OPPOSITION spokesman on finance and planning, Audley Shaw, says that the Government must seek to analyse the problems affecting the approval process for development applications.

“We are told that right now, caught up in the bureaucratic system that we have, are projects that value in excess of $50 billion… now tied up in some way, shape or form and waiting for approval,” Shaw told a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) press briefing at Belmont Road last week.

He blamed the parish councils, the Town Planning Department and the various Government departments related to the approval process for the delays.

“That alone has the potential if it is unleashed on the economy, in terms of jobs, in terms of growth, in terms of acquisition of goods and services. I mean, it is something that we need to do some further analysis on,” Shaw insisted.

However, the Opposition spokesman said that the approval process was only one of five areas critical to economic growth that need more attention.

The others included the absence of the “magic” which should have been created by the Fiscal Incentives Legislation; the so-called “large enterprises/major projects”; the need for modest forms of stimulus; and the controversial bank charges.

Shaw said that the mere tabling and passing of legislation on omnibus incentives and incentives for large projects would not create any “magic”, because they were simply replacing the minister’s role in granting the waivers.

“But, there is a lot of confusion that still surrounds these incentives,” he added. “I have had discussions with manufacturers and they are very, very concerned because, as it turns out at this time, there does not seem to be a proper, cogent definition of what manufacturing is. And so Customs seem to be confused as to exactly who benefits under what regime, despite the existence of these new laws,” Shaw said.

He suggested that the Government seek to sort out the issue on a rapid basis, in order for Jamaica to begin to yield the benefits of more investment in the manufacturing sector.

“We must not forget that what the private sector requires for confidence to be built is certainty: certainty in policy; certainty in taxation policy; certainty all around. That is what builds confidence for people to put their money into investing in new equipment and in creating new jobs.”

He said that the issue of the financing of the proposed 360-megawatt project by its preferred bidder was also a matter of concern.

He stated that he failed to get responses last week in the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) meeting as to why, despite the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS ) signing a Power Purchase Agreement with Energy World International (EWI), there has been no explanation as to where the US$700 needed for the project would come from.

He said that, despite the minister’s announced intention to sign the licence, the head of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has now indicated that apparently he, too, is concerned about the issue of the financing. This is US$700 million, it is not chicken feed in any currency. And so I think that the public ought to know whether those funds are going to be achieved by the company on a timely basis, otherwise the 2016 target date is going to be just a hope rather than a certainty,” he cautioned.

However, he said while he had mentioned, combined, would help to drive the economy on a more aggressive basis, it was the Opposition’s view that there is still need to return to modest forms of stimulus.

He noted that Opposition Leader Andrew Holness has publicly called for a reversal of the decision to increase transfer taxes and stamp duty, which he supports.

“I also support the reconsideration of the decision to re-impose a 15 per cent tax on dividends. We believe that was a wrong decision, because it directly attacks money that could otherwise be used for expansion in business,”

Shaw said,

He also urged the Government to reconsider the question of the proposed closing down of the junior stock exchange.

“We believe that is a retrograde step because the JSE represents a dynamic opportunity to raise money…There is equity in this country, but that equity is either sitting down dormant in accounts, or is exported to other countries and everybody relies on debt, and expensive debt in some cases,” he explained.