Dear Editor,

I have long held the view that certain private sector affiliated agencies, for example the Jamaica Exporters’ Association (JEA) and JAMPRO, serve no useful purpose and should be closed down.

To support this view I will describe two encounters a fellow businessman had with them recently.

He received an order from a distributor based in Europe, but to enable him to fill this order he was required to provide them with a Material Safety Data Sheet.

He telephoned the JEA and asked in a clear voice: “Have you got any MSDS forms available?” The young lady who answered gave an immediate “what did you say, Sir?”

After asking about four times to the same response, she asked him if he wished to speak to the manager.

When the manager came on the telephone she introduced herself with a long double-barrelled name. Asked the same question, the manager offered no solution.

In exasperation he decided to call JAMPRO. No solution.

Isn’t it any wonder why Jamaica is so poor.

Ken Spencer

Kingston 8

ken3_1999@yahoo.com