The news headlines shouted, “Project halted due to strike by Jamaican workers.”

The project was a very expensive multimillion US dollar construction of a sporting facility, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The facility would span over 350 acres of land and is funded by loans at a concessionary rate by a state-sponsored Chinese company at approximately $56 billion US dollars. Work commenced on November 19, 2021, and is expected to end on January 15, 2023. As a part of the deal, Chinese workers would be imported to work on one segment of the project while Jamaican workers would work on the other segment.

It seems there was a lack of understanding and coordination among the teams. Complaints were that some Chinese employees had better protective gear than Jamaicans, but some of the comments that raised eyebrows were comments attributed to some Jamaican workers that the Chinese workers were overly industrious and efficient and as a result, the tasks were being completed much too quickly. A faster completion rate it seems would lessen the period of employment and fears were the Chinese would be assigned to the areas being completed by the Jamaicans.

Both the Chinese and Jamaican governments were adamant that the project be completed in time for a major upcoming international sporting event and without massive cost overruns, that were not unusual for projects of that magnitude.