The Jamaican Government is now seeking to speed up the approval process for licensing of stakeholders in the local cannabis injustry.
This is according to the Industry Minister, Karl Samuda who has revealed that he is not happy with the progress of the industry as it is not progressing as anticipated.
Samuda said “We are not satisfied with the pace at which approvals are made (nor) the manner in which we anticipated that this industry would take off”.
He made the remarks while responding to questions from opposition legislator Peter Bunting, regarding the Estimates of Expenditure for cannabis product development.
The queries were made during the recent meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament.
According to the Minister, many stakeholders are of the view that the approval process is too “cumbersome” and “lends itself to unnecessary bureaucracy and delay, and I certainly anticipate that we will see some significant changes”.
He noted that while two licences have been approved and the licensees have started production, “I think there is a lot more that can be done if some of the bureaucracy is removed”.
“It is an industry that can take off and earn massive amounts of foreign exchange, and that is why we are going to pay particular attention to loosening up all the knots that have plagued us over the last year.”
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