Sunday's 68th well-choreographed annual conference of the People's National Party served to reconfirm Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's personal popularity among her party faithful. She performed at the conference with panache and displayed at full throttle the political instincts for which she is famous and which propelled her to win the presidency of her party against formidable odds.

Despite the superb orchestration of the conference to display party unity, some of the speeches, including that of former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, were clearly on the defensive and we have no doubt that behind the scenes there are still strains and tensions. But the PNP, under the Prime Minister's leadership, is obviously pulling out all the stops to win a fifth term in Government.

Central to this strategy was the announcement of a $635 million beautification project, funded by proceeds from the PetroCaribe Initiative, to clean up public spaces in major towns and urban centres and, in the process, provide temporary employment over six months for some 12,000 persons.

This newspaper has called repeatedly for an aggressive clean-up programme for the Corporate Area ahead of Cricket World Cup 2007. We have pointed to the seeming inertia among governmental authorities in developing a coordinated plan for Jamaica ahead of the cricket festival. In this regard, any clean-up project for the island is to be welcomed. However, under any other name this is a classic 'crash programme', harking back to the make-work projects of the 1970s. How much actual beautification will take place remains to be seen.

Also, in announcing the project the Prime Minister was somewhat disingenuous to suggest that it had nothing to do with a forthcoming general election. It is pump-priming of the first order and the party faithful undoubtedly have their shovels and machetes at the ready.

The Prime Minister made a point of 'bigging up' Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies, contrasting his trying to balance the financial books of the country while she balanced the needs of the poor. But this may turn out to be an embrace of death for the economy, for in a struggle between political populism and fiscal responsibility we have yet to see the latter survive.

Mrs. Simpson Miller was also at pains to suggest that this works programme will provide jobs for the poor. Six months of make-work projects can hardly be considered the kind of assault on poverty that the country needs. What was announced on Sunday is not much different from the annual "Christmas Work" projects given out by Members of Parliament and parish councillors for people to whitewash pavements and clear weeds from open lots etc. Two weeks after Christmas, many of these same people go back to staring into space for extended periods.

The Prime Minister should not pretend that what was announced on Sunday was anything more than it is. This crash programme is not the answer to the massive unemployment and underemployment that prevails across the country. It is part electioneering and part tinkering with available funds to buy the Government some time. A lot more needs to be done.