Delroy Chuck

Jamaica has been reduced to one of the most heavily-indebted nations. The accumulation of debt occurred in spite of the massive inflows of remittances, grants and tourism receipts.

Through reckless and profligate spending, our national indebtedness has increased from under $30 billion to $923 billion over the past, wasteful, 18 years.

Given another term in office, the PNP will further mortgage our dear land to two trillion dollars and more.

Borrowing money should be a last resort but for this PNP administration, it is top priority. Our government and its members are so shameless and incompetentthat they actually boast and cheer at every increase in national indebtedness.

I could not believe my eyes when in the latter part of the 1990s, Parliament erupted in wild cheers, desk beating and chest thumping every time Finance Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, announced a successful debt instrument or borrowing another ?€200 or ?€300 million on the European Market.

Seeking new debt facilities

Even now, last Thursday to be exact, Omar gets another lusty and gleeful round of applause for borrowing US$350 million overseas to help finance this year's budget.

In debt we trust seems to be the anchor, the mission and vision of this government. Is it any wonder that instead of seeking new and bigger investments, we are seeking new and better debt facilities?

"To raise adequate levels of financing," according to Ministry Paper No. 18/07 Debt Management Strategy "on behalf of the Government of Jamaica at minimum costs, to develop and implement strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of the public debt and to reduce the government's exposure to risk" constitute the objective and strategy of the government.

Increasing indebtedness

This debt strategy is evidently to increase our indebtedness, not to reduce and ultimately eliminate it.

In fact, our national indebtedness increased from $847 billion to $923 billion, or $76 billion last fiscal year, and during this fiscal year will certainly sail over the trillion dollars, or $1,000 billion, if unofficially we are not already there.

What is well-known is that virtually every government entity is in debt and even central government is in debt to other government entities, and to its contractors and private sector interests.

The government owes the pension schemes billions of dollars. The indebtedness of Air Jamaica, the sugar industry, Cricket World Cup, Highway 2000, the Transport Authority, and dozens of other government agencies are yet to come onto the national debt.

Dishonourably, central govern-ment ministries retain statutory deductions to the tune of billions of dollars, which is exactly what the private sector cannot do.

Without massive borrowing the economy would collapse. Our children's future is being mortgaged and surrendered to the rich financiers at home and abroad, and we now work for the financial masters instead of the slave masters, thanks to the PNP.

Little to show

Over the past 10 years, in spite of the massive borrowing and in excess of US$15 billion in remit-tances, the country has very little to show that the funds have been put to good and intelligent use. We have squandered our resources and now seek to squander the resources and/or surplus of other nations.

It is time we cut our expenses and increase our revenues, thereby creating surpluses to pay and reduce our debt, which is the only sustainable path to peace, pros-perity and progress.

Jamaica needs a government that understands business and is business-friendly to create budget surpluses, which experience and judgement have shown is not the mission and vision of the present, pitiful government.