THE recent announcement by Minister of Finance Dr Peter Phillips of increases in the cost for licences to carry out business on the island is being met with howls of disapproval from the Jamaican business community. As a person with business interest back home I must add my own voice to the protests.

While no reasonable business person could expect fees of $20 to be applicable in the current economic environment, moving a $20 fee to $2,500 is an idea that should never have seen the light of day, as this represents a 12,400 per cent increase in the fees, and no amount of explanation can justify such a hike. This fee, by the way, applies to individuals whose businesses turn over $500,000 per annum; and for individuals whose businesses turn over in excess of $100 million per annum, fees have moved to $75,000.

While there was a definite need to adjust fees charged, the rates of the increases when looked at in an economy with a pervasive no-growth stigma send a very bad signal. A fee of $20 is absolutely outdated, but moving a fee from $2,000 to $75,000 — and these fees are at the lower end of the scale — is quite a different matter. Not to mention the compounding of that with asset tax, business tax, it certainly underlines the argument that the People’s National Party Government has little or no idea of how to grow the economy. It is at the micro level that most of our employment is created, and these fee hikes have the reverse effect of literally killing businesses.

Implementation shows definite bankruptcy, indeed, as it is based on meeting government revenue targets rather than encouraging investment, especially at the microeconomic level, which is where greater employment creation can take place. Why not take a bold new approach, Dr Phillips, and work through the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce on a massive registration of business project capturing, as best as possible, all business enterprises that are out there?

With tertiary institutions now going on summer break, why not contract, say 1,500 tertiary students to survey and record every business establishment in the island from the hairdresser or barbershop, or rum bar to the biggest supermarket stretching from Morant Point in the east to Negril Point in the west. Set the initial cost of the registration at $0 (free), as the census will now establish a database of all businesses on the island and any user fees that may be chargeable will become due within a six- to 12-month period from the date of the creation of the record. That way Government will have a basis on which it can develop and implement growth and development plans with an understanding of who the owners are, and the types of entities that comprises the business landscape. Further, this database will provide a platform from which more meaningful estimates on GCT, PAYE and other statutory deductions can be made.

It is time that we, as a country, get out of the guessing game and apply more inclusive strategies that involve a greater percentage of those who are productively engaged in ordear to develop a climate which promotes growth. Such an environment works to the advantage of every stakeholder in the wider economy.

Richard Hugh Blackford resides in Florida, USA. Send comments to: richardhblackford@gmail.com