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Why Jamaicans must hold up Dr Peter Phillips’ hands
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 5 Comments
MUCH as some misguided ones among us like to berate Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, no one is willing to fault her ability to make the right choices — as in her selection of Dr Peter Phillips as finance minister.
Having put behind her Dr Phillips’ challenge for the leadership of the People’s National Party (PNP) — ask Mr Andrew Holness how painful that is — Mrs Simpson Miller and the country are now reaping the benefit of a selfless and visionary decision that is paying off in very solid ways.
The financial hardship being experienced across the length and breadth of Jamaica, and across every stratum of society, is not leading to any noticeable restiveness, even among the section of the populace hardest hit — the poor. We rather suspect that Jamaicans understand that noise-making and blame-gaming cannot get us out of the economic recession we are in. No one is delusional enough to believe that we have a bag of alternatives waiting on a change of administration to be unleashed.
If things seem harder now than previously, it could only have been because we delayed for as long as we could to accept the strictures of the agreement under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility. We sometimes can’t help wondering how much farther along we would have been had we the stomach to engage with the IMF earlier.
Which is why we don’t quite get Opposition Leader Andrew Holness’ complaint on the weekend that Dr Phillips should not be praised for the current economic performance because people are suffering.
Mr Holness — surely he can’t have forgotten already — warned us on the eve of the 2011 General Election that what was ahead, in economic terms, was “bitter medicine”. So in carping about how tough things are for Jamaicans, he knows that the tough times being experienced would have been inevitable, even had he been able to lead the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to victory.
Of course, it can be argued that the job of an opposition party is to oppose. But it can’t be to oppose foolishly and without credibility. In any event, in a war situation a country must come together to defeat the enemy. We are in an economic ‘war’ and we need all hands on board.
Dr Phillips cannot carry the burden alone. Thank goodness for the clarity being brought and the example being set by Mr Richard Byles, chair of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee. His has been a voice of reason and a place where Jamaicans can meet to assess dispassionately the progress of the economy under the IMF agreement. It is easy to believe Mr Byles when he says the economy is moving in the right direction.
In respect of his example, Mr Byles heads Sagicor, which is opening more Jewel resorts and providing jobs for Jamaicans in tourism. He is also chairman of Red Stripe, which is about to launch out into cassava cultivation on a massive scale to replace barley in Red Stripe Beer. That means significantly more jobs and foreign exchange saving.
In these rough economic seas, Dr Phillips comes across as a firm anchor. In our own interest as a country, we need to hold up his hands.
Why Jamaicans must hold up Dr Peter Phillips’ hands
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 5 Comments
MUCH as some misguided ones among us like to berate Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, no one is willing to fault her ability to make the right choices — as in her selection of Dr Peter Phillips as finance minister.
Having put behind her Dr Phillips’ challenge for the leadership of the People’s National Party (PNP) — ask Mr Andrew Holness how painful that is — Mrs Simpson Miller and the country are now reaping the benefit of a selfless and visionary decision that is paying off in very solid ways.
The financial hardship being experienced across the length and breadth of Jamaica, and across every stratum of society, is not leading to any noticeable restiveness, even among the section of the populace hardest hit — the poor. We rather suspect that Jamaicans understand that noise-making and blame-gaming cannot get us out of the economic recession we are in. No one is delusional enough to believe that we have a bag of alternatives waiting on a change of administration to be unleashed.
If things seem harder now than previously, it could only have been because we delayed for as long as we could to accept the strictures of the agreement under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility. We sometimes can’t help wondering how much farther along we would have been had we the stomach to engage with the IMF earlier.
Which is why we don’t quite get Opposition Leader Andrew Holness’ complaint on the weekend that Dr Phillips should not be praised for the current economic performance because people are suffering.
Mr Holness — surely he can’t have forgotten already — warned us on the eve of the 2011 General Election that what was ahead, in economic terms, was “bitter medicine”. So in carping about how tough things are for Jamaicans, he knows that the tough times being experienced would have been inevitable, even had he been able to lead the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to victory.
Of course, it can be argued that the job of an opposition party is to oppose. But it can’t be to oppose foolishly and without credibility. In any event, in a war situation a country must come together to defeat the enemy. We are in an economic ‘war’ and we need all hands on board.
Dr Phillips cannot carry the burden alone. Thank goodness for the clarity being brought and the example being set by Mr Richard Byles, chair of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee. His has been a voice of reason and a place where Jamaicans can meet to assess dispassionately the progress of the economy under the IMF agreement. It is easy to believe Mr Byles when he says the economy is moving in the right direction.
In respect of his example, Mr Byles heads Sagicor, which is opening more Jewel resorts and providing jobs for Jamaicans in tourism. He is also chairman of Red Stripe, which is about to launch out into cassava cultivation on a massive scale to replace barley in Red Stripe Beer. That means significantly more jobs and foreign exchange saving.
In these rough economic seas, Dr Phillips comes across as a firm anchor. In our own interest as a country, we need to hold up his hands.
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