Watching and waiting
TWO powerful bodies representing the private sector have adopted a wait-and-see approach before deciding on possible protest action, if it comes to that, in relation to the Outameni affair.
Responding to the position of Opposition Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz that he was willing to support calls for the withholding of all National Housing Trust (NHT) contributions until the entire board of the State-run housing agency is sacked, both the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) and the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA) have said they’ll await a pending probe by the auditor general and the Government’s response to it before deciding the next move.
On November 7, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), the JCC and the JMA said in a joint press release that the Government’s decision to acquire the loss-making tourist attraction in Trelawny, through the NHT, is questionable.
The groups also called on the offices of both the Contractor General and the Auditor General to investigate the $180-million purchase and plans to upgrade the facilities at a cost exceeding $100 million.
Responding to questions from the Opposition on the matter in Parliament last Tuesday, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller denied previous knowledge of the purchase and noted the Auditor General’s intention to probe the matter.
In light of this, the JCC and JMA said they will await the outcome of the probe.
“We would await the outcome of these findings. There is contradictory information coming from different sources, so we would prefer to await the outcome of the investigation. Then, based on that, we will decide what to do,” JCC President Warren McDonald told the Jamaica Observer.
Metry Seaga, the deputy president of the JMA, said that the details on calls for the withholding of NHT contributions haven’t been discussed by JMA members, but that “there are some legal ramifications for some of our members”. He, however, didn’t rule out the action.
“The principle of what he’s saying, that we need to get good answers and that we need good governance, is important. Good governance is key to creating investor confidence in the country and to keep the wheels of business turning. This certainly does not seem like good governance,” he added.
Speaking in a personal capacity, Seaga said “the travesty of the situation” is that the working class cannot afford to own a home.
“There is a disconnect,” Seaga said. “There is a systemic problem and we need to address it. It cannot be that people don’t have houses to buy, that the Government is squeezing the citizenry and at the same time there is this wanton spending on a project that we can’t get any details as to what it’s about.”