THE SUNDAY Gleaner's lead story about the loss of lucrative contracts by local uniform manufacturers to foreign suppliers has evoked strong reactions from readers and the business sector.
There is anger at the continuing decline of local industry because of a myriad of problems and bewilderment at what some contend to be the short-sightedness of major firms awarding contracts to overseas companies without sufficient appreciation for the impact on the Jamaican workforce.
After all, the argument goes, when local firms go out of business or are forced to cut their staff complement, there is a domino effect on the rest of the economy - no income will eventually mean no money to buy the foreign goods anyway.
Central to the concept of supporting local industry however must be considerations of the ability of Jamaican garment manufacturers to produce in the volume and of the high quality desired by local firms. The supreme irony is that many of the manufacturers have not been able to procure loans and financing to re-tool and modernise their plants from some of the very financial institutions that have "boxed the bread out of their mouths".
On the other hand, local firms should not be obliged to support Jamaican manufacturers as a matter of course. If the garment manufacturers demonstrate that they are incapable of delivering goods on time and at the required standard, and are not particularly keen on professionalism, then by all means they should be by-passed.
We are concerned however that despite the era of globalisation and the push for more open markets, we in Jamaica seem determined to be more Catholic than the Pope i.e. we have opened our ports to all and sundry but seem not to be benefiting from any reciprocity.
Only last Saturday, we reported that president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, Mrs. Beverly Lopez was concerned that Jamaican goods were facing difficulty gaining access to other CARICOM markets despite all the verbal commitment to free trade. She did not seem convinced that plausible reasons had been put forward for the continued blockades and delays Jamaican exporters face when trying to penetrate other markets.
Reacting to the Sunday news story the Jamaica Manufacturers Association has argued that no country in Europe, North America or the Group of 77 pursues a policy of turning its back on its own.
It is a fact that nearly all countries protect their sensitive industries, with the EU subsidising agriculture, and the USA protecting its wheat farmers. In fact, many of them provide heavy subsidies to fledgling industries while prodding them to become more efficient and competitive.
The era of extensive protectionism is long past but even within the context of some of our Caribbean neighbours having access to cheaper fuel and capital than our local producers and manufacturers, a clear Government policy of providing incentives and of encouraging partnerships between public and private sectors must be put on the fast track.
The garment sector might not fall in the category requiring special protection, but some help is required, we believe. Failure to do otherwise is to encourage our own demise.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
