Robert Buddan, Contributor
GOVERNMENT IS a positive force in development when it is democratic, well-managed and trusted by society. Many who believe in the "developmental state" or at least a role for the state in development, believe that Government and state can be positive for development. A close reading of political economy suggests that states have been more active in creating democracy and markets than market theorists would have us believe. In Jamaica, the state and Government have to work with and promote democracy and markets. Calls for cutbacks of the state can be dangerous.
Prime Minister Patterson's message is a sensible and thoughtful one. It is that the process of rationalizing Government must continue and should be accelerated but there can be no overnight arbitrary cuts. Core services of Government must be maintained while we resize Go-vernment to the society and economy.
The state is not an abstract concept of political science that we can ignore nor is it an enemy of the people that we should avoid. It is part of our daily and living reality. One cannot really separate state and society since they are highly integrated in the organization and operation of society. Just a glance at any daily newspaper over a few days will show the number of ways in which the state is vital to the communities in which we live, the public services we rely on and the companies where we work.
GOVERNMENT'S VITAL ROLE
There are some very important reasons why cut backs will do more harm than good. Go-vernment might feel compelled to stand by an election promise. When it doesn't, people complain that politicians are not to be trusted. For example, The Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture will go ahead and provide $58 million in fee assistance to over 20,000 CXC candidates as promised during the 2002 campaign in spite of the fiscal crisis. Education, we all agree is a vital service that needs state support.
Government might be a party to an international agreement and needs to prepare local companies for standards to access other markets. The Jamaica Bureau of Standards is to build a chemical testing lab at a cost of $200 million to allow manufacturers to meet higher standards under the Free Trade Area of the Ame-ricas. Without this, exporters will not be able to access FTAA markets and we will lose many jobs.
Government might have started a project that it needs to complete if the initial investment is not to be wasted. The second phase of the Wireless Network System at the Mandeville Regional Hospital needs more than $6 million. Some $1.4 million was spent on the first phase. We need this system so that hospital staff can access the dockets of patients electronically and therefore, more speedily. We need to expand this system to May Pen and other hospitals. This is a vital service to patients that we all want.
Government might be committed to carrying through demands from society which are necessary to protect a vulnerable section of our population. The Child Development Agency (CDA) is mandated to carry out 46 recommendations to deal with child abuse in places of safety. We called this situation scandalous last year. The CDA needs to expand rather than cut back its work. Moral outrage is not enough. We must spend on our morality.
Government might have to spend on defending our overseas markets because the loss of those markets will cost more than we save. Jamaica will have to defend its sugar industry at WTO hearings against challenges from other countries to our agreement with Europe. The sugar industry earned us US$75 million last year and provided 40,000 jobs. We must spend to protect vital international agreements.
Government's service might demand that it spends more to improve its capacity to deliver our freedoms. The Freedom of Information Unit has only just begun to monitor requests for newly released information. The early signs are that demand is vibrant. Should Government cut back on this service the public will say Government is not serious about releasing information. Freedom does not come for free.
Government often has to spend to enforce the law or we will have lawlessness and consequently, health and environmental problems. A public health representative told the St. Thomas Parish Council that compliance with public health regulations by food establishments has improved since Government started to crackdown on those establishments. We must spend to prevent health crises that will cost more to cure.
Government spending saves lives and property. The May Pen Fire Department says that it responded to 300 fires last year that caused $40 million worth of damage. Fire departments are responsible for protecting property valued at billions of dollars. But the Savanna-La-Mar fire department says it is not equipped to deal with a major fire at this time. It wants more money.
Government has to deal with major environmental disasters that affect health and economy. Some 100 million tonnes of silt flow into Kingston Harbour each year and the National Water Commission (NWC) is negotiating US$400 million funding to treat and recycle sewerage from St. Catherine, Kingston and St. Andrew. A new recycling plant will be established for St. James which accounted for seven per cent of the island's sewerage each year.
Government sometimes gets grants for development which it must use or lose and for which it must provide complementary funding. The government will get $400 million from the Euro-pean Union under the STABEX fund to rehabilitate 56 parochial roads in six parishes that will benefit a number of districts. Incidentally, the STABEX fund was an idea that Michael Manley got European countries to accept when he campaigned for a New International Economic Order.
RESPONSIBILITY FISCAL MANAGEMENT
Our daily lives are filled with stories of government's plans. Often, Government is criticized, not for doing too much, but for not doing enough. It is therefore strange how easily many of us speak in favour of cut backs. I don't think the badly housed people, those exposed to pollution and environmental degradation, the abused children on the streets or in homes of safety, those in buildings or areas of high risk to fire, those who need Government assistance for education, and so on, are calling for cutbacks.
Government must be sensitive to these people even if many of us are not. The fiscal crisis must be addressed through soci-ally responsible fiscal management. The private sector itself must agree that if many companies were more fiscally responsible they would not have had to be bailed out by Government and bought out by companies from Trinidad and Barbados.
Cutting back is not just a matter of political will either. There are opposing wills involved. Jamaicans for Justice would not want cutbacks on the mandate of the Child Development Agency. The trade unions would not want arbitrary cutbacks on public sector employment. The people of Black River will not want the National Works Agency to cut back spending to repair the Black River Bridge.
Poor people will not want PATH to cut back assistance to needy school children. Super-Clubs and other hoteliers will not want the Jamaica Tourist Board's participation in the coming Caribbean Marketplace trade show to be cut back. There are stakeholders in Government programmes who will not sit back and allow cut back that is not even-handed and sensitive.
We must be careful since the call for cut back might end up with you losing a vital service to your home, community or business. Political parties and trade unions have struggled hard for many rights and services for the people. We cannot allow backdoor IMF-like cutbacks to take them away. We must think about expanding the economy, not cutting back the state.
Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona: E-Mail: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm
