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EDITORIAL - Use private-sector talent too
Published: Thursday | January 19, 2012
A RECURRING promise of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller since her election victory last month, repeated during Tuesday's convening of Parliament, is that her Government will be inclusive and transparent.
The administration, she told legislators after MPs had taken their oaths, would "fashion new consultative mechanisms", as part of its effort to have more people "participate in the decision-making process".
No rational Jamaican, and certainly not this newspaper, would disagree with the prime minister, given the public sector's insufficiency of the technical and administrative talent and the too many observable shortcomings when Government attempts to maintain hegemony over policy formulation and implementation.
Mrs Simpson Miller, in the circumstances, would be sympathetic, and perhaps embrace the suggestion of Mr Peter Melhado, the CEO of the ICD Group, who has given much voluntary service in public policy and project development.
The most recent of these was on a task force established by the former administration to overhaul its liquefied natural gas development project, whose initial flawed development, and planned execution, was mired in much controversy, including claims of egregious breaches of the Government's procurement rules.
The project rehabilitation task force on which Mr Melhado served included several public- and private-sector officials. They were charged with rigorously analysing the technical, financial and economic feasibility of the project and determining a way forward.
Mr Melhado believes that similar mechanisms can be adapted to other projects and different areas of government, allowing access to private- and public-sector talent, without undermining an administration's right and responsibility to govern.
"I am in no way suggesting that we can have government by committees, but I do believe that if we leverage our collective talents across sectors, the key actors would have access to superior information from which to make far-reaching decisions for our country," he said in an article published by the newspaper.
We agree.
Mr Holness' faux pas and gov't appointments
It was understandable that government parliamentarians, and the gallery, grew a bit irritated during Opposition Leader Andrew Holness' remarks at Tuesday's swearing in of legislators.
For after Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's measured and poised presentation, Mr Holness, having started well, went on too long. He ended more like a man in the middle of an election campaign rather than having just completed one.
Nothing, of course, is wrong with Mr Holness defending the policies that his party implemented when it formed the government and insisting that they be retained. We believe, though, that the timing was bad and that he adopted the wrong tone for the occasion.
Indeed, the second half of the opposition leader's speech would have been appropriate for the next sitting of the House, on the motion for adjournment, rather than the opening of the new Parliament.
We also have advice for the prime minister and her administration.
Mr Holness' warning against corruption elicited sotto voce claims from the government benches of bad behaviour at the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and other government agencies during the tenure of Mr Holness' party.
There is now a great obligation for honesty and decency in managing the affairs of these institutions. It starts with the boards and managers for them.
The new administration must resist any temptation to use appointments to agencies like the UDC as payback, economic or otherwise, to loyalists to the cause.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...cleisure1.html
Published: Thursday | January 19, 2012
A RECURRING promise of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller since her election victory last month, repeated during Tuesday's convening of Parliament, is that her Government will be inclusive and transparent.
The administration, she told legislators after MPs had taken their oaths, would "fashion new consultative mechanisms", as part of its effort to have more people "participate in the decision-making process".
No rational Jamaican, and certainly not this newspaper, would disagree with the prime minister, given the public sector's insufficiency of the technical and administrative talent and the too many observable shortcomings when Government attempts to maintain hegemony over policy formulation and implementation.
Mrs Simpson Miller, in the circumstances, would be sympathetic, and perhaps embrace the suggestion of Mr Peter Melhado, the CEO of the ICD Group, who has given much voluntary service in public policy and project development.
The most recent of these was on a task force established by the former administration to overhaul its liquefied natural gas development project, whose initial flawed development, and planned execution, was mired in much controversy, including claims of egregious breaches of the Government's procurement rules.
The project rehabilitation task force on which Mr Melhado served included several public- and private-sector officials. They were charged with rigorously analysing the technical, financial and economic feasibility of the project and determining a way forward.
Mr Melhado believes that similar mechanisms can be adapted to other projects and different areas of government, allowing access to private- and public-sector talent, without undermining an administration's right and responsibility to govern.
"I am in no way suggesting that we can have government by committees, but I do believe that if we leverage our collective talents across sectors, the key actors would have access to superior information from which to make far-reaching decisions for our country," he said in an article published by the newspaper.
We agree.
Mr Holness' faux pas and gov't appointments
It was understandable that government parliamentarians, and the gallery, grew a bit irritated during Opposition Leader Andrew Holness' remarks at Tuesday's swearing in of legislators.
For after Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's measured and poised presentation, Mr Holness, having started well, went on too long. He ended more like a man in the middle of an election campaign rather than having just completed one.
Nothing, of course, is wrong with Mr Holness defending the policies that his party implemented when it formed the government and insisting that they be retained. We believe, though, that the timing was bad and that he adopted the wrong tone for the occasion.
Indeed, the second half of the opposition leader's speech would have been appropriate for the next sitting of the House, on the motion for adjournment, rather than the opening of the new Parliament.
We also have advice for the prime minister and her administration.
Mr Holness' warning against corruption elicited sotto voce claims from the government benches of bad behaviour at the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and other government agencies during the tenure of Mr Holness' party.
There is now a great obligation for honesty and decency in managing the affairs of these institutions. It starts with the boards and managers for them.
The new administration must resist any temptation to use appointments to agencies like the UDC as payback, economic or otherwise, to loyalists to the cause.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...cleisure1.html
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