THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WISH to add my own congratulations to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security on the official launching of the Jamaica Labour Market and Information System (LMIS) and Labour Exchange.
The former is the culmination of years of hard work which commenced with a workshop on labour market information jointly sponsored by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Many public and private sector organisations have, since then, made significant contribution to the process of establishing a national LMIS. That the US Department of Labour was able to join with our national organisations to provide funding and additional technical assistance to enable us to launch the system in two years, underscores how much had already been achieved, as any cursory research on establishing similar systems worldwide will reveal that this is indeed a long process.
Congratulations, therefore, to the following organisations which formed the initial core of the Labour Market Information System Working Group, one of the tangible outcomes of the PIOJ/ILO workshop: Ministry of Education & Culture; STATIN; Ministry of Finance & Planning; HEART Trust/NTA; PIOJ; Jamaica Employers' Federation; Joint Trade Unions Research & Development Centre (now the Joint Confederation of Trade Unions); University Council of Jamaica; UWI; UTech; Hamilton Knight Associates; LABCOM Workforce Development Consort-ium (joined in 1996) Ministry of Labour.
I wish labour market participants and all users of the system every success in its use, as the LMIS is not an end in itself, but rather a critical tool which should contribute to the efficient functioning of our country's labour market.
I am etc.,
JENNIFER GREEN
jennyweed@yahoo.com
P.O. Box 44042
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
