1960s Period Worthy of Emulation- PM

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Government is committed to the sound fiscal discipline and economic planning that saw the country achieving up to 12 per cent growth in the 1960s.

Addressing the Edu/Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Conference at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James, on December 8, Mr. Holness said the template is still there to “make Jamaica great again”.

“The 1960s was a time of a prospecting Jamaica,” he pointed out.

“It was a time when we were very positive and optimistic about our future… when we were truly a great country and when we were industrialising,” he added.

Mr. Holness noted that in conversations with economic gurus such as Chairman of the Economic Growth Council (EGC), Michael Lee-Chin, “one can truly get an understanding and an appreciation of how exciting a period those days were”.

“He speaks about that time and places his success on that period,” the Prime Minister said.

“That was when he was able to get a scholarship…when he was able to get himself educated and find himself a job… right here in Jamaica,” he noted.

Mr. Holness said the demand for workers was so great that the children of the 1960s had no problem finding jobs once they finished college and other places of higher education.

“Those who benefited from the education of the ‘60s will tell you that they could not leave the university in peace as, once they graduated, they were being hounded for jobs immediately. Jamaica was great and we can make Jamaica great again,” he pointed out.

The Prime Minister said that gains are being made, with business and consumer confidence at the highest since the inception of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce-commissioned survey in 2001.

He said that Jamaica is now being viewed as a destination to do business.

“We cannot lose this momentum,” Mr. Holness argued.