By McPherse Thompson, Staff Reporter
From left: Anna-Kaye Martin Shirley, Stephen Jones, David Shirley and Andrea Dempster at the young business leaders forum held at The Gleaner's North Street offices yesterday. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
A GROUP OF young executives yesterday urged the leadership of Jamaica's two major political parties to commit to a plan of action to address a short list of major problems during their summit scheduled for this Friday.
According to the young leaders, when Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and Opposition Leader Edward Seaga meet at Vale Royal, they would like them to put their political differences aside and focus on concrete measures to curb crime and violence, agree on the direction for education, and give true recognition to tourism as the industry that is most likely to provide jobs and spur the economy.
These were the major issues of concern raised by the group during The Gleaner's Editors' Forum at the newspaper's North Street offices, downtown Kingston. The meeting focused on key issues they believe the incumbent Government should address during this its fourth term.
Anya Schnoor, general manager of Pan-Caribbean Merchant Bank and Trafalgar Development Bank, selecting crime and the development of education as key issues on which the Government should concentrate at this time, emphasised that the political leaders need to "come together" on a few policies on which they could agree.
"There must be some fundamental issues on which they can agree," she emphasised, adding that "if they can tackle even those two, I would be happy."
The consensus during the round-table discussion was that tourism should also be identified as a major plank on which the Government should seek to build the economy, but that there was need to diversify the product to incorporate such elements as the island's cultural heritage, as well as improving the infrastructure in such places as Montego Bay.
With crime seen as a major drawback in the expansion of tourism to Kingston in particular and to development of some businesses, one of the young leaders suggested that "politicians need to divorce themselves from organised crime and the drug dealers" with whom "they are in bed".
Ms. Schnoor, who was among those citing crime as a major impediment to economic growth, drew an analogy from New York, noting that crime was at one time very high in that city, but has been reduced by a comprehensive plan of action that included putting in place systems that allowed the economy to grow.
Brian Schmidt, marketing manager at IRIE FM, said a reduction in crime would be dependent on the political will, while Keith Collister, business development manager for First Global Stockbrokers, said there was need for the revitalisation of downtown Kingston and Port Royal as a first step in the reduction of crime.
Concurring that there was need to diversify the tourism product, but that the issue of crime was also preventing its growth, Mr. Collister pointed out that "we are the only island in the Caribbean in which tourists are afraid to walk in the capital city".
He said the revitalisation of downtown Kingston and Port Royal should be among the Government's top priorities, but that it has to be a public and private sector initiative, with the Government leading the charge.
Others present are the meeting were: Stephen Jones, managing director of SuperDoops; David Shirley, managing director of Locker Room Sports; Zachary Harding, business development manager of Jamweb; Anna-Kaye Martin Shirley, managing director of Armour Steel Fencing; Richard Chen of SuperPlus; Patricia Grindley of Grimax Advertising; Andrea Dempster, director of technical services in the Ministry of Water and Housing; Peter Bovell, company director; Paul Scott of Mussons Jamaica; Rachael McLarty of Jamaica National Building Society, and Alok Jain, a chartered accountant of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
