Getting insight into Jamaica and the IMF

To be a part of an audience allowed to throw questions to a panel of persons that included Sis Helene Davis Whyte, General Secretary of Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers (JALGO), Devon Rowe, Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Bert van Selm, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Advisor to Jamaica is something that one is not privy to in most occasions.

Sisters Jillian and Beatrice engage Bert van Selm of the IMF at the workshop in Kingston on Tuesday

However several trade union members from across the Caribbean were able to on Tuesday were treated to a presentation by such a panel and enlightened about different aspects of the IMF deal that Jamaica is currently undergoing. Persons would have known the background of the situation with Jamaica being in a tail spin when it comes to debt and a economy that keeps on climbing into the ground.

This provided great insight for members as some of them are familiar with the IMF with some countries having signed agreements in the past. However the feeling of the IMF coming to the workshop made the impact of what the trade union was about more profound in the minds of some if not all.

This in my estimation shows the important of the trade union movement to the global landscape and this should give us the impetus to push forward and ensure that the movement to protect the rights of workers is never neglected. To have the IMF in our halls and other persons that speak to the arrangement of the recent Medium Term Agreement makes is worthwhile as it shows respect afforded to us. 

Sis Sandra and others I believe asked pertinent questions but I think that the one that took the cake was if Jamaica couldn't get a write off of some of this debt. I wish  that we could have gotten an answer that suggested somethig in that regard but that wasn't to be.

Mrs Whyte a part of the oversight committee in relations to the IMF agreement in Jamaica was a wealth of knowledge and it is expected that the aspects related to workers rights will definitely have a voice in this period of financial regulation that Jamaica is currently undergoing. Mr Devon Rowe was able to bring great insight into the operations of the Jamaican Government and how they have posit themselves during this time of challenges.

This third leg of the workshop is only getting better and is proving to be a fitting end to a series of training that speaks to development and leadership.