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Credit bureau will boost micro-business sector - PM

Published:Monday | November 29, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Senator Dwight Nelson (centre), minister of national security, is flanked by Stephen Hallihan (left), Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica, and Toronto Police Chief William Blair. The three were attendees at a Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA)-organised seminar held at the University of the West Indies, Mona, last week. Presenters at the PCOA seminar included Nelson; Blair; Jeffery Schlanger, president of United States-based Keypoint Government Solutions; Mike Franklin, a commissioner of the Independent Police Complaints Commission in the United Kingdom; Terrence Williams, commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigation; and Dave McIntosh, CEO of the PCOA. The seminar, chaired by Arlene Harrison-Henry, chairman of the Independent Jamaica Council for Human Rights and a member of the PCOA, was attended by representatives of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, local human-rights groups and academia. - Contributed

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says legislation passed in Parliament last week for the establishment of a credit bureau will give persons without collateral an opportunity to access funds and start businesses.

Speaking Thursday at Jamaica National Small Business Loans Limited's annual luncheon at the Jamaica Conference Centre, Golding did not give a starting date for the bureau, but said such an agency was critical, given the current enthusiasm in the micro-business sector.

"We are amending the current law relating to the kind of things that can be used as collateral, because at the moment, it's restricted to assets that ordinary people don't have," Golding said. "We need more people to access finance to engage in economical activities that has value."

He noted that while many aspiring business persons have solid ideas, they have insufficient possessions to convince companies to give them a loan. This, he stressed, should not prevent them from getting funds.

According to Golding, lending agencies should use their discretion when interviewing clients.

"Don't look at collateral, because they have none. Look at the idea and ask, 'Is this the kind of person, once they get the money, you hear next week, "They used to live here." If that is so, don't lend them the money," he explained.

"But after you apply all your psychology, and feel this is a legitimate person, despite no collateral, no title, no motor car, but means well, lend them the money," he added.

The prime minister reaffirmed his administration's commitment to broadening the loan pool for small businesses by pumping an additional J$300 million into the Jamaica Business Development Corporation's loan facility.

Golding said he was encouraged by figures from the Small Business Loans Limited that showed sound loan repayments and 'slightly average' delinquency.

The Small Business Loans Limited is an affiliate of the Jamaica National Building Society. It grants financial assistance to mainly low-income persons to start or enhance their businesses.

Figures from the company revealed that it granted 42,434 loans in 2009 to start microenterprises. The loans, 73 per cent of which were granted to women, amounted to J$2.26 billion.