Jamaica is going through interesting times. We are currently experiencing the lowest level of unemployment in our history, yet almost two million people are — according to a local newspaper — unable to afford a proper meal. We are currently having a shortfall in key areas of industry. Our workers are uncertified and therefore deemed “unskilled” so we speak about the need to import labour, with no talk about how these workers will be paid or why we aren’t pushing to certify local workers.
This level of warped thinking continues. Jamaica, like the rest of the world, is experiencing shocks brought on by COVID-19 and the Russia/Ukraine war. Global institutions which have literally overthrown governments that try to implement social security nets have been sounding the alarm, demanding that nations lay the groundwork of social security to cushion what they say will be a blow, the likes of which we have never seen before.
Jamaica, which for a decade has been living under International Monetary Fund (IMF) dictate, disagrees. Though our economy, we are told, is back to pre-COVID levels and that the targets set by the IMF and slavishly followed since the agreement ended have been met and even exceeded (a fact that has been the case for almost a decade) we are vehemently told that we must stay the course of austerity.
We must then ask, why is there so much pushback against the idea of extending the levels of aid packages and who gets them if the State has a rainy-day fund?
jamaicachange 