Jamaica Chamber of Commerce congratulates PM, urges swift action on recovery strategies
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) has congratulated Prime Minister Andrew Holness in his re-appointment to office, and is urging the incoming administration to take swift action to rebuild the Jamaican economy in light of the current difficulties being experienced across all sectors.
The JCC says it was encouraged by the prime minister’s declaration at his swearing-in ceremony that he acknowledges that the incoming administration will not enjoy any “honeymoon period” and that he sees its main task as “reconfiguring and modernising the Jamaican economy and society”.
That view, according to the business association, reflects the fact that as serious as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be, it also provides a basis for re-examining the nation’s underpinnings and working to ensure that this is extensively transformed.
According to the organisation’s President Lloyd Distant Jnr, “any movement towards developing a more resilient economy and society must reflect both societal and economic transformation. Both in the private and public sectors, Jamaica must learn from today’s lessons and on the widest possible scale, adopt the best practices that will strengthen our human capital, our natural resource base and our built environment to create a stronger Jamaica”.
The JCC has also saluted the expressed commitment of the prime minister to strengthen the legislative deterrents to corruption, and to ensuring that Jamaica becomes a leader in accountability in governance.
The chamber indicated that it looks forward to fully participating in the necessary stakeholder dialogue to ensure that becomes a reality.
The JCC president cited the pre-election discussions that resulted in a National Consensus on Crime as an example the type of collaboration that will be required to address some of the nation’s most pervasive problems, and urged both major political parties and the numerous other stakeholders that had come together to craft this initiative, to display similar resoluteness in the weeks and months ahead.
