Business
Jamaica: Jobs initiative launched
Jamaica’s month-old government on Wednesday launched the first phase of an emergency jobs program that was the centerpiece of its winning election campaign.
The government formed by the People’s National Party (PNP) said some 700 jobless people will be hired to clear vegetation and trash in the short- and medium-term along a northern coastal highway in the first phase of the Jamaica Emergency Employment Program (JEEP).
Governing party officials have not announced how many other jobs will be created in following phases of the initiative. But the party has said its job-creating plan will be developed around agro-processing, manufacturing, communications, small business development, and cultural and community development projects.
Local human rights group Jamaicans for Justice said it is concerned that the governing party will disproportionately employ its partisans since members of parliament will choose the islanders who work under the initiative.
Historically, most poor Jamaicans have affiliated themselves with a party, relying on political patronage for jobs, houses and land.
“This approach of MPs deciding who gets work on the basis of party affiliation has contributed to the wastage of tax payer’s money over many decades and divided us along tribal political lines. It is completely unacceptable and must be stopped,” the rights group said in a statement.
Civic groups are also calling on the debt-burdened government to explain how much money will be needed for the jobs initiative, citing the opposition’s disclosure that the initial phase will be funded by a loan the previous government arranged with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) last year.
