WATCH: Holness urges Jamaicans to dismiss ‘nutten nah gwaan’ mindset Loop Jamaica
Black Immigrant Daily News
Prime Minister Andrew Holness says a level of pessimism has engulfed the country, despite the Government managing to grow the economy amid exogenous shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions in Europe.
“If you are feeling a greater sense of pessimism, negativism, an unexplainable sense of depression, it is as a result of this shock. (If you are feeling) A change in your routine, which has shifted your outlook on life, it is as a result of these shocks,” Holness opined.
He was speaking on Friday in Westmoreland to thousands of young persons who are participating in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development’s Youth Summer Employment Programme (YSEP).
In noting that the shocks have left Jamaicans experiencing rising food and fuel prices, Holness said Jamaicans cannot continue to have the ‘nutten nah gwaan’ mindset.
He pointed to recent social media comments by Jamaicans on his social media pages when he highlighted the visit of Saudi Arabian investors to the country, as examples of that mindset.
“Under one of the comments, ‘Saudi investment can’t nyam!’… It is the truth. It is a reality, but it shows the level of pessimism in the society,” Holness shared.
“I left that event and went to launch a very important initiative to bring electric mobility to Jamaica, and the electric motor vehicle policy… The comments under the event was: ‘Wrong focus! That’s not priority! Mi can’t afford the car!’
“… And I understand, and, yes, you may not be able to afford the cars, but you know what, it is not the first time Jamaica has had exogenous shocks to deal with,” Holness insisted.
He said Jamaica is dealing with the latest shocks differently, resulting in continued growth.
“In fact, we have been dealing with it (the present shocks and crises) much differently, and that is why we continue to recover much faster than other countries in this region,” Holness asserted.
“We had shocks in the 70s – oil prices and commodity shocks. We had shocks in the 80s. We had financial shocks in the 90s. In the 2000s, we had a massive recession, and it took us 10 years to recover.
“This is the first time we are having a shock – two shocks – and we can report growth. Growth!” he stressed.
“We are having a shock from the fallout of the pandemic and from the war in Ukraine. Things that the Government has nothing to do with, yet we can report the lowest level unemployment rate in the history of this country,” he added.
According to Holness, the Government is focused on “development and growth strategies and policies”, rather than spending to result in debt.
“There are those who are saying to us, ‘Forget about spending and building for the future. Tek five per cent or two per cent of your GDP and just spend it.’ We have done that before. We have ended up spending money that we don’t have, and as a result of shock(s), we end up in debt,” he stated.
The prime minister suggested that the very young persons being engaged in the YSEP programme are the ones who will continue to repay the debts that are occurred over the years.
To that end, he said citizens must continue to “ride out this period of exogenous shocks to our economy”.
He also advised the students that, “When yuh go out in the market and yuh hear people say, ‘Nutten nah gwaan and Government nuh care, run dem with that argument!’
“The best way to show you care is to manage the economy well so that the country doesn’t collapse and we end up like other countries you see in the world,” he insisted.
“We are a Government that cares, because in the middle of a crisis we are able to continue with programmes like these to get our young people targeted interventions for employment so that some resources can get in your hands, but the country gets some benefit as well,” stated Holness.
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