It is early days yet. The next elections aren’t constitutionally due until the third quarter of 2012, but the Jamaica Constitution grants the prime minister the authority to call general elections whenever he feels. Consequently, a general election could come between now and late 2012 and politicians will most likely use this time to enumerate voters, articulate policy objectives, campaign, highlight flaws in their opponents’ arguments and to market the supremacy of their respective positions with hopes of persuading people to vote against the other parties.

The next general election may coincide with celebrations to mark the country’s 50th year of political independence in August. In fact, Prime Minister Bruce Golding spoke passionately about the grandness that will shape those celebrations, and political pundits are already making predictions about the timing of the general election. Some are forecasting a mid-December date that will allow the JLP to capitalise on post-conference mobilisation, as well as the restart of railway services and the islandwide implementation of the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Project, to name a few.

I claim no gift of prescience, but from the look of things and based on the number of projects in the infrastructure pipeline, it would not surprise me if Mr Golding pulls a “PJ” and use the “feel-good” factor as premise to go to the polls. But we should outrightly reject any such attempt at voter enticement. These are different times – times that demand thoughtful actions that respect and honour the long-term interests, desires and upliftment of our country and people. If we accept this pronouncement, then we must protect the nation’s interest and strongly denounce the practice of using botched mega-projects and wasteful spending to create veneers of prosperity and to feign effective governance.

We should demand that our leaders come to the table of ideas fully prepared to discuss and explain how we – collectively and individually – will combine thoughts and actions in developing solutions to the myriad problems the country faces. We must, for example, design better long-term economic development and debt management programmes to lift our country from under the heavy yoke of indebtedness, hopelessness and underachievement. It is also within this context that the political parties, especially the People’s National Party, must approach the next election.

It is always easy to criticise. However, criticisms are never sufficient grounds on which to ask intelligent people to invest trust and confidence; so the PNP must do more than criticise. It must present viable alternatives and say unambiguously what it would do differently to: increase investments, economic activities and employment; boost physical, environmental and food security; rebuild trust in government and restore hope and raise the standard of living. The PNP must speak clearly about the development agenda and the philosophy it intends to use to fix the systemic and systematic problems within the social and economic structures of the society.

Frankly, we cannot lift the heavy yoke by caressing our ability to borrow cheaper funds, inking IMF agreements or by touting the virtues of the Jamaica Debt Exchange programme, without designing a strategy to increase production. So the government can sing the successes and effectiveness of the JDX programme in reducing debt-servicing costs all it wants. The JDX is a small fraction of the bigger economic restructuring that must occur. Because despite paying cheaper economic rent on borrowed money, the current rates are substantially higher than the rate of economic growth. The present negative economic cycles, coupled with heavy borrowing and taxation, could eventually push long-term interest and exchange rates to pre-JDX days, notwithstanding higher business confidence in the economy.

The future will remain dim for many if government continues to embrace the current antiquated and lopsided financial and economic structure, or ignores the urgent need for social reconfiguration. It is unacceptable that less than 20 per cent of the population controls about 80 per cent of the wealth, owns the best pieces of real estate, has unfettered access to capital, gets big tax breaks, flouts the laws with impunity and treats the lower class with disdain, yet they continue to be the biggest beneficiaries of government largesse. Don’t get me wrong, I am neither anti-capitalist nor anti-rich, quite the contrary, but we cannot ignore these brutal inequities, particularly in a system such as ours where 80 per cent of the population subsidises the top 20 per cent.

We must change these arrangements, and while change must never stifle entrepreneurship, discourage innovation, or threaten prosperity, it must aim at diversifying ownership, broadening participation and increasing opportunities and access to development capital for the wider population. This shift towards equitable empowerment can be facilitated by expanding the roles of the EXIM Bank through partnership with the Small Business Association of Jamaica to focus on medium and micro-business financing, planning, research and development. Government should also consider granting full income tax credits to these enterprises that employ fewer than 30 people. In addition, it could grant a tax moratorium for small businesses that create additional jobs, but with less than $20 million in annual revenues. Additionally, we could begin by retrofitting some of those idle factory spaces with solar panels then lease them to small farmers for agro-processing, the cheaper energy cost could make our products a bit more competitive while boosting domestic employment.

Yet, Jamaica’s dilemma is not rooted exclusively in its economic underperformance. There are serious social problems such as the inability to distinguish between service and servitude, illiteracy, coarseness and ignorance that make economic advancement challenging. The discourse should also focus on ways to fuse both physical and human resources so that they can produce the source of our subsistence. And finally, the discourse should be of such that we can visualise the new paradigm that will deliver the changes and advancements Jamaica needs to pull itself away from the murky backwaters.

burnscg@aol.com