Mindful of the legacy he would like to leave behind, Prime Minister P J Patterson earlier this year disclosed a formidable wish list of things he would like to achieve, before his departure as leader of government, to the annual conference of his People’s National Party (PNP).

Based on information from information minister and PNP General Secretary Burchell Whiteman and his deputy Colin Campbell, the Sunday Observer’s Dwight Bellanfante tried to determine how much closer the prime minister is to his goals.

Turn the corner in the fight against crime and violence

The prime minister is leaning heavily on his security minister, Dr Peter Phillips who has launched a number of initiatives, including the much heralded Operation Kingfish, aimed at dismantling organised crime and the narcotics trade.

While Kingfish has made some well publicised seizures of narcotics and guns, and nabbed some significant players in the trade, the jury is still out on whether such initiatives will make a meaningful impact on the bloodshed.

Murders have continued unabated, topping the 1,000 mark so far this year, and is projected to end the year at about 1,500 violent killings, a new record for homicides. (failing)

Transform the education system

In terms of transforming the education system, much will revolve around the successes of a special team which Patterson has appointed to push the implementation of recommendations made by the Task Force on Education to improve the education system. By its reckoning, a grand total of $521 billion, or $52 billion annually is required to achieve this.

Those figures required that Patterson find an additional $22 billion per year, but so far he has come up with $5 billion, tapped from the housing fund. (little progress)

Complete legislation of a new Charter of Rights and move the process of deciding on Republican status to the stage where there is agreement on the essential steps

The Charter of Rights Bill remains deadlocked before a Joint Select Committee of Parliament after the Opposition raised objection to certain laws that it says would curtail freedoms.

The Committee has been meeting since 1994 on the Charter which is aimed at amending the Jamaican Constitution to better ensure the protection of human rights and freedoms, but there are few signs that a breakthrough is possible anytime soon. (ongoing)Examine the options created by an expected ruling of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom on the issue of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the final court of appeal and establish Jamaica’s participation in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME):

Momentum on the Jamaica’s participation in the CCJ was slowed by a ruling of the UK Privy Council that the administration’s approach to establishing the court was unconstitutional. Jamaica only just made it to the ceremonial opening in April this year, having passed the enabling bill the day before.

Also, the CSME which Patterson has championed, kicked off with the initial three countries of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados establishing a deepened single market, with a second wave of countries expected to sign on next year. (ongoing)

Finalise a timetable for the restructuring of the sugar industry based on the recommendations of the Cabinet sub-group that he led

A review has been done and Patterson is studying the document, but says it will be made public in October. (pending)

Settle on an energy policy and set the stage for its success

Driven by steep rises in the cost of imported oil, Jamaica has begun to diversify its energy sources and recently signed a deferred payment agreement with the Venezuelan government for oil and to expand and modernise the state refinery Petrojam, allowing for the processing of cheaper grades of crude oil.

Development of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) deals with Trinidad and Tobago; significant initiatives to develop renewable supplies such as the establishment of a 20-megawatt wind farm at Wigton, the largest such undertaking in the region; and moves to produce more ethanol from sugar and encourage greater energy efficiency at bauxite plants and in the sugar industry are among a menu being developed as part of the evolving energy policy. (well advanced)

Upgrading of inner-city areas and erection of a transportation centre at Half-Way-Tree

A key benchmark for Patterson is the programme of inner-city renewal centred around a $7.5 billion plan to build new housing and construct a transport centre downtown. Some 94 of the units in Denham Town were handed over recently.

Contracts for the building of the transport centre are being fast-tracked and a completion date of September this year has been set by the Kingston City Centre Improvement Company (KCCIC). (well advanced)

Implement plans for the hosting of the 2007 Cricket World Cup

Another prestige project, the Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny, a site for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, has gained added momentum following a magnanimous US$30 million soft loan offer from the Chinese government to underwrite the project. With a tight deadline of under two years, the project recently got underway. (ongoing)

Completion of segment two of Highway 2000 and signing of the agreement and breaking ground for segment three

Highway 2000, another of the government’s big ticket projects, experienced a holdup in the second phase due to an expansion in the scope of work but that appears to have now been overcome.

The prime minister’s projections include phases 1(a) of the project from Kingston to Sandy Bay in Clarendon, which is complete except for the expansion of the Portmore bridge now expected to be finished early next year; phase 1(b) from Sandy Bay to Williamsfield; and phase 2(a) from Bushy Park to Ocho Rios. (ongoing)

Accelerate the process of party transformation to the level where it is irreversible

There appears to be some progress in the process of restructuring.

At the last annual conference the reduced number of delegates from over 4,000 previously to under 2,000 signaled that some work has been done in terms of reforms to the group structure.

For the current period, some 5,000 delegates have been registered with the party as well as 20 new groups (ongoing).

Have the party lead the dialogue on issues of national importance including debate on matters of regional and global import

The process of deepening the debate and engagement on issues such as the importance of the CSME is being advanced by the party through various channels. Advocacy on international issues like globalisation and the role of small states is underway throughout the structure of the party. (ongoing, but limited headway)

Ensure full accountability of those who hold political positions to the structures which chose them

Requirements are being put in place for increased participation by party leaders to give reports on their stewardship at the group, constituency, regional and national levels. (ongoing)

Improve the participation of members of the party in decision-making at the divisional, constituency and regional levels

Restructuring of party groups to ensure more regular meetings and accountability of members is being pursued, rigorous constitutional provisions are being enforced, as well as the resuscitation of all groups meetings. (ongoing )

Strengthen alliances with natural allies, as well as emerging groups

The building of alliances with like-minded organisations and entities continues with moves to restructure relationships with groups such as the Jamaica Progressive League in the USA, other groups in the Diaspora as well as engagement with local groups. (ongoing)

Challenge the party to engage in an islandwide programme of community activities to spread economic growth, increase human resources within the communities, arrest anti-social behaviour and fuel greater participation of the people in making decisions that will affect their daily lives

At the party level, efforts continue to promote economic growth through promoting awareness of economic opportunities in areas such as the micro-finance sector to encourage investment and the starting of small businesses.

There are also attempts to promote education and training, including the development of remedial programmes for school drop-outs.

The party has also dedicated time at its NEC meetings to examine ways in which the party can accelerate the process of violence mitigation on which workshops have been held. (ongoing)

The immediate formation of genuine groups as envisaged by the party’s constitution, within every division and constituency, so that by the time the decision is to be made on the new leader the network is sufficiently broad to reflect the national and regional views of the party and a truly democratic choice

An audit of 17 constituencies and 20 or more groups registered with the party secretariat and overhaul of groups is virtually complete for the past political year, with measures to ensure fuller participation established. (advanced)

Ensure that the guidelines for presidential decisions and senior officers are monitored and strictly and impartially enforced to see to it that an election campaign for party position is free and fair

Guidelines for the presidential and senior officer decisions have been approved and are in place. (done)

Start the building of a new party headquarters and make sure it reaches the stage where it cannot be stopped

The party has modernised its internal systems and administrative machinery. A software programme to capture the relevant data and connect the various structures islandwide has also been developed and demonstrated to members of the national Executive Council (NEC) of the party.

However, there are no projections for the construction of a new headquarters as yet. (little progress)

Anticipating that some would read into his agenda that he had a long time left, Patterson said in January:

“I believe some of you are beginning to feel that with this kind of agenda it means that there is a long time left. Let me disabuse your mind.

What it means is that I am going to drive the system hard and I want all my ministers to understand that.”

It is clear that with less time now the prime minister will have to drive his ministers even harder.