SBAJ wants help from both government and big business post-Melissa
Published:Wednesday | November 5, 2025 | 12:12 AM
In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, the Small Business Association of Jamaica, SBAJ, is urging the Jamaican government and big businesses to review policies to help micro, small and medium-sized enterprises get back on their feet as soon as possible.
SBAJ President Garnett Reid said the government should immediately establish a steering committee to coordinate the rebuilding effort, and that MSMEs should be part of the rebuilding efforts.
“We are calling upon the government to establish a steering committee to oversee allocation and distribution of relief supplies. The steering committee should create a database of small business sector professionals who can support the rebuilding efforts. This database would be further supported by waivers of procurement processes which are too difficult,” Reid said during a press conference last Friday.
SBAJ Vice-President Dennise Williams said many MSMEs were ‘solopreneurs’ or family-run businesses, often run by women, that often balanced their business and personal needs. She also emphasised the need to temporarily relax the procurement rules.
“Many MSMEs have been wiped out because their customer base has been wiped out,” said Williams.
“At the SBAJ, we have a database of ready entrepreneurs who can be pulled on for the clean-up, logistics and rebuilding efforts. However, under the current procurement cycle, they don’t qualify; they don’t have the documents that are required,” she added.
“ The procurement process is difficult on a good day. We are asking that there be a review of procurement processes to fast-track getting the grassroots, small businesses, micro businesses, medium-sized businesses back on their feet,” she said.
SBAJ Secretary Kevin Frith urged the country’s big conglomerates to assist smaller entrepreneurs in getting get back on track.
“Many of these small businesses that are damaged in St Elizabeth and Westmoreland are actually some of their main distributors,” Frith noted.
“I think, based on the contribution of the small business sector within those communities for the larger companies, it is worthwhile for them to come together, pool resources in order to bring these mom-and-pop shops back into full operation, so that the persons in the community can benefit,” he said.
“While it’s good that we’re focusing on bringing in food and so on, the immediate situation where there’s a lot of infrastructure damage to business operations, dressmakers who have lost their sewing machines, welders who have lost their welding plants … . I am asking that we pay attention to these small things that can get the economy up and running,” he added.
In 2023, there were about 425,000 MSMEs operating in Jamaica, accounting for 13 per cent of government revenue, or $220 billion in taxes, and 34 per cent of Jamaica’s labour force.