Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the government is reducing the cost of living and the cost of doing business in Jamaica while increasing the country’s attractiveness as a destination.

Holness, who was speaking at the Jamaica Packaging Industries Limited 70th Anniversary and New Factory launch on Spanish Town Road, Kingston, also stated that it is important that Jamaicans recognise that the country had a period when manufacturing boomed and a fairly long period when the state was not able to compete.

He noted that many of those circumstances which saw the demise of the manufacturing sector in Jamaica were self-inflicted and purely a consequence of government policy. “Some of those circumstances, however, were because of global conditions, shifts in technology, shifts in demand, and other geopolitical shifts, including shifts in energy,” Holness said.

However, he noted that the sector is at an inflexion point, meaning that Jamaica has done what it should have been doing for the last 50 years in terms of putting its local economy and its economic management on the right footing. 

“Our foreign exchange situation is stable. In fact, Jamaica is the only country in this region that has a flexible exchange rate, a free exchange rate. Our inflation rate is well within the target, and I say well within the target because everyone who is in manufacturing and consumers pays attention to inflation, and once it is within the target, then you know you can plan. We have literally solved that. STATIN put out some inflation results for the last quarter: zero per cent inflation. Couldn’t believe it when I saw it. I had to call and say, Is this true? A few years ago, just after COVID, interest rates were sky-high. They have come down nicely. I think they still have a little way to go, but they’re down in territory that is liveable,” Holness said.

Issue of security impacting the manufacturing sector and society

However, the prime minister further noted that there are still some issues which will impact the manufacturing sector. “One of them is the issue of security because we look at the issue of security as one that is essentially a matter of public safety. Meaning, how do I ensure that my citizens are safe in the public space and that lives are saved and that property is secure? But if you just step back from the problem of security, the problem of crime, murders, extortion, scamming, and all of those issues that affect your staff, affect them coming to work on time, and affect their ability to concentrate on their jobs because of what may be happening in their communities or to their relatives.

“The issue of security is not just one of safety. The issue of security, or rather insecurity, adds a cost to the cost of living.  Therefore, the cost of living that you experience as a citizen, a part of that is the cost of security. So every plant, every business operator, has to add in their budget a line item which is quite significant for security,” Holness continued.

He emphasised that if the government is able to reduce security concerns, then the cost of living for everyone will reduce. “So don’t just look at this issue of the police getting on top of murders, getting on top of crime, as, yes, my community is secure; I can go outside and stay out late and party all night. That’s fine; that’s good. I want our people to be able to have fun safely, but it is also about the cost of doing business and the cost of living.

“When our murder rate reaches sub-1,000, which it will this year, we will go below 1,000 murders. The first time in almost 30 years we will be below 1,000 murders. That is going to send a signal to business people and to the rest of the world that Jamaica is serious about making this country, making our country, a destination, not just for tourists to go into all-inclusive hotels, but to make Jamaica a destination for people to visit and for businesses to come and operate,” Holness added.

The prime minister further expressed that 80 per cent or more of murders in Jamaica are committed by gangs and that there is a false notion that these gangs are made up of disenfranchised young men. “Yes, there is an element of that, but the gangs that we are dealing with are more appropriately described as criminal enterprises. They are an organisation of very intelligent persons who pool resources together for criminal intent, and their criminal intent is, one, to control areas and communities; two, to turn the persons who live in those areas and communities against the state, against the police, and against all the institutions of the community; and thirdly, to control the custom and business within that space,” he said.

Holness noted that they want to be able to sell their drugs and conduct their scamming operations and extortion exclusively, then take some of the profit and pretend that they are conducting welfare exercises. “They will tell you, we’ll help to send your children to school, but at night they send, call your daughter, or they send your son to commit a robbery, and then eventually, petty arguments happen between them, and then they send your son to go and carry out a vendetta killing. This is what is happening.

“I will be the first to tell you that my administration will never sit by and allow our state forces to act in a way that wantonly abuses the human rights of our citizens. That must never happen. We have worked very hard to transform the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), and you may see the outward transformation in its uniform and in its equipment, but you should also notice that there has been an amazing transformation in the leadership of the JCF. In the leadership and doctrine of the JCF, I am satisfied that the men and women who are leading the JCF appreciate the importance of maintaining a high standard in protecting human rights,” Holness said.

The prime minister further stated that inasmuch as the police have improved in their kinetic operations and in their tactics in terms of how they engage criminals who confront them, the JCF has also internally taken action against policemen and women who have acted outside the use of force policy.

“For the first time in a long time, our capacity is at a level where it can adequately address the criminal enterprises that have dogged us for over 40 years, and we will continue on this path to respect the human rights of citizens but deal appropriately with those criminals who challenge us,” Holness added.

Challenge with labour

Though crime is a huge factor affecting Jamaica’s ability to become a favourable destination, Holness also highlighted that the state faces labour challenges. “Jamaica has, without question, some of the hardest-working people you can find. Some of the most creative and innovative, loyal and committed people you can find, but as the economy is expanding, we can’t find enough of them,” Holness said.

He revealed that businesspeople often express that they don’t have enough labour to meet their expansion plans. “If you go in the rest of the society, there is the notion that people are not working. The latest survey of the labour force reveals that Jamaica has a fairly high participation rate, but there are still persons who are not in the labour force who could be in the labour force.

“And if you consider carefully what I have said as it relates to security, you could also ask yourself, where are some of the Jamaicans that are not in the labour force? Some of them are in gangs. Some of them are in criminal activities, and so the strategy of the government is to make crime an unprofitable endeavour so that our young men and young women who may be attracted by those kinds of endeavours will realise crime does not pay,” Holness added.