Chinese developer - means driving the highway isn't affordable for most Jamaicans. (David Common/CBC)īut the highway has left Jamaica with a $730-million debt to China. Xi calls projects like this a "win-win" that deepen co-operation between the two countries while providing opportunity for development.Īn overhead view of Jamaica's new, and rather empty, North South Highway. The North South Highway, completed in 2016, was one of the first major infrastructure projects in Jamaica financed and built by a Chinese state-owned company. It's a plan to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure projects to increase the flow of goods, money and people across much of the world, including the Caribbean. Meanwhile, just 100 kilometres east, a gleaming new highway connecting Jamaica's major cities in the north and the south sits relatively empty.Ĭonstruction of the North South Highway started in earnest in 2013, the same year Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the launch of his Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Joseph, who lives in the community, says the road has become dangerous, so they're collecting donations to pay for concrete to fix it themselves. In Mount Carey, a rural district in Jamaica, just south of Montego Bay, two men flag down passing cars while a third shovels concrete into potholes that are overtaking the road. Read more about Jamaica’s first Prime Minister here.This story is part of a CBC News series exploring China's expanding influence around the world and how Canada and other countries are contending with China's power. He came to the public’s attention as a writer of letters to the Daily Gleaner newspaper. He returned to Jamaica in 1932, and became a leader of the struggle against colonial rule. The first general election under Universal Adult Suffrage came in 1944 and the JLP won 22 of the 32 seats.īustamante travelled the world working as a policeman in Cuba, and as a dietician in a New York City hospital. Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante, Jamaica’s first Prime Minister after the country gained independence in 1962, was born on February 24, 1884. In 1943 he founded the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), with himself as head. They are: The Most Honourable Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante He too had been Chief Minister.Ī total of nine persons have held the office of Prime Minister. His cousin, Norman Manley, was Jamaica’s Premier until April 29, 1962. He has also been Premier and Chief Minister. Sir Alexander Bustamante was Jamaica’s first Prime Minister. Prior to Independence in 1962, Jamaica’s head of government was known as the Premier and before that, the Chief Minister. The Prime Minister is Jamaica’s head of government, who is formally appointed into office by the Governor General, who represents Elizabeth II, Jamaica’s official Head of State.