Government urged to prepare for Logistics hub

There is need for the government to make adjustments in how persons are trained and also improve business transactions as it moves towards the introduction of the Logistics hub.

Dr. Fitz Pinnock, Executive Director of the Caribbean Maritime Institute said if this is not done, the country could end up looking overseas for foreigners to come and fill the jobs that will be created.   

“But we definitely want to end up in the case of a Dubai where 70% of the work force for their logistics hub is from outside. This is an area where we need the greatest resource that Jamaica has and we need to focus on it , it is not our coffee, it’s not our bauxite, it’s our people . We need to invest in our people,  and realize that the whole approach that got us into the mess  that we are  - where we are still putting all of our money in oversubscribed areas that nobody wants, we can now start looking into skills sets and how we can invest in those.”

He added that the government should also look at improving its systems for quick time processing, in order to attract investors in shipping.

“This type of global environment will require a one stop shop. Are we prepared for this ? are we prepared for some government agencies to give us some powers to facilitate a business transaction in a day , something that now takes months. These are some hardcore decisions that we need to make because these are they type of things that investors are weary of” he said.

Dr. Pinnock was a  guest at the weekly RJR News Forum.