LEADER OF Opposition Business in the Senate, Dr. Ossie Harding has attacked the recommendations of the Orane report which proposed the scaling down of the country's overseas missions.
He said the Government should review the recommendations, "which are in the most part inimical to the interest of Jamaica."
Senator Harding, who is also the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, also criticised the Government for what, he said, was an excess of political appointees in the Foreign Service.
The JLP Senator made the statements while making his presentation in the State of the Nation Debate, yesterday.
The Task Force to Reduce Waste in the Public Sector, commonly known as the Orane Report, was headed by Independent Senator Douglas Orane in 1999.
It suggested seven main areas for cutting waste in the public sector. These included cutting back on rental for Government agencies and Ministries; rationalisation of overseas missions; rationalisation of public sector allowances; rationalisation of domestic travelling; rationalisation of overseas travelling; implementation of an Advance Card System; and the implementation of energy audits.
Government has saved some $200 million from the implementation of the recommendations in the report over the last two years.
However, Senator Harding charged that the decision to close the country's missions in Moscow, Lagos, Bonn, Caracas, Mexico City and Havana and replace them with non-resident Ambassador/High Commissioners has resulted in trained technical people leaving the service.
Some 24 persons have reassigned as a result of the rationalisation programme. Fourteen of them have returned home and 10 are on leave overseas.
"So much for the Orane recommendations," Senator Hard-ing said. "If the Orane recommendations were to be accepted, in total, we would be virtually returned to a colonial territory with someone else having to look after our affairs."
Dr. Harding also blasted what he said was an excess of political appointees to the Foreign Service, many of whom do not have the requisite training and aptitude.
"Many of these appointees are colleagues or friends of mine and this is not an attack on their ability or reputation. I am discussing a principle," he said.
According to him, it is customary for Governments to make some political appointments. However, he argued that these appointments should not be excessive and the persons selected should be qualified for the positions they are invited to hold.
He added that the country needed to improve its lobbying efforts in the major trading capitals of the world, such as Washington, if it is to secure its interest in an increasingly complex global environment.
