On securing a third term in Government, the Andrew Holness-led Jamaica Labour Party has made it clear that the plan is to move the economy from focusing on stability to growth mode.

The private sector shares that sentiment and believes there is no time to waste. However, the underpinning of the economy will have to be addressed if Jamaica is serious about embarking on growth.

Earlier this week, the president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), Metry Seaga, made a presentation before a meeting of the Rotary Club of St Andrew North at the Jamaica National corporate offices on Belmont Road in Kingston on Monday. The theme of Seaga’s address was ‘From Red Tape to Real Growth’.

The PSOJ boss called for a fairer, more productive Jamaica where growth is not just measured by GDP or debt ratios but by the quality of that growth.

“The barriers that keep it (the economy) from reaching its full potential must be addressed. There is no denying that Jamaica’s economy has shown resilience, with debt levels down, inflation under control and unemployment at record lows. But too many of the underlying distortions in our systems are holding us back. These underlying distortions stifle competitiveness, they frustrate investment and chip away at public trust.”

Metry Seaga speaks from a position of experience. He is a man who has seen it up close and done it. A career manufacturer, he heads the Jamaica Fibreglass Products Limited, a company that, among other things, makes furnishing for KFC restaurants in Jamaica. Seaga also sits on the boards of Paramount Trading, AMG Packaging and Spur Tree Spices.

He has served as President of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Export Association (JMEA), and as the Chairman of the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority, as well as Deputy Chairman of Petrojam. He is currently the Chairman of the Jamaica Universal Service Fund. He brings extensive private and public sector experience at a senior level to his words here.

The Government’s growth agenda identifies key enablers of sustained growth, namely: 

• A stable macro-economic economy
• Strong governance
• Efficient Institutions
• Fair and predictable business environment.

Metry Seaga opined on this: “While these are solid pillars, when we see how the system actually works for manufacturers, distributors and small businesses, the story changes significantly. On paper, our statutory and duty regime is very clear. It is supposed to support economic activity, encourage local production and level the playing field. But in practice, it is riddled with loopholes, inconsistencies and moving targets. A rule that is straightforward can be shifted overnight. What one agency approves, another questions. Behind all of this sits a bigger problem—bureaucracy and red tape.

“Everyone in business in Jamaica knows the story. You fill out the same form three times, you wait weeks for licences and approvals that should take days. You make five trips to one office—just to find out another ministry has to sign off on the documents. This isn’t just inconvenience, it’s a cost. It is a hidden tax on productivity, on innovation and most importantly, ambition.”

Metry Seaga drew a picture, imagining a small manufacturer trying to expand operations, navigating many agencies, each with its own timeline and processes and fee structure. A single missing document can derail an entire project—and all too often that is the case.

He continued: “Or consider a young entrepreneur, trying to start a legitimate business. The time, the expense and uncertainty often push them into the informal economy instead. How can you then blame them? In other words, our system sometimes discourages compliance rather than enables it. These inefficiencies are not just confined to paperwork—they show up in everyday goods and services. There are different duty rates and fees for the same item. One importer gets an exemption, another does not. It is unpredictable. It distorts prices right down to the supermarket shelf.

“In poultry, the intention is good to protect our local farmers, but when special permits or duty waivers are granted without consistency, it undermines that very protection. It disrupts pricing, discourages local producers and sends a message that policy is flexible depending on who you are.

“The same pattern appears in construction. Cement is the backbone of housing and infrastructure, and players in that industry face similar contradictions with a quota. When rules are applied unevenly, the result is inflated costs and distorted competition. Those costs just don’t affect developers; they affect the family trying to build a home or the block maker trying to keep a small business going.

“So what begins as a technical issue of duty calculation becomes something much bigger. It comes down to a question of fairness, governance and trust. Who qualifies for exemptions and quotas? How are these decisions made? How do we ensure incentives serve the national interests and not these small, narrow advantaged positions of those in power?”

The way Metry Seaga sees it, entrepreneurs across Jamaica continually bemoan that navigating the system every day is harder than running the business itself. Time and resources spent chasing approvals could be spent innovating, trading or even exporting. Every delay adds risk, inconsistent rules add costs—and every exception undermines confidence.

“When people lose confidence and feel the rules apply differently depending on who you know, that’s when the system starts to break down, and that is when black markets develop.

“That is why we at the PSOJ believe that Jamaica’s growth conversation must shift now from managing stability to demanding fairness and efficiency. Growth without equity breeds frustration—and policy without predictability drives away investment. If we are serious about unlocking Jamaica’s full potential, this is where the work must begin. We need a statutory and regulatory system that is transparent, fair, predictable and efficient. One that makes it easier to do the right thing rather than the wrong thing,“ said the PSOJ president.