Patterson
Dr. Penrole Brown, Contributor
THE MOST Honourable Prime Minister and President of the governing People's National Party (PNP), P.J. Patterson, after some thirteen years as Prime Minister, has recently advised the National Executive Council of the PNP that he intends to offer himself as President at the party's annual conference slated for September, 2005.
We are sure that the Prime Minister is seriously preoccupied as he ponders on his departure what will be the mark he leaves, his legacy, after being Jamaica's longest-serving Prime Minister.
We are of the considered view that Mr. Patterson runs the risk of going down in history as the worst and most ineffective Prime Minister of Jamaica. This will certainly be the case unless he acts decisively and immediately, in the time he has remaining, to address a number of the major ills which currently beset the country.
A number of articles have appeared in the press over the past several months as the Prime Minister celebrated both his seventieth birthday and his thirteen years as leader of the country. Some have focused on analysing his legacy. Let us examine a number of these.
LEGACIES
One of the most often cited achievements of the current Prime Minister is that he has succeeded in reducing the level of conflict and confrontation between the main rival political parties and the Government and Opposition, engendering a greater level of cooperation.
We do not consider this any great achievement since there have been in the past, similar levels of cooperation, for example during the Michael Manley and Hugh Shearer years and the Bustamante and Norman Manley years. After all, the latter two were cousins.
In addition, what is the relevance of this at this time when the level of murders and other heinous crimes in the society have reached an all-time high?
The fact that he is the longest-serving Prime Minister of Jamaica as a result of his party winning three successive elections under his leadership is also nothing to crow about. Gaining political power in the face of a weak opposition party is really no great achievement.
Further, gaining political power is not and should not be an end in itself. It is what is done with such power to improve the lives of Jamaicans which is the acid test of the effectiveness of political leadership.
Recently, he is being cited as "Mr. Infrastructure", and at the ground-breaking ceremony for the new transportation centre for Half-Way Tree, the Prime Minister stated that this was a part of his legacy.
We have heard of no great leader either local or foreign, who has had to highlight his or her legacy. Policies and programmes are pursued and it is left to history to decide what the legacy is.
No doubt the Prime Minister is seeking to give the impression that major developments in infrastructure, such as what has taken place at the ports and toll road, is due mainly to his stewardship. We do not think this to be the case since the nation is fully aware of the major driving forces behind such projects which could have been implemented without his active involvement.
He has also asserted that he is the Prime Minister which has given more land to the landless in the history of Jamaica. If he is speaking about Operation PRIDE, which has been the subject of charges of corruption, then he had better think again. In addition, let us face the facts. It is understood that the Operation PRIDE programme has mainly been engaged in giving out letters of possession to potential beneficiaries - no titles, no infrastructure just a piece of paper.
Further, we understand that a majority of schemes under the programme are at a standstill owing to a variety of causes, including improper selection of sites, inadequate planning and lack of funding.
With respect to foreign policy matters, which the Prime Minister claims as his forte, there is clearly not much to show. Yes there have been agreements reached with countries such as China for significant assistance, however, scores of developing and undeveloped countries, including many in Africa, have been benefiting from the largesse of the Chinese, whose economy has grown substantially over the past ten years.
With regard to CARICOM, again there is nothing much to show. The move towards the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) appears stymied and caught up in regional wrangling. In fact, based on reports coming out of the recent CARICOM summit in St. Lucia, it would appear that Prime Minister Patterson has lost his clout as the 'elder statesman' and that the real leaders of the regional movement currently are Prime Ministers Manning of Trinidad and Tobago, Owen Arthur of Barbados and Kenny Anthony of St. Lucia, who are now obviously calling the shots.
To his credit, the Prime Minister took a principled stand on the 'forced' removal from office of the former Haitian President Aristide bucking the great power of the USA. Aristide however remains in exile and life and death) goes on in Haiti.
From the above, it is reasonably to conclude that Prime Minister Patterson's legacy as he comes to the end of his reign is found woefully wanting.
THE REALITY
Following a speech by one of the country's leading bankers, much debate has ensued as to whether or not Jamaica can be categorised as a "Failed State". We will not add to the debate in terms of categorisation but which to identify a number of areas where the Patterson-led Government has failed in the past thirteen years.
A) CRIME, VIOLENCE
Topping the list of failures of the Patterson-led administration is the inability to control crime and violence in the society. Since he was sworn into office in February 1992, the number of Jamaicans who have been murdered has totalled close to 12,000, reaching a high point of 1,471 murders in 2004 and for the first half of the 2005, up to last week, over 900 murders already committed, projecting an increased number for this year and a new record.
The impact of crime on all aspects of the Jamaican society is clear: investments from both local and foreign sources which could create new employment are been shelved; the educational system is being affected; social interactions are being disrupted; and, the citizens are gripped in fear, unable to live normal lives which prevail in other civil societies.
After two Ministers of National Security, numerous crime fighting plans, many speeches to the nation on crime and a campaign of "values and attitudes", the crime situation has worsened.
Unless the Prime Minister, in the time he has left, demonstrates that he has the will and implements with urgency the policies and programmes which are necessary to stem the wanton killing of men, women and children in Jamaica, and to restore law and order to the land, then he would have failed and one of his main legacies would be a country overrun by criminals, marked by uncontrolled lawlessness and a society moving towards anarchy.
He needs to act and act now!
EDUCATION
After thirteen years as Prime Minister, it was only this year that the glaring realities with respect to the deficiencies in our educational system being exposed, that Mr. Patterson has awakened to the fact, to use his own words, that the educational system is in need of "a revolution".
After thirteen years as Prime Minister, the following are major failings of our educational system as identified in the Report of the Task Force on Educational Reform and other publications by the Government:
Close to eighty per cent (80%) of Jamaica's labour force has had no training whatsoever.Less than one-third of the children entering grade one were ready for the primary levelOnly approximately 20% of secondary graduates had the requisite qualification for meaningful employment and/or entry to post secondary programmes.The poor examination results displayed at all levels of the system indicate that there is a large number of students at primary and secondary levels not performing at their grade levels. For example:* Only 31% of the children achieved mastery on all subtests in the Grade 1 Readiness Inventory.
* In the Grade 3 Diagnostic Test, only 14% mastered all the Language Arts concepts with only 4% mastering all the Mathematics concepts.
* Only 57% of students sitting the Grade 4 Literacy Test achieved mastery.
*In GSAT, the average student performance ranged from 67% in Communication Task to 48% in Mathematics and Science
*In the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) less than 33% achieved passing grades in English Language, and only a mere 3% in Mathematics.
*In the CSEC 16% of the cohort passed Mathematics and 25% passed English Language.
At the early childhood level, the quality of the space in most facilities is substandard.At the primary level, universal access is at the expense of massive overcrowding, particularly in the urban areas. On the other hand, there are some schools, particularly in remote rural areas, where enrolment is below capacity.At the secondary level, many schools are huge and overcrowded as the MOEY&C continues to allocate large numbers of students from the primary level without regard to capacity.Less than 50% of schools have adequate toilet facilitiesOver 50 per cent of all schools do not have a fence or wall as security for the perimeter.Nearly 20% of pupils need seating and a writing surface.Schools require specialist facilities such as science laboratories, libraries and secure computer storage.Currently 50% of schools are in need of major repair.Based on the litany of deficiencies outlined above, it is patently clear that the educational system has failed with a noticeable decline in performance over the past thirteen years.
We therefore agree fully with the Prime Minister that the country's educational system is in "need of a revolution".
This is notwithstanding the fact that for the past thirteen years in various speeches and Budget presentations in Parliament we have been led to believe that significant strides were being made in the country's educational system.
We are aware of the generalised plans as outlined in the report of the Task Force. What we have not heard much about, however, are the detailed plans, programmes, deliverables and timelines to effect the urgently needed transformation of the country's educational system.
The nation needs to be advised of the various programmes and the target dates for their implementation. Without this information, we can only conclude that this is only another grand announcement with no real improvements being realised.
Dr. Penrole Brown is an economist. Send your comments to editor@gleanerjm.com
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