Business View Caribbean - Nov 2014 55
JAMAICA
did not depend on the government to implement the
terms of the agreement itself, but that there should be
a monitoring rule created by other stakeholders and
ensuring that the terms of the agreement.”
Business View chatted with Davis-Whyte to discuss
the composition of the committee, the forecast for its
success and the economic outlook in Jamaica going
forward.
BUSINESS VIEW: The committee is set up with rep-
resentation from the private sector, the public sec-
tor – it’s got a wide range of people that are on it,
correct?
DAVIS-WHYTE:
Yes. It’s comprised of government
through the bank of Jamaica and the minister of fi-
nance, private sector including our major banking in-
stitutions, as well as the private sector organizations of
Jamaica, such as the farmers, the Jamaica agricultural
society, the MSME medium and small enterprises. It
is as broad-based as it could be. The choice of orga-
nizations really was hindered by the need to ensure
that the major stakeholders in the economy would be
involved in monitoring to ensure that the terms of the
agreement were being implemented according to plan,
and not only that, that we would be, at that level, able
to cooperate and collaborate in dealing with whatever
problems may arise from time to time, and also to plan
ahead.
BUSINESS VIEW: If the role largely to monitor what
the government is doing and make sure that the el-
ements of the agreement are followed through on,
what is the relationship with the government? Is it
as an overseer? Is it cordial? Is it combative? What
is the view of the government to this organization?
DAVIS-WHYTE:
It is actually a committee that is ap-
pointed by the cabinet, and while it is primarily moni-
toring, we don’t have the authority to insist on anything
being done. What we have found since the committee
has been in operation is that the atmosphere is really
one of cordiality, and that the government is commit-
ted to the process. And so, if problems arise, and we
are able to sit down and come to some understanding
as to how to deal with it. So far, the government actu-
ally kept to its word in terms of ensuring that the views
of the committee are taken on board, and so much so
that there is a level of confidentiality that actually ap-
plies and we all observe it. Information will come that
would not be readily shared with the wider community,
but at our level, information is shared freely and we
don’t get a sense that there is any held back from the
government and that they are as committed as each
of us in this process.
BUSINESS VIEW: Now how long has the process
been going on thus far? Do you all get together after
a certain period of time? Or what’s the actual func-
tion of how you guys are going about this?
DAVIS-WHYTE:
We meet on a monthly basis. One of
the first things that we did was to ensure that we got
an agreement as to how we would be communicating
to the wider Jamaican population, because we felt that
it was important for the information to be shared as far
as possible with the wider society, so that everybody
gets a sense of where in the fact the country’s going.
And if there are difficult decisions to be made, that the
wider population understands why we have to be going
down particular roads.
At the end of each of our meetings, the co-chair from
the non-government side of the committee, who is
Mr. Richard Byles, he issues statements at the end
of each of our meetings, and these statements basi-
cally give an indication to the Jamaican society as to
what it is that is being discussed, whether we have
concerns and what is actually being done by the gov-
