... Joined hands, not clenched fists
SOCIAL PARTNERSHIPS KEY TO JA’S PROGRESS
THERE ARE some challenges that the administration cannot successfully tackle alone. If there is one thing of which I am absolutely convinced, it is that the solutions to our problems will have to come from collective and deliberate action.
We are building partnerships. This is a theme I have continued to emphasise since my inaugural address last March. No one group, whether Opposition, private sector, civil society or labour, has a monopoly on wisdom. We must all work together to solve common problems. We must build bridges and hold hands rather than clench fists.
It is because of this deep conviction about the primacy of partnerships why I established the Economic Growth Council and why, in addition to continuing the Economic Programme Oversight Committee, I also established the Public Sector Transformation Oversight Committee. In December, I signed a new agreement, the Partnership for a Prosperous Jamaica, intensifying the engagement with our social partners.
Our country’s future is a ‘big deal’ and, therefore, we have to take the utmost care in safeguarding it in our children’s interest. We do so through partnerships, through collaboration and consensus-building. It is because this Government believes in the partnership approach to governance why we implemented the $1.5million tax giveback to the Jamaican people. We believe the Government must not just take. It must give back something.
CITIZEN STAKEHOLDERS
When the Government gives back to the people, citizens feel that they are stakeholders in the country’s growth. It creates a virtuous circle. When we increased the funding to our schools from $2.6 billion to $5.3 billion, we made a statement that investment in our children’s education and guaranteeing them access was important in building an inclusive society. The Reduction Waiting Time Project in our health sector, which is being funded under a $350-million pilot project, demonstrates the respect we have for people and our care for their social welfare.
The range of social benefits being provided to people and the measurable achievements outlined in these pages speak unmistakably to this administration’s stewardship. Our prospects have never been brighter.
Economic Growth Council member Adam Stewart recently spoke of the over US$3 billion in investment projects up to 2019, which will create over 25,00 new jobs, with another 100,000 indirect jobs. In the burgeoning Business Process Outsourcing sector, over 300,000 jobs have been targeted for the next five years.
The State must be responsive to the needs of the people. Indeed, the State exists to serve the people, not the other way around. This is why public sector modernisation is so critically important and will be receiving priority attention in the coming fiscal year. People want a government that is serving their interests and one that is efficient and prudent in managing their tax dollars.