PRIME Minister Bruce Golding has endorsed the Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan, which seeks to put the country in a position to achieve its full potential and achieve developed country status in 23 years.

Golding, who officially launched the plan at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on Wednesday, said the long-term development strategy is the beginning of a process that must achieve, early in its gestation, a shared vision.

“There was a time when we made the mistake of believing that the vision and the plan to achieve that vision was the property of the government, and various governments have come to office believing that the mandate that they received from the people was sufficient authority to proceed on a plan. The mandate may give you the statutory authority to implement, but the mandate doesn’t give you the power to inspire,” Golding said.

“Experience teaches us that if we don’t find a way to establish broad areas of commonality, find a way to determine what are the things that are going to transcend competitive politics, what are the things that are going to be sustained beyond changes of political administration, we are going to continue running around the mulberry bush,” he added.

He said the attempt to engage as many stakeholders as possible has been critical to the plan, but emphasised the importance of engaging others who are not a part of any formal group.

“We are going to have to create the platform where they too can have their say, make their input, where they too can be a part of the process, because they too need to buy into the system if it is to work,” he said.

“There is a large constituency of people out there who are not beholden to either government or opposition, and therefore it is important for us to broaden the process to involve as wide a cross-section of the people of Jamaica as possible,” the prime minister emphasised.

On Wednesday he stressed the importance of good governance, stating that the country faces a crisis of trust, where persons are cynical and sceptical of the process, and of political institutions. Therefore, he said, “It is not going to be easy to get them to be responsive to any direction, to any plan, to any vision that is outlined, unless we can give them reason, despite their own experiences and despite the cynicism, to invest trust once again in those of us who offer leadership and who occupy positions of authority in the country”.

He said it was important for the Vision 2030 Development Plan to place emphasis on the creation of opportunities, so that everyone, provided that they were prepared to work hard, would be able to enjoy a better life.

“In order to ensure that the plan is doable, we are going to have to deliberately align our priorities. People are going to want to be guided by leadership as to what things are doable,” the Prime Minister told the gathering of stakeholders, which included Members of Parliament, heads of associations, public sector agencies, and private sector organisations, community-based organisations, and members of the diplomatic corps.

“Development is dynamic. There is nothing that generates success like success, and if we can manage this process in such a way that they identify those things that could become launching pads for further development, then we will find that what may have appeared daunting before, becomes almost organic, because development will create development,” Golding said.

Meanwhile, director general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr Wesley Hughes, said it was important to have short-term plans and programmes, related to the long-term strategy for the country’s development. The PIOJ led and facilitated the preparation of the development plan.

He informed that a deadline of mid-2008 had been set to complete the first draft of the policy, to be taken to Parliament for discussion and for the country to become more engaged in wider consultation.

“Let us resolve that we will make this country a place of choice for Jamaicans to live, work and raise our families and to do business, by tackling the realities we face with visionary leadership, courage, and certainty that we can and must succeed,” he said.