Brown: Where is the prosperity?

DAMION CRAWFORD said the disclosures in the ministry paper translate to “521,000 Jamaicans living on $250 a day”.

“It means that for three meals a day, they have less than $100 for each meal. It is no wonder JPS (Jamaica Public Service Company) continues to say people thiefing light. It’s no wonder [the National] Water Commission continues to say they are losing how much water,” Crawford said.

“If you promise prosperity, you ought not to be giving the people poverty,” his colleague, Lambert Brown, said.

Government Senator Aubyn Hill quickly fired back, saying that the administration had “nothing to be ashamed about”.

He said that not only was Jamaica’s unemployment rate at historic lows, but that billions of dollars had been pumped into the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education for the current fiscal year “to take care of those persons who might be having a little difficulty”.

“We understand that poverty exists [and] we are doing everything we possibly can to employ people and to make sure we give them a safety net,” he said to loud applause from his colleagues.

The report, which has been reviewed by Cabinet, noted that the overall increase in poverty came against the backdrop of a one per cent growth in the economy and the addition of 26,200 jobs in July 2017.