Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer
CONTRIBUTED - Dr. Patrick Allen (right), president of the West Indies Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, exchange pleasantries with Senator Burchell Whiteman, Information Minister, at the Andrews Memorial Church in St. Andrew on Sunday. Dr. Allen delivered the sermon at a National Peace Service organised by the Seventh-day Adventist group.
SPANISH TOWN, St. Catherine:
OPPOSITION LEADER, Dr. Kenneth Baugh says Jamaica is not ready to take advantage of what the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) has to offer. He said that for most part Jamaica is lagging behind its Caribbean counterparts in academics, trade and business.
Dr. Baugh, who is also member of Parliament for south western St. Catherine, said that with the high interest rates businesses have to pay, they will be at a direct disadvantage. He said Jamaica is greatly in debt and is "running the treadmill to survive."
He said, too, that with a 30 per cent rate in passes of English and 12 per cent mathematics, the nation is lagging behind others such as Barbados and Trinidad. He noted that 20 per cent of our tertiary graduates migrated, thereby causing a brain drain.
Though the CSME is the way to go and Jamaica needs it, Jamaica's problem is that the country is just not ready for it. He was speaking at the monthly meeting at the Spanish Town Kiwanis Club at the St. Jago Health Centre recently.
"We are not prepared for this new venture," he said. "We are not prepared for globalisation. We are in a negative trade balance with most countries, including some in the Caribbean."
Jamaica's primary deficiency, "is that we are not educated enough or skilled enough and with the high interest rates now existing our business people will be at a disadvantage," Dr. Baugh said.
