Three young school leavers have been granted loans under the Young Entrepreneurs Programme (YEP) that was announced by Prime Minister Bruce Golding during this year’s Budget Debate. They are Movet Murphy, Raniel McGregor and Richard Durrant.
YEP is a government initiative aimed at providing 2009 school leavers (at the high school and tertiary levels) with training and access to financing for viable small-business projects. A total of J$200 million has been made available through the Development Bank of Jamaica to microfinance organisations such as Jamaica National Small Business Loans Limited (JNSBL), the Credit Union League, NationGrowth, Access Financial Services Ltd. and Micro Credit Ltd. to on-lend to the graduates.
JNSBL handed over cheques to the three young entrepreneurs recently. Murphy, 17, got her loan to open a shop, while McGregor and Durrant (both 19 years old) are starting separate chicken-farming ventures. All three live within commuting distance of Morant Bay in rural St. Thomas.
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