Where are the jobs?

Dennie Quill, Columnist

The Cabinet is right about one thing: job creation has to be the number one priority.

For most people, a job is not optional. They need to work to feed their families and to see that their children get a good education. There is nothing complicated about that proposition.

But when there are no jobs, many people become unwilling participants in scams and illegal activities. Ponzi schemes and lottery scams are some examples.

Additionally, there are huge car-stealing rings and drug smugglers who will no doubt defend their action on the grounds that man 'haffi eat a food'. One may argue that these are criminals who have no interest in honest work, and for sure, there must be many slick criminals among us.

But the fact is that job creation has not been robust in the last couple of decades. Not since the 807 boom of the 1980s have we seen a wide-scale employment of persons with low skills.

A COUNTRY OF NEEDY PEOPLE

My neighbour and I were having a little chit-chat recently and she remarked that Jamaica is full of needy people these days. She explained that she is often afraid to answer her telephone nowadays, as she anticipates the inevitable woes of suffering and requests for aid from family members, friends and mere acquaintances.

Every person that I know is helping at least one person to make ends meet - a little help with grocery, bus fare and lunch money for students, as well as uniform and books.

Some people are really trying; more than that, they are making a valiant effort to make something of their lives. But, alas, the opportunities are few and far between.

So Jamaica anxiously awaits that press release that will spell out to the nation how the Government intends to resuscitate the economy so that investors will be attracted to the island by a growth agenda, as it is being called.

Will more employment result from the Government's tax-waiver system? Not according to respected tax expert Allison Peart, who in discussions at a recent Gleaner Editors' Forum criticised the waiver scheme for not including employment generation and support for local producers.

Ms Peart, tax partner of the consulting firm Ernst & Young, in picking apart the current system of waivers, said this: "You don't have to hire one Jamaican, and the only thing preventing you from doing so is the work permit! So you could find that the managers, senior people, are not Jamaicans in a Jamaican hotel."

Tax waivers have been placed under the microscope in recent times, and there is every indication that they are being seriously scrutinised. Ms Peart has suggested that cost-benefit analysis be taken into account in the reformation of the system.

Our current economic woes have been caused by unrestrained borrowing over many years. Right now, we are hoping to add more debt via a standby arrangement with the International Monetary Fund. I am trying to understand how this agreement, which comes with new debt, will help to reflate the economy. But since all the experts agree that the IMF is the only way, I guess the wisdom of that move will be revealed in time.

We hope our leaders emerge from their retreat with a clear indication of what method they will use to tackle our debt and our appetite for borrowing and what incentives will be provided to encourage local production. All of this is hugely important if we are ever to grow the economy and create jobs.

Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and denniequill@hotmail.com.