Jamaica needs to use its assets - Jarrett

EARL JARRETT, general manager of the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), said Jamaica can catalyse its development if it broadens its debt strategy to include an intricate focus on how best it can also use its assets.

Addressing guests and employees at the 40th Anniversary Banquet and Awards of the JNBS-owned tech company Management Control Systems (MCS) recently, Jarrett juxtaposed the growth and success of MCS with the last four decades of development in Jamaica, noting that the country can achieve far more if it takes an approach similar to MCS's trajectory.

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"If 'Project Jamaica' is to be successful, we have to continue to invest in the development of our human capital, embrace globalisation, and shift from the old paradigm of focus on the land instead of its people to develop the wealth of the nation," he said, underscoring that the country's capital was not mainly its terrestrial assets, but its people.

He said one of the greatest impediments to "resetting" the "switch" to human capital was the matter of the national debt, which stands at 140 per cent of gross domestic product. And he pointed out that as the country works to contain the excessive debt, the debt problem must be seen within the broader context of national development.

"The question we must ask ourselves: 'Is the value of the Jamaican asset worth a trillion dollars, at which our debt is currently valued?' he said.

"I would say that it is definitely worth a lot more than that," he added.