Vision of a better Jamaica

Delroy Chuck

THE START of a new year, arguably of a new century, is an opportune time to reflect on a vision of a better Jamaica. I share my vision of a kind and gentle society, of a peaceful and prosperous people, of a clean and healthy environment, of mutual trust and confidence, of an educated and enlightened populace, of a nation, united, and determined to move forward and embrace civility, discipline and decency.

I think of an open, free and just society that shines as a beacon of hope. We can build a good, even a great, society with vision, effort and hard work. First, we must get the economy right. Without a thriving, growing, and vibrant economy, the good life will remain a mere dream. To be sure, we need to find the path to prosperity, jobs and opportunities, and avoid begging and borrowing everywhere. It means an almost complete reversal of the present economic path. Can we accept that foreign investment is more beneficial than foreign loans? Our current anxiety for more loans to live off the savings, remittances and hard work of others is a shameful, debilitating and asinine approach to economic development.

The policies that cause multinational corporations - e.g. Goodyear, Reckitt & Coleman, Colgate-Palmolive, the many garment factories, etc., - to leave, should be abandoned, as we need more multinational corporations, not less; investment and production, not aid and loans. Put our people to work, not out of work. People without work and skills lack the self-esteem, confidence, respect and drive to build a good society. We need the right economic policies, prescriptions and programmes to create jobs and absorb the restless energy of our people.

The widening trade gap with CARICOM, and the rest of the world, is the surest indication jobs are exported, instead of goods and services. When we import more than we export, we are creating jobs elsewhere. I dream of the day when we attract and open new factories, businesses, banks, housing schemes, and new road networks, regularly, perhaps weekly, to provide jobs, instead of lamenting the loss of hundreds of jobs as presently obtains.

A new beginning and a better Jamaica can come, and only come, when investors, local and foreign, have the trust and confidence in the economic policies of a credible and trustworthy government. In fact, the greatest asset a government possesses, notes Lee Kuan Yew, quite rightly, in his book From Third World to First, is the trust and confidence of the people. If local investors are not investing, why should foreigners do? Our government needs to send the correct signals, create the right economic environment and let investors feel the country is ready for business ­ that is not now the case. Moreover, a sound, strong and sustainable economy can only be built by a government that truly understands, trusts and promotes a free and open market economy ­ unrepentant socialists cannot do it.

The battle between the market economy and the command, centrally controlled, economy to decide which is better to create wealth, provide jobs, grow the economy and offer a higher quality of goods and services is over, the market economy has won. Sensible governments are busily shifting to the market mechanism to determine currency value, interest rate policy, prices, benefits, profits, entitlements, needs, supplies, and so on. In the multiplicity of human interactions, people will eventually know what is best; they don't need politicians and bureaucrats to decide for them.

A kinder and gentler Jamaica can emerge and is more likely to come through caring and firm action instead of promising, profiling and pretending.

I feel we are going in the wrong direction when, on Saturday, December 30, 2000, CVM News carried a report of an unknown man who died on the streets of Mandeville for lack of food, water and care. Then, the report showed the many other destitute that are left unattended, and ended with a view of the Ebenezer Centre for the Mentally Challenged, recently opened by the Prime Minister in a glare of publicity, but still locked without any patients. It is a real paradox in Jamaica that applauded announcements and actual implementations are light-years apart. A nation that fails to care, especially for its less fortunate, lacks the civility and decency to become a good society.

To be sure, governments cannot do everything and an honest and wise government should know the limits of its mandate and so inform its people. A good government levels with the people, takes them into its trust and confidence, and seeks to unite and include the people in everything. I am not too sanguine however that this government wants the people to know the many secrets it discusses at Cabinet; they would be shocked and scared.

How, then, can the better Jamaica come? I believe the educated and intellectually endowed could make a difference and lead a revolution in thought and action. Our teachers, churches and business leaders, university lecturers, public opinion shapers and talk-show hosts could pave the way. But, it will not happen soon. Our best and brightest, or most of them, are lost in their selfish endeavours. The profilers come forward. Many are not thinkers, they are believers, believers in the ability of government to make good, believers in the powers of the state to socially engineer the ignorant and huddled mass of poor people and hence believers, foolishly, that promises, propaganda and politics can control and shape our destiny.

My vision of a better Jamaica will come through and bear fruit when we have strong and visionary leaders to inspire our people to demand better, to think, to create, to find new ideas and better ways of doing things, to aspire loftily and to seek a better Jamaica. For government alone cannot do it, it can only find the right environment to lead and make our people work and realise the dream of a peaceful, prosperous and caring nation.

Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by e-mail at delchuck@hotmail.com

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