KINGSTON, Jamaica — Head of the Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Union Institute (HLSTU) and trade unionist Danny Roberts, has been named by Prime Minister Andrew Holness to co-chair the new Public Sector Transformation Oversight Committee (P-STOC), which will oversee the public sector transformation programme.

Roberts has spent more than 20 years in the trade union movement during which he served as vice president of the National Workers Union (NWU) and president of the Union of Clerical Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE), both of which are affiliated to the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP).

He currently serves as vice president of the umbrella trade union organization, the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions.

He will co-chair with Cabinet Secretary, Ambassador Douglas Saunders, a committee, which will be comprised of representatives from the trade union movement, public sector, private sector, academia and civil society.

This was announced today at a Jamaica House press briefing by Holness, who also confirmed the appointment of Group CEO of JMMB, Keith Duncan, to replace Richard Byles as chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) and join Bank of Jamaica Governor, Bryan Wynter as co-chairmen of EPOC; and the retention of Michael Lee as chairman of the Economic Growth Council (EGC).

Holness said that the appointments reflect a new monitoring framework for the Precautionary Stand-By agreement, which his government reached with the IMF last week.

He said that a “tripartite monitoring mechanism” will oversee the new IMF agreement.

He stated that, in addition to reporting on progress with the fiscal targets, the new mechanism will also report to the public on the progress made in achieving economic growth, the public sector transformation and social protection objectives in the IMF agreement.

“This is essential as real economic growth improves people’s lives. So while we focus on getting the macro economic numbers right, we must ensure that the growth is felt at the micro level,” the prime minister said.

Balford Henry