Declaring herself immune to any "bangarang" that may be visited upon her by the Opposition, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller last week defiantly restated her intention to dip into the National Housing Trust for cash to finance housing projects in poor communities.

Although the Prime Minister did not spell out the programmes she has in mind, if we understand her correctly the Government will hit the NHT for more than the $15 billion it has earmarked for its inner-city housing programme, which is itself three times higher than when the initiative was originally announced and two-thirds more than what was settled on.

This newspaper is, of course, not averse to initiatives to help the poor, except, as we have argued before, such initiatives must be open and transparent and not be used for partisan political advantage. We insist, too, that money held in trust ought not to be used outside the prescribed areas, lest we develop the habit of grabbing any and every asset, regardless of the rules. The law, despite the view of some, ought to be a shackle, deserving of the greatest respect, especially from those charged with its enforcement. Decency and morality demand no less.

Which is why we suggest to Prime Minister Simpson Miller and her finance minister, Dr Omar Davies, that rather than exacerbate their binge at the NHT that they revamp the scheme to bring greater transparency to the taxation process and give the Government more flexibility in allocating resources to where it perceives the greatest need.

The NHT, established in the 1970s at a time when Jamaica faced a deep housing crisis, was, at the time, an exceedingly imaginative initiative. It is funded by what, in effect, is a seven-year loan by employees of two per cent of their gross salaries and a three-percent payroll tax on employers. So employees get back their money; employers don't.

The trust has built up a fund from the employee and employers contribution of over $55 billion and overall assets of over $80 billion. It is taking in cash from workers and firms and interest income, far faster than it can provide benefits to contributors, who are the employees. Firms get nothing. Not mortgages; not the face value of their contributions; not interest.

It is understandable that with this mountain of cash before it, the Government is tempted to circumvent or stretch, however deftly, the rules of the trust defining who should be the beneficiaries of NHT funds. So there was the supposed one-off grab of $5 billion by Mrs Simpson Miller's predecessor for the education sector and now her intention to use money for inner-city housing.

All that's good and well. But why not let us just end the farce? If the NHT can't adequately utilise the money as intended, it should perhaps lower the rates of contribution and treat the employers' portion the same as it does that of employees. Or, rather than pretending the private sector portion is a 'contribution' to housing rather than a definitive tax, the Government should come straight and put the money into Consolidated Fund where it can have access to it for inner-city housing or whatever else it needs to do.