Bunting: J’can economy headed for a recession

Shadow minister on citizen security and productivity, Senator Peter Bunting has blasted the Dr Andrew Holness Government over its handling of the economy, saying the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration has been “operating a plantation-style economy” with the country heading for a recession.

In making his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on Friday, Bunting suggested this has left the Jamaican labour force in crisis.

“This JLP administration has been operating a plantation-style economy - low skill, low wage, low productivity, high job insecurity, as contract work predominates,” Bunting said.

“In this environment, they bully public sector groups to accept 20 per cent or else, then give themselves 200 per cent [in wage increase].

“Jamaican people are demanding that Government does more to improve their lives, something which this administration has failed to deliver under conditions of anaemic or no growth,” Bunting charged during his opening remarks.

In his review of the state of the economy and key social sectors, Bunting highlighted several areas where he believes the Government has fallen short.

To underscore his point, Bunting pointed to a World Bank prediction around a year ago that projected that Jamaica’s economy would grow at only half the rate of the rest of the Caribbean [except for Guyana] over the next two years. He also noted that the projection was made before Hurricane Beryl impacted the island.

He said the island was technically heading for a recession.

NEGATIVE GROWTH FOR TWO QUARTERS

According to Bunting, “Since the initial COVID recovery, the economy slowed for the following eight or nine quarters, stalled in the quarter ending June 2024, and declined by 3.5 per cent in the September quarter. The economy is projected [by the Planning Institute of Jamaica and the Bank of Jamaica] to continue its decline in the December quarter, and is projected to shrink for the overall 2024 calendar year. When these projections are confirmed in a couple weeks, the economy will be in a technical recession, that is, two consecutive quarters of negative growth.”

Among other things, Bunting said that, for the September 2024 quarter, agriculture, forestry and fishing declined by 12.5 per cent; mining and quarrying by 17.4 per cent; manufacturing by four per cent; and the construction sector had four consecutive quarters of decline, including a 3.3 per cent decline for the September quarter.”

Bunting decried the length of time it took the Jamaica Public Service to restore electricity to parts of South Manchester and St Elizabeth after Hurricane Beryl, and said telecommunication service was still unreliable in those areas even today. He suggested the problems persisted even as the Government appeared to be squandering public funds.

“More than six months after the passage of Beryl, students and teachers of Pratville Primary [in Manchester] are participating in classes under difficult conditions, and only through the kindness of two churches in the community for the entire September term,” Bunting said.

“The younger children are still operating from the Pratville Assembly of God Church as I speak here today. At the same time, we are spending $1.5 billion for an empty space in the MegaMart building,” he added.

Bunting described the country’s health facilities as “mostly dilapidated” while health professionals are “overworked and burnt out” and blamed the Government for being insensitive to the needs of patients.

Large sums are being spent but are impacted by waste, mismanagement and corruption, Bunting charged, citing the case of the Cornwall Regional Hospital where an initial budget of $1.5 billion to conduct repairs ballooned to $21 billion.

“Health statistics are getting worse rather than better, setting us back by decades in some cases,” Bunting declared.

editorial@gleanerjm.com