‘Stop confusing the public with talk of faster recovery’, Thame tells Gov’t senators

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Senator Dr Maziki Thame told her Government counterparts on Friday to “stop confusing the public with this idea that we’re recovering faster than expected”.

Thame was responding to recent statements by Finance Minister Fayval Williams, who cited Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) data to suggest that the economy is recovering faster than projected following Hurricane Melissa. Williams told a recent post-Cabinet media briefing that the recovery is 18 months ahead of projection.

Thames made the comment on Friday during her contribution to the debate on the Environmental Protection Levy Bill in the Senate. While offering her “general support” for the bill —which was eventually passed after an embarrassing mix-up saw the wrong bill being tabled earlier in the debate— she said:“It seems to us that after months of delay, that the Government’s urgency on this bill speaks to the need to address Jamaica’s dire economic circumstances”.