Opposition senator warns Middle East war could impact govt’s post-Melissa plans

The Facilitated Acceleration of Strategic Transformation (FAST), is the complementary body to the NaRRA that will facilitate projects of US15 million (2.4 billion).Thame argued that Jamaicans were told all along that the problem was never that “Jamaica lacked for investor interest, but that our positives were too slow to be attractive to investors.“In other words, the government blames the inefficient bureaucracy for being a hindrance and for stymieing progress. But now with FAST in play, diaspora investors, regional partners and mid-scale international capital will be rushing to save the day”.The Opposition Senator noted that the US6.7 package was touted by Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon who piloted the NaRRA Bill, as an “extraordinary achievement and a testament to the fiscal credibility that Jamaica has built over a decade”. She cautioned that it should be noted that the sums include “the good people of Jamaica’s own money”, which is made up of US37 million from the Contingency Fund and the Natural Disaster Reserve Fund, US91 million from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility and US150 million from the insurance proceeds of the catastrophe bond. She said the remaining 58 per cent of the total represents loans of US3.9 billion from the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), International Monetary Fund and the Caribbean Development Bank.Thame told the Senate that US2.4 billion of the amount or 36 per cent of the total is in the form of private investments which the IDB and World Bank have indicated they were “working to attract and mobilise to support Jamaica’s recovery and reconstruction.“Are they still working,” Thames asked rhetorically. “And how will worsening economic conditions from the Israeli/US war on Iran impact our prospects?” she added.She cited that Energy Minister Darly Vaz has described the scenario as “frightening’. And she said the World Bank recently noted that an unforeseen tightening of financial conditions globally could curb credit growth and business investment.“Is the Government being forthcoming with the Jamaican people on the state of the US6.7 billion?” she questioned.Senator Thame highlighted that the Planning Institute of Jamaica has estimated the total hurricane damage at US12.2 billion. She questioned whether the Government needs a larger sum than the US6.7 billion.“We’re told that a shortfall of US5.5 billion in funding to match the budget will be made up with local, international and diaspora investment. [But] at a time of global uncertainty, war and stagflation, the Holness reconstruction and resilience plan appears to be based on the assumption that local and foreign investment will be available at several times the level at which it had ever previously been available, and further still, that this investment will bring it jobs, skills and technology transfer, Thame said.“Is this reasonable? Is the government offering merely a promise and another 5 in 4? A 6 for a 9? We will know in 10 years whether this is another 5 in 4,” she concluded.