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SBAJ President Garnett Reid
By Lorraine Walker
The Small Business Association of Jamaica has reacted to the publishing of documents from the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) Commission of Enquiry.
The documents, dubbed the FINSAC Commission Archives, have been uploaded to the website of the Ministry of Finance.
"Too little, too late" is how SBAJ President Garnett Reid has described the publication of the documents.
The FINSAC Commission of Enquiry was set up in 2008 to examine the cause of the financial sector meltdown in the 1990s and the appropriateness of the actions taken by FINSAC 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.
Mr. Reid says the publication of the archives is appreciated, but he laments that it had not been done sooner.
"After 30 years, it's a good move. But this should have [been] done some at least 20 years ago. This is too little, too late; too little, too late. And I'm very disappointed with both administrations for not releasing the [documents sooner]."
Recounting the FINSAC meltdown, Mr. Reid bemoaned the devastating impact it had on many owners of micro, small and medium sized businesses.
"I know of people who borrowed $5 million to pump in their business and end up owing $40 million, lose their house, lose their businesses, lose their cars, lose all their belongings, and die of a broken heart," he noted.
Mr. Reid said the Small Business Association of Jamaica will deliver a more fulsome response after it has perused the documents in the archives.
"I'm planning to go through the archive page by page... and we will give an official response. And I hope, I hope that what is in there is a true reflection of what happened to the FINSAC meltdown."
Money was allocated in 2009 by the then Jamaica Labour Party government to begin the sittings of the FINSAC commission.
But, when the JLP lost the 2011 general election, new finance minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, said the government would not allocate any additional funds for the commission.
When the JLP returned to power in 2016, $58.3 million was budgeted to complete the report, but with the commission still not producing the document, the government determined it would not spend more to get the report.
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