Jamaicans may never fully understand FINSAC meltdown without report - Smith

By Kimone Witter 

   

Political commentator Lloyd B. Smith says Jamaicans may never fully comprehend the cause and impact of the financial sector meltdown in the 1990s without the report that was commissioned.

 

Mr. Smith described that period in Jamaica's history as a tragedy, following Thursday's release of documents from the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry, dubbed the FINSAC Commission Archives.

 

Speaking Friday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106, Mr. Smith recalled a period when high interest rates of up to 120 per cent were taking their toll. 

 

"I recall at the time I was president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry. And I remember I had to call a the meeting of several businessmen, and when I entered the room, it was like death was in the room because everybody had a sombre look. And the reality was that everybody was under pressure because the high interest rate with literally putting them out of business," he recounted.   

 

Mr. Smith lamented that the archives will be hard for many Jamaicans to access and digest. 

 

"I tried to delve into it and I gave up because it's a lot of verbiage. I was hoping, for example, that there would at least have been some kind of executive summary that would have, you know, given you a comprehensive oversight as to what took place and maybe even some recommendations. But then, unfortunately, that is not there." 

 

"Archives are just a collection of data. And in the final analysis, what he would have wanted was the report, which would have told us exactly what happened, why it happened, when it happened, what are the recommendations going forward, etc," he suggested. 

 

The FINSAC Commission of Enquiry was set up in 2008 to examine the cause of the financial sector meltdown and the appropriateness of the actions taken by the Financial Sector Adjustment Company in dealing with delinquent borrowers.

 

But after several starts and stops including the replacement of the chairman, difficulty finding a venue for the commission to meet, a spend of more than $160 million, and the resignation of the commissioners, a report has never been produced.