By Leonardo Blair, Staff ReporterPRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson yesterday maintained that Jamaica was committed to the establishment of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and dismissed criticisms by Opposition Leader Edward Seaga on the subject as misguided.
"The Leader of the Opposition's analysis of the CSME portrays a misunderstanding about the CSME. It focuses on the trade deficit with CARICOM and indeed with the world as a whole. The trade balance will not be corrected by staying out of the CSME. This is a recipe for isolation and perpetrating economic inefficiencies," said Mr. Patterson in his Budget presentation at Gordon House yesterday.
However in his response to the statement, Mr. Seaga told The Gleaner that it was the Government which had missed the point of his input altogether.
"He the (PM) is avoiding the whole issue. The fact is I am not critical of the CSME," said Mr. Seaga. "I am critical of Jamaica's inability to be able to operate competitively in the CSME, so it's no use basing your response on a presumed criticism of the CSME".
Mr. Seaga continued that: "As far as we are concerned, it's a mechanism. Bahamas is not going to be a member and we in fact would not be out of place in saying that we are not going to be a member at this time when our house is not in order and we must put our house in order first."
Mr. Seaga noted also that Mr. Patterson's presentation was a compilation of previous announcements and did not introduce many new things.
"Well it was a reiteration of a lot of things that have been announced before. A couple of new things but largely it is what we would call a compilation. So it didn't have the punch that it could have had if it had proceeded on a basis of some new dynamic schemes," he said.
