Jamaica needs more pilots and engineers, says high commissioner to UK 

WESTERN BUREAU:

 Alexander Williams, Jamaica’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK), wants Jamaica to train more engineers and maritime experts so that the nation can become a naval power in the Caribbean region and improve its capacity to combat the illicit trans-shipment of contraband.

Williams, who was speaking at the launch of the 20th anniversary celebration of Green Pond High School in Cornwall Courts, St James last Thursday, wants to see Jamaica graduating more students who are specialising in technical and vocational subjects to transform the nation into a viable player on the world market.

“Jamaica is about to be a maritime power in the Caribbean, and Henry Morgan [former lieutenant governor of Jamaica] and the pirates had Port Royal as their headquarters because it was the natural harbour and trans-shipment point from north to south, and it still is,” said Williams. “Any big ship that would want to go to the Panama Canal, they are going to want to stop at Jamaica and rest themselves.

“Big ships and planes are coming to Jamaica to go across the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America. We are going to need seafarers and maritime cadets, and the type of money that a pilot makes just on the South Coast, navigating into the harbour, is some serious money they make.

 “Lawyers are a dime a dozen now, so we do not need more lawyers, but we need more pilots and engineers.”

As far back as 2013, the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce had touted the Jamaica Logistics Hub Initiative as a potential means of attracting investments through increased access to markets provided by large domestic ports and transshipment ports. In July 2025, Jamaica advanced that initiative through the official launch of the Caymanas Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) Project in St Catherine.

In February this year, the Shipping Association of Jamaica and the European Union held high-level talks on Jamaica’s long-term maritime and trade potential as a major logistics gateway for the Caribbean and the wider region.

In April, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness announced that the Government of Jamaica was advancing specific engagements such as infrastructure upgrades, special trade arrangements and special provisions with major trading partners, and the establishment of the Omni Bus Legislation and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) regime, in order to strategically position Jamaica to become the fourth node in the global logistics network.

Williams also told Thursday’s function that Jamaica needs to retain its skilled labourers to develop itself rather than let them be taken by other nations through the ongoing ‘brain drain’ phenomenon where skilled professionals seek better-paying jobs overseas.

“We still have a big problem retaining skilled labour, because the Jamaicans that we produce are amongst the best across the world. There is a reason why our teachers keep getting poached by the UK and the United States, and why our nurses keep getting poached,” said Williams.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com