Steven Gooden, CEO of NCB Capital Markets Ltd, said issues of unemployment, crime, violence and economic struggles in the parish of Westmoreland and Jamaica show that “there is the need for greater focus on how we solve these challenges”.

“Some of these issues are intertwined…It is disheartening to read statistics that say youth unemployment is 30.3 per cent, that is just over double that of the general unemployment rate in the country. It is incumbent upon us as stakeholders to help create meaningful and viable opportunities for our young people to construct wealth for themselves and their families,” Gooden said, according to a company news release.

He was speaking on the importance of effective partnerships during a stakeholders’ luncheon hosted by Moses Chybar, CEO of Importers and Distributors Limited, winner of the National Commercial Bank Jamaica (NCBJ) Capital Quest Season two reality television show.

Icon Importers, formed in 1999, employs more than 50 people from Savanna-la-Mar and emerged winner of a $50 million equity investment from NCB Capital Quest Season Two.

Gooden said that solving these challenges may require supporting internship programmes, providing mentorship and on-the-job training opportunities for at-risk youths.

“More must be done in helping each other and the authorities to reduce crime and violence which is a crippling hindrance to Jamaica’s development. Several studies have shown that our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be much higher if our crime rates were lower,” he said, indicating that scamming has spread from the neighbouring parish of St. James and is threatening to do more damage.

“The scammers use their own version of a partnership to succeed, we must do the same to counter and unravel it. A good strategy is being proactive by engaging unattached youth within our communities. This additionally flows from being a good corporate citizen and enhancing the communities within which you serve,” he implored.

Hartley Perrin, Custos of Westmoreland, in his address, indicated that the problem of crime and violence in the parish and in the west is not merely a police matter, but a socio-economic one that has to be addressed on all fronts.

Custos Perrin noted that the collaboration that now exists between the largest commercial bank in Jamaica and Icon Importers can only serve to signal a new dynamic and exciting partnership that should further simulate growth and development in the parish.

“In a community where scamming seems to be the number one source of employment and occupation, resulting in high levels of crime and murder, we embrace this development with open arms and hearts,” he said.

Perrin commended Chybar for bringing credit not only to himself, but to the entire parish and observed that while Icon may not by itself be able to create the change that is so desperately needed in the parish, it could act as a catalyst for expansion in the economic life of the parish, and bring hope and life to an otherwise dying parish.

Dwayne Vaz, Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Central, spoke about the importance of linkages and partnerships noting that it takes the efforts of each sector to make a better Jamaica.

“In a time when banks have been criticised for not supporting SMEs and how it is hard to get loans to start up a business; I want to laud NCB for their efforts and I want to challenge other banks to come up with great ideas like Capital Quest to assist entrepreneurs,” Vaz said.