Unclaimed money to be used for funding cannabis farmers, says Shaw

The Agriculture Minister of Jamaica Audley Shaw has said unclaimed money in the banking sector is being targeted to establish a development fund that will provide funding for ganja farmers and other members of the small and medium-sized enterprises sector.

While addressing the CanEx Jamaica Business Conference and Expo in Montego Bay last weekend Shaw made this announcement. He pointed out that the Government is moving to identify funding for cannabis farmers, some of whom have been expressing fears that they will be brushed aside by cash-rich entities.

"We'll have $15 billion made available immediately," said Shaw.

"My recommendation to the finance minister, the prime minister and the Government is that we should create a special development fund with $15 billion dollars, targeted to our small and medium enterprises sector, including our small farmers in the cannabis sector."

According to Shaw, the idea of Government taking charge of unclaimed money in the banking sector is not unique as this happens in other countries, including the United States.

"We have not made enough money available to this sector in Jamaica," said Shaw, who is a former minister of finance. "One of the things we are looking at is the question of dormant funds, the unclaimed funds in the banking system. The global standard for the return of unclaimed funds to the central government is about seven years, and that in Jamaica it is 15 years. The return period in the United States is five years."

According to Shaw, should the Government decide to cut the waiting period to take control of unclaimed money by half, the amount that would become available would increase substantially.

"Now [if] the Government makes a decision to bring this down to at least seven and a half years, we would have a pool of a total volume of dormant funds of $45 billion dollars," said Shaw.

Shaw further explained that the move to adjust the waiting period for unclaimed funds is to provide a faster turnaround for these funds to be turned over to the central government by the banking sector to help finance the cannabis industry and other small-business endeavours.