MONTEGO BAY – Government and private sector leaders ended a three-day National Planning Summit here yesterday, confirming that they will establish a new unit in the Office of the Prime Minister to implement their decisions.

The more than 100 participants gathered at the upscale Ritz Carlton Hotel in this scenic northcoast resort city, hoping to put energy behind the efforts to place the country’s economy on a path of growth and sustainable development, under the theme “Jamaica Tomorrow”.

Details of the outcome of the deliberations were not made available yesterday, but Prime Minister Bruce Golding told a press briefing at the end of the Summit that compilations of the report should be completed by weekend.

“The details of which I am sure that you are anxious to hear in terms of what has been decided are still being put together in terms of the report that has to be made and therefore today we will be very general in our remarks,” the prime minister said.

He pointed out, however, that the unit which would be in place by month-end and would benefit from the guidance of an advisory board comprising representatives from the private sector and government.

“It is going to be a small board (because) we want to keep it tight and efficient and it will be headed by a chief executive officer – to be identified – who will have the responsibility of driving the process,” he said.

According to the prime minister, the CEO, who will report directly to him, will be entrusted with the responsibilies of:

. seeing which agencies are responsible for elements of the implementation programme;

. identifying bottle necks that need to be cleared; and

. determining what are the requirements that need to be in order to meet the specific targets.

It was agreed at the summit, Golding said, that for the next three months after the implementation of the unit, monthly progress reports on the various elements of the implementation process would be submitted.

“At the end of that period we will assemble again to do an evaluation to see how the process has gone… to see if more resources are needed, but we don’t intend to move any time line,” he stressed.

President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Chris Zacca told reporters that his organisation was very encouraged by the outcome of the summit.

“We in the private sector are enthused coming out of the conference. We feel that we have a partnership with a government that shares the same vision and goals that we do, that of creating wealth, growth and employment in this country,” the PSOJ head said.