JCC expresses concerns for the country

Directors and presidents of the chambers of commerce across the island in a meeting at General Accident insurance company's offices, Half-Way Tree Road, St. Andrew last week. From left are: Andrew Grant of the St. Ann Chamber; Donovan Cover from Manchester; Anthony Chang, JCC; Deleval Allen, Portland; George Watson, St. Elizabeth, and Wesley Levy, Clarendon. In the background are board members of the JCC.

Presidents and other executives of the island's chambers of commerce convened a joint meeting in St. Andrew earlier this week at which they outlined a plethora of problems ranging from uncontrolled street vending and traffic congestion to crime and violence that have been hindering growth and development in cities and towns across Jamaica.

The medium to long-term impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States on Jamaica's economy, especially the tourism sector, also came up for discussion at the meeting, held at the office of General Accident insurance company on Half-Way Tree Road.

The directors also took time out to outline some of the development plans envisaged or which were under way in the parishes. Below we highlight some of the concerns, achievements and plans as they were presented.

George Watson, director, St. Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce, said the economic fallout affecting Jamaica over the past four years was creating serious financial problems for businessmen in the parish.

He said banks were calling in loans, refusing to refinance bad debt and some businesses were on the verge of closing or were being taken over by their debtors. Some businessmen have even lost their houses, he said.

Within the parish, Mr. Watson said, there was moderate growth in construction and other economic activities, boosted by new investments valued at $100 million by Mother's Restaurant and Restaurants of Jamaica, operators of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Both businesses provided employment for about 100 people during construction, and have 50 full-time employees, he said.

Mr. Watson said both Santa Cruz and Junction/Southfield were experiencing high levels of construction, and Treasure Beach was generating some economic upturn as tourism was increasing. Black River also saw growth in construction, tourism and informal commercial activities.

However, there was no growth in agriculture, the mainstay of remaining communities in the parish, because of competition from imported produce.

Mr. Watson called for the implementation of projects in goat-rearing, a processing plant for yam, dasheen and bananas managed by women, and inland fish farming in order to improve the quality of life for the people of St. Elizabeth.

Donovan Cover, president of the Manchester Chamber, said one of the major problems affecting the capital, Mande-ville, was traffic congestion caused by malfunctioning traffic signals, street vending which forces pedestrians into the roadway, and inadequate parking space for shoppers as all parking areas have been monopolised by taxi operators.

Added to that has been the apparent inability of the police and other traffic authorities to control the situation despite several complaints to them. With respect to the street vending problem which, he said, "deprive legitimate business operators of customers," attempts by the Parish Council to clear the streets have been met with resistance.

With respect to tax compliance certificates (TCCs), Mr. Cover said business people still had to travel to Kingston to get the documents. "We feel that with the advent of computer systems, TCCs should be available from regional offices." At the same time, he was critical of the Government's policy which prevents organisations without a TCC from importing goods or raw material, and from bidding for state projects, noting that it "may well be depriving such organisations of the opportunity to recover from their particular situation, thus forcing them into closure or further financial problems."

Mr. Cover also labelled as unfair, "the present system which facilitates free garbage collection for street vendors, yet requires legitimate business operators to pay a special fee. ... This service, we feel, should be one of the benefits we get from all the taxes we pay."

Clarendon Chamber of Commerce president, Wesley Levy, said one of the greatest concerns was effective policing in the parish. Noting that because of the inadequacy of material support the police were hampered in optimising performance, Mr. Levy called for an increase of at least 50 police personnel for the parish.

According to Mr. Levy, because of the lack of proper Government attention and representation within the parish the physical infrastructure was in a "deplorable and shameful condition", particularly roads, drains, curbs and sidewalks, whose disgraceful appearance, he said, was a turn-off to existing and potential business interests.

Mr. Levy said they were recommending that the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) meet with the Chamber and the parish council to develop a market vending corridor free of mobile traffic as the ad hoc street vending was a major eyesore to May Pen.

Delaval Allen, president of the Portland Chamber, questioned whether the major development around its docking facilities would be jeopardised by the terrorist attacks in the United States.

He said that before the attacks, economic advisors had given thought to Portland being declared as a special development area in which they would benefit from an increased investor portfolio, increased employment, economic growth, and tax revenue. "We were looking for investors interested in establishing a turtle farm as done in the Cayman Islands - a seaquarium in Port Antonio," he said.

Mr. Allen said that while there were several positives for the parish, "we now see that we are in a lot of trouble as we are basically totally dependent on tourism, and the events over the past week have stopped us in our tracks."

Andrew Grant, president of the St. Ann Chamber, said people in the resort town "are very depressed and worried about the effect that the incidents in the U.S. will have on the tourism product, on which many of our businesses are dependent."

He said the United States represents about 70 per cent of their market and even before the terrorist attacks they were experiencing a decline in occupancy levels. "We had people extending their stays last week, but people didn't fly back in this week. People are coming off the (cruise) ships, but they are not spending. The mood is just very bleak all around," Mr. Grant said.

President of the Jamaica Chamber, Anthony Chang, said that in the wake of the terrorist attacks, one of the key economic variables to watch in the U.S. economy is consumer confidence. "Lower consumer confidence in the U.S. economy will inevitably have a ricochet effect on the Jamaica economy," he said.

Noting that the JCC was especially concerned about the impact on the hospitality sector, Mr. Chang said the event should renew the efforts of all players - public, private and labour - "to strengthen our resolve to come together to find creative solutions to mitigate the impact of this tragedy and build a more long-term resilient economy."

JCC first vice-president, Michael Ammar, said that over the past weeks the Chamber has been agitating for something to be done to alleviate the decay in the capital city. As a result, a consultative committee, chaired by Heather Robinson under the guidance of National Security and Justice Minister, K. D. Knight and Local Government Minister Arnold Bertram, has been established.

"For the first time, one gets the feeling that something may actually be done to revitalise the city of Kingston," Mr. Ammar said. He said they were taking a whole new approach to the problem whereby the business community, vendors, central government and the police were involved in planning and implementation.

­ Contributed

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