Doing business in Jamaica

RAULSTON NEMBHARD

Saturday, September 04, 2010

MR Gordon "Butch" Stewart is right. Speaking recently at the launch of the Observer's annual Business Leaders Awards, he called attention to the difficulties that businesses in general and small entrepreneurs in particular are experiencing doing business in Jamaica. He lamented the strangulating bureaucracy that stymies businesses and which results in the loss of valuable productive time.

Mr Stewart's concern is in line with what others have said before, including Mr Phillip Paulwell, the former Minister of Industry and Commerce, when he made the cryptic statement that Jamaica is a place that is inhospitable to investment. As long as I have been alive, the country has been living through the gyrations of the obstacles that are placed in the path of those who would want to put their entrepreneurial energy to work. Jamaica is an entrepreneur's nightmare, especially when as an entrepreneur you have to contend with government and its departments. You make phone calls, people promise to return your calls and you wait and wait for that call to come, not realising that you have been given a six for a nine. You get the impression that the promises to return your calls were done simply to get you off the line quickly. And never make the mistake of calling a government agency with a cellphone, especially if you are calling from a Digicel phone. I had the rude realisation recently that all landlines are LIME lines, and that if you call from, say, a Digicel phone to one of these lines you are paying the highest rate per minute that is available in the marketplace (which I believe to be $12.00 per minute from Digicel to C&W lines. Bear in mind that most, if not all government departments use landlines as do most private sector companies. LIME still maintains a monopoly of landlines in Jamaica, so do the math.

You make a big mistake if you ever sound irascible or disagreeable to a government bureaucrat as you are likely to be "punished" by having your matter ignored. It is like arguing with an attendant in a restaurant: a cockroach is likely to be stir-fried in your serving! And what is the matter with our customs officers who serve at the front line of our ports of entry, especially our airports? What does one have to do to get a smile or a suggestion of pleasantness from these folks when they attend to you?

Let it not be believed that this is a problem in the public sector only. The private sector is a little better since greater accountability is demanded of workers, but you can get the same kind of runaround. I know that members of the public can be quite abrasive and rude, but there is a polite way to deal with the most abrasive consumer. Whether in the government sector or the private sector it should never be forgotten that the consumer is king, which does not mean that you have to abide his putrid idiosyncrasies, but recognising that you are there to serve and in a real sense he pays your salary.

There is one government department which it is a joy to do business with, and this is the National Land Agency. The service has vastly improved since the agency was created. The staff is very polite and you get the impression of a group of people who really do understand the virtue of hard work and the correlation between efficiency and productivity. This is not directly under their jurisdiction, but it is hard to fathom why a two-lot subdivision has to take close to one year to be issued a certificate of completion when everything else has been complied with. Again, I do not think that this is any fault of the agency, but it is equally puzzling why the sale of land which involves just a cash transaction (cash being exchanged for land) should take more than two months to complete.

Work at Customs is being vastly improved thanks to the tenacity of Mr Danville Walker. Under the watchful eyes of Mr Greg Christie and hopefully the obduracy of Mr Daryl Vaz, there is a greater efficiency being seen in the execution of contracts. The overruns and lag time on important projects have been vastly removed, although one cannot understand why the mere widening of the dual carriageway at Bogue in Montego Bay is taking such a long time to complete. Minister Henry needs to light some fire under the tail of the contractors.

Ultimately, what it all boils down to is the cultivation of an ethic of hard work; to understand that work is not just about the collection of a salary or wage at the end of the week or month; that there is an essential spiritual fulfilment that derives from the work we do and the humanity that is attended to in that work. No reorganisation of government bureaucracy or rationalisation of the public sector will bear any lasting fruit if a better attitude to work with a new culture of productivity that buttresses this work is not allowed to thrive. This calls for recognition of the personal responsibility and accountability that each worker, whether in the private or public sector, should have for the work or job for which he or she is being paid. We will never become a developed country by 2030 with the kind of work ethic that we have in Jamaica. The time to cultivate that new work ethic which will lead to a new psychology of productivity is now. Every single entity that hires somebody should place this at the very top of its agenda.

stead6655@aol.com

www.drraulston.com

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COMMENTS (12)

Peter Lawrence
9/7/2010

Very good points. Paulwell did streamline bureaucracy in his area. One day I nearly lost my place .Having tendered my docs I felt I had the former 1 hour or more to wait for e name shout . Before I got into my nap ,haha,I dimly, as if in a haze, heard my name. I looked around to see if someone else had the same name, but it was me. Customs can work IF strict discipline is maintained. A honest broker told me he charged same fee to process a vehicle as for candy. Same paperwork hassle.

Kenneth Hill
9/6/2010

Having just returned from Jamaica (Montego Bay), I can agree with you on certain points. It is challenging to enter Jamaica, little coordination. Yet it can be improved as I have seen it done in other airports around the world. As for doing business in Jamaica, there is far to much me, myself and I with a short term vision. Jamaica has numerous possibilities, yet we are economically worse off since the 70's. Entrepreneurs, given the right environment in Jamaica, can turn the country around.

Beresford Davidson
9/4/2010

All of us Jamaicans, don't want 'pyah-pyah,' persons to come boss us about 'lackah seh,' we 'ah nincompoops.' We cannot and will not be drive like cattle, nor can we be lead like sheep to the slaughter. We are Jamaicans and like to carve out our own "Blue Ocean Strategy" written by Professor. W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. We like a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. We fully understand that our effort along with capital as alluded by Sir Alexander Bustamante is what get us up and busy to the task and schedule agreed upon. We know no superior or underlings amongst us; we define our destiny with integrity and honesty–we are Jamaicans. We are ready for business and working smart by God’s will.

Richard Edwards
9/4/2010

Sttafford Perkins, let me correct you, it is not that the SRC, MOH nor Customs could not agree about who should have the authority to import milk powder in Jmaica, it is much deeper than that sir, you were probaobly going to compete with one of the big wigs in Jamaica those in that cirle would not allow it, you probably did not know anybody in the great house. Its my country I tell tell you all the sordid details. I actuaslly worked for SRC once.
betterlifeforjamaicans@yahoo.com

Better MustCome
9/4/2010

Well said Mr Nembhard. Another not so hidden obstacle of doing business in Jamaica as a small entrepreneur is the issue of "colourism and popularity status". To be Black and unknown in Jamaica, is another hidden reason, some of us are simply not given any basic respect when conducting business in Jamaica or another part of the Caribbean. It's a sad but true reality, that mental slavery is alive, and prospering, hindering our productive potential to accomplish the most basic of things.

Antonette W.
9/4/2010

Excellent article. My fear though, is that those who are guilty of thwarting efforts to improve JA won't read this. It's a formidable job to re-educate people as to how they should treat or react to the public, particularly when it's inbred in them that indifference and arrogance are spoils of attaining certain jobs/positions of authority. Arrogance, elitism, and apathy are some of the attitudes that keep Jamaicans in bondage. Govt. alone cannot change people's hearts or conscience.

Stafford Perkins
9/4/2010

About five years ago I attempted to develop a product in Jamaica with the help of the Scientific Research Council. After consultations with the SRC, I invested thousands of US dollars to acquire and shipped the materials to the SRC but never got past customs. I was presented with a long list of regulations. My dream of doing business in Jamaica ended because the SRC, Customs, and the Ministry of Health could not agree on who has authority to allow milk powder into Jamaica.

Maxie Reid
9/4/2010

Guest what Mr Nembhard? politians and civil servants still get their pay, especially with the politicians..they say to hell with you.

Carlos Bryson
9/4/2010

I agree with you 100% Mr. Nembhard. It is not only in Jamaica you get that sour puss" behaviour. I have experienced it here in the US among Jamaican owned businesses. Jamaicans in the past were were known for their hard work, but its not only Jamaicans now who dont understand the value of hard or smart work. It is pervasive across many cultures.We must pay attention to quality customer service at all levels. Otherwise the asians and latinos are going to displace us. And why not?

Beresford Davidson
9/4/2010

A work ethic approach is personal; a full day’s work for a full days pay is just and fair; labour and capital must work together as Bustamante alluded. We can work smarter in any field these days and get a whole lot of schedules fully met when we combined a well defined personal work ethic with smarter working of time and effort by the end of each day. We should never have to deal with budget overruns and pushing back of schedules when all the logistics in work break down have already been defined and agreed upon. The evil ways of a thief of time, effort and ROI is the wretched chink in our work armour.

Antonette W.
9/4/2010

Excellent article. My fear though, is that those who are guilty of stymieing efforts to improve JA won't read this. It's a formidable job to re-educate people as to how they should treat or react to the public, particularly when it's inbred in them that indifference and arrogance are spoils of attaining certain jobs/positions of authority. Arrogance, elitism, and apathy are some of the attitudes that keep Jamaicans in bondage. Govt. cannot change people's hearts.

Chuck Emanuel
9/4/2010

What seems to be lacking throughout this Administration is effective Leadership. There seems to be no clear strategic direction, no clear goals, measures and targets in place and communicated. As a result, corruption is rampant because whatever policies, procedures and processes are in place, they are not aligned with strategy which is the reason we have a lack of accountability.
Effective Leadership is needed !.

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Doing business in Jamaica