BY AL EDWARDS

THE managing director of NCB Capital Markets Christopher Williams took the opportunity earlier this week to laud Grace Kennedy’s Chief Operating Officer Don Wehby’s period in the government as minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance.

As the special guest speaker at the Kingston Rotary Luncheon held at the Jamaica Pegasus on Tuesday, the Jamaica College alumnus said: “I don’t think that Don Wehby has gotten his full credit for the role that he has played over the last two years in our national life.

“I would like to say a special thank you to the former senator for his contribution to the infrastructure of Jamaica in a positive way over the last two years. There are two significant achievements that must not

go unrecognised.

“Firstly, Don changed the landscape in a very significant way for us young private

sector professionals. How? By demonstrating self-sacrifice and commitment by getting off the verandah, and many of us know that ‘verandah’ mentality.”

Williams went on to explain that Wehby had no reason to leave the corporate citadel

of Harbour Street which houses Grace Kennedy’s headquarters, and of which he is generally acknowledged as the heir apparent, and the chairman and CEO Douglas Orane’s successor.

Wehby is credited with creating a financial sector division which is now a major contributor to the group’s revenues and a significant player on the local banking landscape.

To leave his comfortable, exalted position to join a cash-strapped government that had to contend with a multitude of problems and left to cope with the unenviable task of resuscitating a sickly economy speaks to the measure of

the man.

“At the time of the announcement I thought to myself, who would leave a cushy senior executive position to take on the challenges of the Ministry of Finance? Two years later I still think to myself, who would do that? I think that Don helped us by demonstrating that what we need now is a significant spirit of voluntarism. If we are going to get this country out of this crisis at this time we are going to need good, quality minds and we are going to need

them cheaply.”

National service

The NCB Capital Markets boss pointed out that Wehby’s contribution had indeed spurred others into offering their services to the government for vastly reduced remuneration. He cited the cases of former ATL boss Christopher Zacca who is now an advisor to the prime minister for a reported salary of only J$5 million, and Red Stripe’s marketing doyenne Grace Silvera, who last week announced that she had

been seconded to the

Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) for a year to help build and preserve the country’s treasured culture in the further enhancement of Brand Jamaica. Silvera will on January 1, 2010 assume the role of executive director of the commission, a leading cultural agency which falls under the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.

“We are going to have to keep our huge wage bill down, but at the same time get

this corruption issue under control. The only way we are going to get quality people to deliver quality service without paying them and leading them into corrupt behaviour is through this nationalistic sense that Don Wehby exhibited during my generation’s time,” declared Williams.

Junior Stock Exchange

Williams went on to highlight Wehby’s second major achievement: his efforts in getting the Junior Stock Exchange off the ground and up and running.

“In my capacity as the deputy chairman of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), I participated in the discussions that took place in the formation and implementation of the Junior Stock Exchange and the analysis went like this: “The fiscal situation requires us to do two things. It requires us to cut costs and grow revenues. Clearly, cutting costs is going to be difficult and, even if achievable, it is going to be far less arduous than the challenge that we have on the fiscal deficit side. So whether it is a medium-term solution or a long-term solution, we are going to have to find a way to move revenues.”

Williams contends that the only way to move revenues is through business growth, which in effect means the formation of even more companies that will help to generate more trade and employment. He said that the main challenge that business leaders in Jamaica are confronted with is the cost of capital. The way he sees it, if the financial challenge cannot be solved by lower interest rates, then it has to be the challenge of bringing equity capital and ideas together.

Williams explained: “In order to get equity capital and ideas together we needed a transparent market that would ensure that the individual with the idea feels protected and the individual with the money feels some sort of good governance and transparency prevails.” Over the years the main JSE had to grapple with the size of the listings and some of the requirements, and so the junior market was proposed and led by none other than Don Wehby. This junior market is perceived to be the catalyst to engender the merger of ideas and capital, and through that merger, it is hoped that more entrepreneurs will come to the fore.

“If we get more businesses we can increase taxes and we can drive GDP and reduce the fiscal deficit. So far, we have seen just one listing on the junior stock exchange and, quite frankly, that is not good enough. We at NCB are still not seeing the volume of business plans. When I go into my office in the morning, I am seeing more job applications than business plans. I want us to find away to change that,” concluded the managing director of NCB Capital Markets.