Phyllis Thomas, News Editor
THE 200 million euros which the Government was able to raise on the international capital market last week has offered it reprieve from the staggering cash crunch, but only just.
The Government has been grinning from ear to ear over this accomplishment and is even being given the thumbs up in some quarters for being able to pull this one off in an environment where its credibility has waned. Others, however, not the least among them the Oppo-sition, feel that with the country's massive debt remaining, this is nothing for the Government to beat its chest about. In fact Dr. Christopher Tufton, head of Generation 2000 (G2K), the group of young professionals affiliated with the jamaica labour Party (JLP) saw no need for diplomacy in his assessment of the situation. "It's the first country where you celebrate when you borrow," he said. Put that way, he must have shattered the ballooning state ego.
Amidst the coup or no coup arguments are proposals that are being advanced as the way out of the crisis. Lately, the much touted one has been that put forward by the private sector, called Partnership for Progress.
It is defined as a private sector-led initiative that seeks to form an alliance between the private sector, Government, the Oppo-sition, trade unions, academia and civil society. The private sector's commitment is to come in the form of voluntary debt swap, the unions are expected to agree to wage restraints and the Government to present policies to enable and then cement the deal. The opposition's support, it is believed, will provide the environment for the smooth implementation of the initiative.
ALLIANCE
The private sector is already the first partner in the alliance, being the group leading it but no other group has formally signed onto it. The unions, according to a report in the Observer on Friday, agreed to a two-year salary freeze in exchange for job security for public sector workers. However, it quoted Senator Dwight Nelson, vice-president of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions as stating emphatically that this had nothing to do with Partnership for Progress. That's for later, he said.
We have not heard a peep out of the academia and civil society and the Opposition is already stirring up the hornet's nest. Opposition Leader Edward Seaga got the private sector groups edgy last week when, even before attending an ar-ranged meeting with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, he said his party was not attaching much importance to it. That was downright negative.
As far as I am concerned, once the result of the initiative is for the country to be a better place, all of us should support that concept. However, while the intentions are good and the idea of a partnership for progress excellent, there is a major flaw in how they are going about it now which is setting it up for the kind of negativity which it can do without.
WRONG
While Mr. Seaga was wrong to shoot it down even before attending the meeting he was right to express concern over the fact that he was being urged to support something which he didn't even see. He said the Opposition had not attended any meeting and had not seen any document on the programme.
This issue was taken up by Dr. Tufton. He said that G2K wanted the contents around which the sectors will collaborate to be clear.
That aspect of the initiative seems to be of concern generally and understandably so. It is a real issue because there cannot be consensus when the content is blurred, when total openness is lacking, opening the door to mistrust. From the arguments it seems that persons are unsure of how this thing is going to work. The fact that there are talks about contents that groups will be asked to sign unto, presupposes something that is already drafted by one or more persons and the authors expect others to give their approval.
On the other hand, others believe that the various groups, including the Government and the Opposition, will bring to the table proposals charting the course that the country should take, based on figures representing the true nature of the country's financial crisis.
The private sector needs to come upfront and soon if it is to get everyone's minds trained on this programme. If Partnership for Progress is going to be in the best interest of the nation then the Opposition would be well advised to put politics aside and endorse the initiative. This would be seen as a demonstration of maturity. History will record that when the country faced its deepest crisis, that the various groups came together to forge a national solution to reverse the negative and potentially devastating trends.
The immature thing for the JLP to do is to see the exercise in terms of helping the Government. History will record how they responded to the crisis. Historical data are already showing that the policies of the present administration have pushed the country to the brink of economic implosion.
DATA
Another concern of the Opposition is the Government's failure to provide it with data representing the extent of the country's economic problems. This has not been forthcoming, Mr. Seaga said. One can understand that concern, also the concern caused by the statement by K.D. Knight after his party retreat last weekend, that the country should not expect any significant changes in how the Government is running the country. If that is so, why are we meeting anyway about any partnership. In that case we are all wasting our time and the Government would have been playing with people's already fragile emotions.
People are in no mood for folly from any quarters, or for pussyfooting or senseless arguments. People are tired of seeing this country used as political ball ground and its people as the ball. They are weary. They want to see the country restored to viability.
Comments? You can e-mail me at phyllis.thomas@gleanerjm.com
