KINGSTON: Trade unionist, Helene Davis-White is accusing the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) of running away from an opportunity to facilitate economic growth by rejecting a proposal to help finance a billion-dollar job creation fund.
Major private sector player and co-Chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee, Richard Byles, last week urged his colleagues to put forward US$500 million to match a similar amount raised by the government in loans, to create the job fund.
The $500 million is the excess amount that the government raised last month to pay off debts owed to the Venezuela under the Petro-Caribe oil deal.
Davis-White says while she agrees with the PSOJ that more details on the fund would be required, it is important that the proposal be properly considered.
She says it appears the private sector is running away from taking up more responsibility to help to grow in the economy.
Meanwhile, the trade unionist says the PSOJ’s rejection is the latest evidence to suggest that the private sector is unwilling to play a greater role in driving economic growth even when favorable policies are put in place.
She argues that throughout the three-year life of the economic reform programme with the International Monetary Fund, most of the growth stimulus locally has been provided by external players.
