When will Rip Van Hylton wake up?

By George Davis

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, George Anthony Hylton, has to step up big time this year. He will not like it, but given the import of his ministry and the unprecedented hardships the country is facing, the minister and his team underperformed in 2013.

The mission of the ministry, as stated on its website, is to increase local and foreign investments and be the driver of innovation and job creation. If the minister and his troops are to be judged by 2013 standards, the mission would have been undermined by a failure to launch.

This ministry has a tremendous responsibility to invite the kind of investment that will bring with it sustainable jobs for those with the requisite levels of education, training and experience. And while last year was not a wasted one for his ministry, Mr Hylton cannot raise an argument if his boss, the prime minister, scrawled a note in red ink on his report card saying, 'Must do better'. Never mind that the same note can be written on many of the report cards of those parked like cheap china on the Cabinet shelves.

Minister Hylton needs to set himself apart as the man who answered the call and proved that job creation isn't rocket science after all.

The minister struggled last year with the public-relations aspect of his job in selling the idea of what a logistics hub is and how it's going to drag Jamaica out of the economic doldrums. The fact that many people equate the logistics hub with the Goat Islands project is not because they are dunce. Rather, it's a direct function of the garbled message the minister has expended much effort communicating.

If he could not get PR right, how can he command the limelight as the man of the moment and set the foundation upon which his ministry will go forward and create jobs like sperm in the Jamaican economy?

promises, promises

In his Budget presentation last May, Minister Hylton promised, "The Caymanas Economic Zone will begin construction in a matter of months. Two hundred acres of lots and purpose built space will be developed, in an environment comparable to any First-World special economic zone. The industries earmarked for the zone include ICT, manufacturing, incubator, creative industries, furniture, electronics and biomedical industries."

Seven months later and no pickaxe has been used to overturn any patch of earth on the Caymanas lands to support the assurance given to the House by the minister.

Minister Hylton, in the same Budget speech, spoke with conviction about jobs to be created in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

He said, "Seven hundred and fifty thousand square feet of space in an ultra-modern technology park at Naggo Head, St Catherine, with the potential to employ approximately 13,000 persons. The first 100,000 square feet of space has already been booked by one entity, which is the fastest-growing BPO company to have entered Jamaica. The company is currently in the process of building out a 20,000-square foot facility in Kingston, to employ 600 persons in the next two months, until the technology park is ready."

Seven months later and the employment which the minister promised would have been generated in eight weeks is yet to materialise.

Jamaica, in the 21st century, cannot depend on a finance and planning ministry to create jobs. We have been dependent on that ministry in the past, but the scale of our problems now makes it clear that job creation is a bridge too far for any finance minister.

Say what you might about Roger Clarke, but his agriculture ministry recorded cumulative growth of up to 14 per cent last calendar year. Dr Wykeham McNeill is working well in tourism. The Short Doctor, Omar Davies, had an ordinary 2013, but is no longer hors de combat. He and his sidekick, Richie, are poised to deliver this year with major infrastructural projects.

Sigh. If only Minister Hylton could abandon his impression of a wasp, stunned by being slapped with a rolled up piece of old Gleaner. If only he could capitalise on the new slate that is 2014. If he only he could start delivering.

Selah.

George Davis is a journalist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and george.s.davis@hotmail.com.