Put culture in your JEEP, says World Bank

BY CAMILO THAME Business Co-ordinator thamec@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A World Bank official has recommended that the Government consider focusing the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) on ICT and cultural industries on a phased basis.

The World Bank's representative for Jamaica (along with Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago), Giorgio Valentini, on Monday said that "based on a youth unemployment rate of 30 per cent, the JEEP could be focused on youth employment" linked to the two sectors for which Jamaica "already enjoys a significant comparative advantage over many of her trading partners".

Yesterday, the transport minister, Omar Davies, introduced plans to Parliament to start the JEEP next month, with focus on road and gully repair, as well as curb painting and cleaning of drains.

Valentini appeared to empathise with the Government's plan to implement a short-term stimulus package.

"The broad concept of the project does seem to indicate that the (Government) recognises the need for some kind of radical short-term measure to produce some 'breathing space' or 'relief' to the most vulnerable among the unemployed," he said.

However, the World Bank representative said that the "architects of the JEEP could consider a phased rollout of the programme".

If phased, Valentini argues, "after a significant portion of the employment gap has been arrested at startup, the subsequent phases can move seamlessly into a focus on sustainability".

He added that the World Bank would have to "await further details about the intended structure and features of the JEEP before we can comment on it more specifically".