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KINGSTON, Jamaica — In a landmark address during this week’s Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, Anthony Hylton, the Jamaican Opposition’s spokesman on Trade, Industry and Global Logistics, laid out a bold new economic development plan that puts micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) at the center of the country’s next growth phase.\n\nHylton opened his remarks by framing the Opposition’s policy approach as rooted in practical, tangible action that delivers immediate, visible benefits to citizens while building robust foundations for long-term systemic transformation. “On this side of the House, we believe Jamaica’s next phase of development must focus on practical, achievable initiatives that deliver visible benefits while laying the foundation for long-term transformation,” Hylton told parliamentarians. He emphasized that unlocking the untapped productive potential of the nation’s MSME sector is the cornerstone of this vision.\n\nHylton argued that the current status of MSMEs in Jamaica is unsustainable: these enterprises carry a disproportionate share of the country’s employment and innovation burden, yet remain confined to the margins of the national economy. He noted that in high-performing global economies, MSME expansion is enabled by fully integrated support ecosystems, where access to financing, efficient logistics infrastructure, digital business platforms, targeted technical assistance, and expanded market channels operate in seamless alignment to fuel growth.\n\nTo address gaps in Jamaica’s current support framework, Hylton announced the Opposition’s backing for a dedicated National MSME Growth and Export Programme. This initiative would deliver low-interest financing tied directly to production output, develop shared manufacturing and agro-processing facilities that cut overhead costs for small operators, and embed end-to-end support for packaging upgrades, international standards certification, digital commerce adoption, and export market preparation.\n\nBeyond targeted programming, Hylton called for a creative repurposing of existing national infrastructure to better serve entrepreneurs and local production. He offered one high-impact proposal: reimagining the Postal Corporation of Jamaica as a National SME Incubator and E-Commerce Platform. “Our post offices should no longer exist merely as traditional mail facilities. They can become digital business hubs, export gateways, fulfilment centres, and logistical support systems serving entrepreneurs in every parish across Jamaica,” he explained. In partnership with the private sector, Hylton said this conversion would dramatically reduce one of the most prohibitive barriers to small business success: the lack of affordable access to logistics networks, digital payment systems, modern technology, and global market connectivity.\n\nHylton also called for a structural overhaul of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, pushing the agency to shift away from its current administrative focus and evolve into an active market-maker. Under this new mandate, the corporation would work directly to secure international retail partnerships for local goods, expand global shelf space for the “Things Jamaican” brand, and connect small domestic businesses to flexible blended financing opportunities that fit their needs.\n\nRejecting the idea that sustainable widespread prosperity can be driven solely by a small cohort of large corporations, Hylton insisted that long-term success depends on empowering thousands of individual Jamaicans to produce, innovate, scale their operations, and compete in global export markets.\n\nTurning to Jamaica’s logistics and trade advantage, Hylton acknowledged the country’s valuable geographic positioning as a strategic trade hub, but stressed that location alone is not enough to deliver inclusive growth. He called for urgent, decisive action to develop integrated logistics parks connected to existing ports, national highways, airports, and industrial zones. These parks would be designed to attract manufacturing, assembly, warehousing, and distribution operations, while Special Economic Zones would be reoriented from isolated, disconnected enclaves to engines of broad-based growth that benefit surrounding local communities. “Every logistics investment must create opportunities for Jamaican suppliers, truckers, technicians, contractors, and workers,” Hylton said.\n\nHe also made the case for modernizing Jamaica’s logistics governance system, noting that the Port Community System (PCS) developed under the national Logistics Hub framework must move beyond its current status as a limited data testing space. Instead, Hylton stressed, it must operate as a unified coordinating mechanism that brings together customs authorities, shipping lines, freight forwarders, trucking operators, warehouses, terminal managers, and industry regulators into a single, transparent, accountable system.\n\nHylton concluded by warning that none of these proposed economic transformations can succeed without intentional investment in workforce readiness and human capital development. He emphasized that economic growth must uplift, not bypass, local communities, outlining a second key initiative: a Community Enterprise Link Programme. This program would ensure that major industrial and logistics developments create tangible opportunities for nearby communities through local supplier sourcing, targeted supplier development programs, expanded access to public and private procurement opportunities, business mentorship, and direct community investment.\n\n“Growth must not remain concentrated among the few. It must create pathways into ownership, entrepreneurship, and upward mobility for ordinary Jamaicans across every parish of this country,” Hylton said.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — In the wake of Hurricane Melissa’s destructive passage across the island, a senior Jamaican government official has pushed back against public scrutiny over unspent disaster donations, framing a new real-time audit from the Auditor General’s Department as proof the administration is delivering meaningful relief to affected communities while validating plans for a dedicated national reconstruction agency.

Marlon Morgan, a government senator and parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Information, outlined key findings from the ongoing audit Tuesday: the government has already committed more than $11.3 billion to 420 active Hurricane Melissa relief and recovery contracts, a figure that far outpaces the $1.4 billion in unspent disaster donations flagged in the Auditor General’s preliminary report.

Morgan emphasized that while the report correctly notes unspent funds held by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) — which has spent less than 2% of the $1.44 billion in total donations allocated to it for the response — the far larger volume of active recovery spending demonstrates the government’s commitment to supporting storm-impacted residents.

“What is instructive is that the $1.4 billion in donations cited in the Auditor General’s Report as being unspent so far is exponentially outstripped by the massive $11.3 billion that is actually being spent on various relief and recovery initiatives,” Morgan said. “There can be no denying that in spite of bureaucracy-related red tape which delays project implementation and the expenditure of available funds, the Government has utilised practical and situationally appropriate mechanisms to deliver timely and effective relief for citizens affected by Hurricane Melissa, while ensuring value for money.”

Morgan framed the real-time audit itself as a critical step toward upholding government transparency and accountability to the Jamaican public. He added that the audit’s findings clearly underscore the scope of the government’s ongoing recovery work, noting that the document references the full $11.3 billion in active spending across 420 separate contracts. He also characterized the audit, which uncovered ODPEM’s low spending rate on donations, as a timely and important assessment that highlights the need for administrative reform.

Crucially, Morgan tied the audit’s findings of bureaucratic delays to the government’s push for the new National Reconstruction and Resilience Agency (NaRRA), which recently completed parliamentary debate. He praised Prime Minister Andrew Holness and his cabinet for their foresight in creating the new agency, which is designed to cut through red tape and speed up post-disaster recovery and long-term resilience work.

Morgan stressed that the audit contains no findings of corruption or improper misappropriation of funds, noting that its core observations around implementation delays merely confirm longstanding public frustrations with bureaucratic gridlock that has held back national growth.

“The Jamaican people should note that the report does not contain any scandalous or damning finding of loss and/or corruption, and in many respects, reaffirms the bureaucracy-related challenges that many Jamaicans are already aware of, and understandably so, have grown impatient with,” he explained. “The public is fully aware that our country’s growth and development are being inhibited, in part, by our stark implementation challenges. What the Auditor General Report underscores is that it cannot be business as usual. It affirms that NaRRA will go a far way in helping Jamaica efficiently and effectively utilise available funds in improving the quality of life of the Jamaican people.”

Morgan added that the recent parliamentary debate over NaRRA served an important public education purpose, giving Jamaicans a clearer picture of how outdated bureaucratic processes — particularly around public procurement — are stifling national progress. He noted that the audit’s findings directly reinforce the arguments the government made during the debate in favor of reform.

“As a Government, we did our research and presented data making the case that there is a better way forward in pursuit of reconstruction and resilience building — a 21st-century, fit-for-purpose way that will have positive impact and deliver transformational results in a timely fashion, while ensuring transparency, probity and accountability,” Morgan said.

He reminded the public that the audit represents a snapshot of ongoing work, rather than a final assessment of the full recovery effort. “I wish to emphasise the fact that the Report in question is the product of a real-time audit, which is a snapshot in time, and as such, it should be appreciated that post-Hurricane Melissa relief and recovery activities are ongoing; they are not at an end.”