The standard of governance we have enjoyed over the last three or four decades must be graded as poor to very poor.

Our level of education is inadequate. The physical plant in our schools is run down and inadequately maintained. Our teachers are absorbed with compensation issues and not united behind a relentless drive to provide a world-class educational experience for our young. The Ministry of Education has become a payroll office. It does not inspire a generation of new Jamaicans to seek education as the key to the future. It shows little commitment to forcing teacher employment to be dependent on pupil achievement.

Why do we accept this?

Crime is at a level that would ensure the quick resignation elsewhere of any government of a country with developed civil society opinion leaders. The Jamaica Constabulary Force is increasingly dysfunctional and ineffective. The number of murders in Jamaica is almost twice that of New York City. Police stations are in terrible shape. Police killings are increasing. Police cars are not regularly replaced and too frequently are utilised for personal use. The attitude of most police officers is arrogant and rude. Certainly, the police have an unenviable job to perform but they do not appear to have any visible plan to maximise their effectiveness and service and so win public support for their function. They could do so much more with the resources that they have but managerial competence is absent.

It is time that we stopped accepting mediocrity in public life. Public leadership has failed Jamaica. Badly. Public leadership includes civil servants and politicians.

Civil society leadership is also far too accommodating. Apart from the two active human rights organisations - Jamaicans For Justice and the Independent Jamaica Council for Human Rights - there are no active lobby organisations constantly encouraging and insisting on better governance. Regrettably, the business lobby groups are unnecessarily quiet and passive.

Jamaica, it often appears, is run for the benefit of politicians. Every road and building is named after a politician. Every public office has a politician's picture. All kinds of announcements are made but there is little accountability. Time cannot be found in Parliament to discuss a report from the Auditor-General identifying all kinds of irregularities.

The PNP cannot be proud of its performance in government - the issues of poor education and increasing crime and the perception of expanding corruption have not been dealt with. The JLP is an unprove>Voters should support the party - not out of tradition - that can put forward specific proposals to improve dramatically the management capacity of the country. Can we hear these, please?