PIOJ Growth-Inducement Strategy - Planning Institute of Jamaica

The amount of water produced by the National Water Commission during January –
September 2010 was 212,002.9 megalitres compared with 225 102.0 megalitres in the
corresponding period of 2009. The fall-off in production during the review period
stemmed from lower production of 7.3 per cent and 3.5 per cent in the Eastern and
Western regions to 126,006.5 megalitres and 85 996.4 megalitres, respectively. The
performance in the review period was due mainly to the contraction in output in the
January-June period, influenced mainly by the drought conditions experienced from the
latter part of 2009 into the first quarter of 2010. Despite damage to NWC’s infrastructure
works by Tropical Depression # 16/Tropical Storm Nicole, there was higher water
production in July-September 2010 compared with the corresponding quarter of 2009
when output was constrained by the ensuing drought conditions. The increased output in
July-September 2010, however, was not enough to outweigh the earlier declines, thereby
translating into reduced out-turn for January-September 2010.
Transport, Storage & Communication
Real value added for the Transport, Storage & Communication industry declined by an
estimated 2.1 per cent in the first nine-month period of 2010. This was due mainly to
reduction in the Transport & Storage segment of the industry as the Communication
component recorded moderate growth. The decline in the Transport & Storage segment
reflected, in the main, reduced activities at the island’s airports in the April-June and
July-September 2010 quarters, which outweighed improvements in January–March 2010.
During the January-September period, total passenger movements at the airports fell by
1.8 per cent to 3,730,256, reflecting reductions in all categories of passengers:
• Arrivals – 1.6 per cent to 1,780,599 passengers
• Departures – 1.5 per cent to 1,875,023 passengers
• Intransit – 12.2 per cent to 74,634 passengers.
The negative out-turn occurred despite the introduction of new flights during the review
period, as there were other challenges. Among these were:
• the negative impact of the global economic crisis on air travel
• cut in some Air Jamaica routes prior to its sale to Caribbean Airlines
• cancellations associated with the Icelandic Volcanic Ash, the unrest in West
Kingston and the strike by Spirit Airlines pilots.
The downturn in airport activities was enough to outweigh improvements at the seaports.
For the review period, the total volume of cargo handled at the island’s ports rose by 5.4
per cent to 11, 338,408 tonnes, due to a 9.8 per cent increase in the volume handled at the
Outports. The higher cargo volumes handled at the Outports was triggered mainly by
increased activities in the bauxite/alumina sub-industry, brought about mainly by
increased bauxite exports at Port Rhoades. Increased activities at the Outports was also
positively impacted by the reopening of the WINDALCo plant in Ewarton in June 2010
which resulted in higher exports of alumina from Port Esquivel during July-September
2010.
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