THE EDITOR, Sir:I HAVE BEEN a foreign investor in Jamaica for 29 years. I love Jamaica and its people and have been disheartened for some time watching the slow decline in our dollar, infrastructure and education system in addition to increasing crime and despair.
Recently, I was chatting with a Jamaican man who had little formal education and had gone to 'foreign'.
I feel compelled to share his idea with you. He said that we need to change our duty system radically. It is a repressive tax which I agree definitely inhibits investment and hence production.
"Thousands of Jamaicans overseas would send massive amounts of goods home if they knew their loved ones could afford to receive them," John said.
It would also spur a massive increase in investment. Investment increases production and lifts the economy.
I think his point might be more effectively served by challenging your readership to seriously think about what they would do differently if most of all import costs were eliminated tomorrow; in addition, they should contemplate how their change in actions would affect our economy.
I believe overnight there would be phenomenal change. Of course, there would have to be increased income tax compliance and other consumption taxes but think of how much lower the price of everything would be and how increased competitiveness would pressure prices down.
The bottom line is we need to find something different to try to jump-start the economy. I hope this letter encourages discourse on this idea and any other viable idea that needs to be tried.
I am, etc,
DAN BREWER
jamaican774@aol.com
Olney, Md., USA
Via Go-Jamaica
