Aug 5, 1999
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Aug 5, 1999 |
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Returning residents and the economy
LAST WEEK, returning residents packed into a large room at the Jamaica Conference Centre to attend a seminar entitled "Protecting your Money" - a response that pleased the organisers but was obviously unexpected.
Speaking at the seminar Finance Minister Omar Davies said that the returning residents were a tremendous asset to the economy not only for their resources but more for their skills. Picking up on a familiar theme, he said that persons who were involved in wrongdoing in the financial sector would be pursued in the court. He gave the assurance nonetheless that even if they were not convicted in the court, their faces would not show up again the sector in any positions of responsibility. Interestingly this guarantee from the Minister received significant applause from his audience. However, his assertion (and subsequent challenge to prove him wrong) that there was no government like his in the world that had done so much to deliver on its promise to protect depositors received only stony silence. Interestingly, as the day progressed and the agenda of the authorities unfolded, it became evident that some of the residents had their own sub-agenda. This was reflected in occasional outbursts of howls of disagreement from the audience. For one thing there was an obvious suspicion on the part of some residents that the authorities were now arming them with information on the sector. One resident put it succinctly, "government has so many secrets that they keep from the public, so how come they are willing to share so much information in this area, I wonder what they are up to?" Another resident queried why the information on the sector was so late in coming. She pleaded that Jamaicans overseas should also be provided with relevant information so that they can make informed decisions and would not repeat mistakes made in the past. Additionally, there was a strong perception that government was merely bent on getting as much revenue from the returning residents sector that it could as evidenced in the duty regime relating to motor cars and the recently imposed tax on financial instruments. In addition there was a concern that the positives associated with Deposit Liability Insurance were not applicable to deposits held in overseas currencies. This led Winston Carr, managing director of the Jamaica Deposit Insurance Corporation, to promise that he would review the issue once more. Probably the most far reaching observation from the dissident residents came from a resident who argued that the focus of the seminar was on protecting one's money but that that was only important after the wealth was created. He contended that there should be a greater focus on wealth creation and in this regard highlighted the "old" issues of high interest rates, poor infrastructure and crime as hurdles to be overcome. Viewed from the standpoint of a communication tool, the seminar was a success. It was also a timely reminder however that where communication is not institutionalised and seen as an occasional public relations tool, it is usually viewed with deep suspicion. |
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