Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

While the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) have welcomed the announcement of the date of the general election, the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) is expressing reservations that the date will affect the tourism industry.

The associations were responding to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's announce-ment of the general election, which will take place on August 27.

Yesterday, Omar Azan, president of the JMA told The Gleaner that he had no reservations with the August date.

"I have no problem in terms of the date that was set, and the only problem I have is that I hope ... the election (will) be a safe, fair and transparent one," he said.

Mr. Azan said it was important that the period (of campaigning) takes place in a safe environment.

"No matter what happens, business must go on, and the wheels of industry must continue turning," he said. "So we ask that everybody plays it as safe as possible that we can be proud at the end of it all, and to say that we had a real decent election."

Early or late purchasing

Francis Kennedy, acting president of the JCC said the date would affect some businesses but that this would not be detrimental.

"I don't think we have a problem with the timing," he said. "I think that we need to get the elections out of the way and don't wait any longer."

As it relates to business, he said: "What's going to happen here is instead of back-to-school purchasing starting in the middle of August, it will now start at the end of August or right after the elections."

However, president of the JHTA, Wayne Cummings, expressed concerns that an election at the end of August could affect the summer tourism season.

"August is the last period for families to be able to travel during the summer holiday season and that is where my concerns lie. How many persons are going to be prepared to take their children into a location if there is an increase in violence?" he said. "We have a history of having a very colourful way of dealing with elections. Seven weeks is a long time from announcement to the actual event, persons who may be looking to create any kind of problems would now have an opportunity."

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com