Craft market sector gets oversight body

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

A CRAFT market oversight body is to be set up to monitor and regulate activities in Jamaica's 14 markets designed to showcase items, particularly for tourists.

Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill said the authority was being set up based on the outcome of a concept paper, which was produced with a view to putting in place a craft policy he said was critical to propelling the industry forward.

"It is our intention to set up a body for all the craft markets, which would set up a level playing field for all the craft markets so they have the same rules and regulations. ... We expect when the authority is set up that it will have a role to play in determining what the priorities are in terms of what work needs to be done," McNeill said.

The Government has spent $60 million carrying out remedial works on craft markets this year and McNeill said that was not nearly sufficient to affect the transformational work that is needed.

North East St Ann Member of Parliament Shahine Robinson has brought a motion to Parliament calling for the Government to radically reform the craft sector. Robinson said a critical plank of the reform is the upgrading and refurbishing of craft markets to make them more appealing to potential buyers of craft. Robinson argued that going forward, the resuscitation of the craft sector should be based on improving infrastructure, product quality and marketing.

McNeill agreed with Robinson on the need to improve the quality and diversify the offerings of craft items produced, noting that "A number of times when you go into the craft markets and a number of the shops, it is the same thing you are seeing, there is no diversity."

He added: "We have to address that problem quite seriously."

McNeill said his ministry was working collaboratively with the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office, the Edna Manley College, Jamaica Business Development Corporation and the Bureau of Standards to create a brand called 'Authentic Jamaican' that will only be sold in craft markets.

Meanwhile, Robinson is pushing for the creation of a craft portfolio within a government ministry, arguing that the sector requires greater coordination and attention from the State.

Robinson, who is also the opposition spokesperson with responsibility for tourism, said in the House of Representatives last Tuesday that only a targeted intervention would see the sector being able to achieve its potential.

STATE'S RESPONSIBILITY

"Craft vending in this country seems to be taking place without the kind of portfolio oversight and ministerial rigour that should attend such a significant area of business endeavour," Robinson said.

She argued that the State has a responsibility to lead the transformation of the craft sector to ensure that it becomes a dynamic, formalised and attractive area to traders and customers.

Robinson has also questioned the approach of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) to the granting of licences to individual traders in the craft industry. She said TPDCo has a responsibility to say whether it considers the issue of viability in the granting of licences, arguing that the sector risks becoming over-subscribed or saturated.