Clifton Yap

IN the midst of the frenzy over Jamaica's economic problems, the government, in their customary response to calming public concerns and criticisms, have had a flurry of meetings with the usual committees and groups, and issued the usual promises and pronouncements about plans to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.

Only two months ago, we had the government's National Development Council deliberating and announcing that the focus of their solution was to get the various ministries and agencies to accelerate the implementation of the various development projects in their portfolio.

The trouble is that it is these very same ministries and agencies, with borrowing to fund their bloated bureaucracy and to fuel their unchecked spending that are among the main reasons for the country's ever increasing debt. Also the maintenance of the prolonged high interest rates policy that has stifled the productive capacity of the country.

We then had a Cabinet retreat, only a few short weeks ago, out of which we were told about the importance of reviving talks aimed at establishing a "social contract". This has already been discussed at length in the media, where questions have been raised as to whether the government has any moral ground on which to stand, when asking the workers and taxpayers of this country to make further and increasing sacrifices.

And now, we have had the much hyped "summit" meeting between the government and our private sector "leaders", with the major pronouncements coming out of this three-day retreat at the Ritz Carlton, being the news that a major emphasis is to be placed on tourism, with the issue of casino gambling being re-examined, and that more taxes are necessary and inevitable.

If these are the most significant things to come out of this "summit" of the supposedly best minds in the country, we are indeed in a crisis of leadership. The fact is that while more taxes, more borrowing and more investments will put more money into the hands of government, it will serve only to create wealth for a favoured few. If track record is anything to go by, the country as a whole will be deeper in debt, with very little to show for it, as public resources will inevitably end up in the sinkhole of a wasteful and corrupt bureaucracy.

Yet, as they have done many times before, the private sector "leaders" have expressed confidence that the government is on the right path to finding solutions to our economic problems, and that the impending onerous tax increases are not only inevitable, but also justifiable. So, once again, they have allowed themselves to be used to divert attention away from the failed policies and practices that have brought us to this point.

If our private sector "leaders" really want to see jobs created and economic growth generated, rather than focusing on narrow, and piecemeal sector interests, they should use their influence and financial clout to press for tangible, holistic and meaningful changes, not more lip service, in some fundamental policies and practices in our governance that are at the core of our problems.

For example, while tourism has been justly, albeit belatedly, recognised as an industry with enormous value and potential for the economy, spending more money on advertising and introducing casinos are hardly a panacea for long-term sustainability, when you have to shelter your visitors increasingly from crime and violence, the filthy and unsightly conditions of our towns and cities, and the hustling and harassment from more and more of our citizens, who are unemployed, uneducated and desperately seeking to survive.

The interests of the tourism sector would be better served if our citizens were more educated, if our health services and security and justice facilities were developed to a first-world standard, if our towns and cities were better planned, designed and maintained and if our historic buildings and attractions were restored. All these would require is a fraction of resources that could be saved from wasteful and corrupt government expenditures.

One of Jamaica's greatest assets is the immense beauty and variety of its natural environment. The tourism sector would be better served if this was not being constantly and increasingly degraded and destroyed by ad hoc and poorly conceived developments. This is allowed to occur because the government places little value and emphasis on sustainable development planning and instead allows its multiplicity of ministries and agencies to run their own autocratic construction programmes, in which their only mandate seems to be to spend as much and as fast as possible.

The tourism sector would be better served if more of our citizens were gainfully employed, and if more businesses were being established or expanded. Instead, government's insatiable appetite for borrowing has kept interest rates at onerously high levels for more than a decade and, in the process, has destroyed many businesses and institutions, while forcing many others to downsize drastically. Reducing the size of the government's bureaucracy, ensuring that development projects undertaken are necessary and a priority -- and are properly managed -- would go a long way in alleviating this situation.

Finally, tourism would especially be better served if killings, and other acts of violence were at a significantly lower level. Traditionally, and continuing to this day, much of this activity has its genesis in the intense hostilities between the two main political tribes, as their members and supporters fight one another to gain or retain power, in order to control the distribution of public resources. This can only change when the citizens and stakeholders of this country insist on appropriate mechanisms for public consultations and participation in the major decisions that affect our lives, and stop accepting hypocrisy, lies and flimsy excuses when inappropriate and corrupt behaviour is exposed.

Jamaica can rise from the abyss and become an incredible success story, but we won't get there by doing the same wrong things the same wrong way, over and over again. The question is, who will provide the leadership? Neither the government, the Opposition nor many of our private sector "leaders" have so far demonstrated that they have the capability of thinking and acting above narrow and selfish personal interests.

Clifton Yap is immediate past president of the Jamaica Institute of Architects and former chairman of the Construction Industry Council.

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