There can be little doubt in anyone’s mind that the country is now in a precarious economic situation and is facing a daunting future.

In spite of some prevailing chatter, this situation has not been brought on by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but as has been the case in several other areas of our national life, it has taken this external body to make us face our own reality. So, the level of indebtedness of the country as a ratio of Gross Domestic Product is of our own making.

Having entered into a new agreement with the IMF, we now have to ensure that we have the ability to repay the loan and grow our economy so that we are in an improved situation by the end of the period covered by the loan agreement.

In the face of national scepticism concerning the political will of the Government to ensure that it sticks to the various performance targets which it has agreed upon with the IMF, and as a goodwill gesture on its part, the Government has established an oversight committee to be co-chaired by Messrs Richard Byles and Brian Wynter, and consisting of members who are noted for their action-oriented approach to business.

And while there is no reason to question the commitment or competence of these persons, we must still take note of the fact that they are an advisory body, and are therefore lacking in powers of enforcement.

As a step towards this path of economic recovery, the Government has successfully completed the National Debt Exchange, signed various Memoranda of Understanding with public sector groups, and has now set its sights on what are supposed to be some large-scale projects that can lead to significant foreign exchange inflows and job creation. This is certainly a vital component of any recovery programme.

However, mixed messages, such as those surrounding the progress and status of the logistics hub to be created in the Port of Kingston, do not create confidence. At times, it seems that the project is an item for partisan political distraction. The Government cannot afford to allow mixed messages to undermine the confidence of the people in such a significant aspect of our economic recovery process.

Of one thing we can be sure: if the nation is to successfully navigate the path to economic recovery and growth, there must be a significant change in attitudes and our level of productivity as a people. And while experience has shown that the Government, of whatever party, cannot be the engine driving a programme for the renewal of values and attitudes, it can certainly take a lead in cultivating a culture of productivity.

It means that the Government and the structures of governance and public service must intentionally and deliberately set the tone by removing the bureaucratic red tape and inefficiencies which hinder productivity in this country. As a most glaring example of this is the way in which the tax offices across this country are structured to collect revenue for a cash-starved Government.

Apparently, those in administration do not have to visit and conduct business in any of these offices. How on earth can the operations of these offices be so structured in the 21st century to cause such frustration by those who are forced, and those who are willing, to pay taxes, in a country with such low levels of tax compliance?

My recent visit to pay my land taxes involved a long and tedious process for those of us who were prepared to wait in line, even as I observed persons who came into the office and decided that they did not have the time to waste.

If those in charge of the operation of these offices are not prepared to make the changes, then we as citizens must raise the timbre of our voices in demanding that the matter be addressed. Those of us who pay PAYE taxes, and who thereby bear the burden of taxation, must insist that the avenues for payment of taxes by those who are willing, and those who are being compelled, must be conducted in a more efficient and customer-friendly fashion. It is time to act decisively and stop offering excuses for inefficiency and lack of productivity.

At the same time, all of us who make up this nation must understand that the debt recovery and growth potential of this country is dependent on the input of all of us. Our current attitude and approach to productivity will never get us there. Neither will the best conceived mega projects get us there without significant changes.

What I am suggesting is that there is a collateral strategy to the policies and programmes of Government which must become a reality if we are to be in a different place when this IMF agreement comes to an end. The country is yet to experience a serious engagement of the population by the Government which will motivate, challenge and bring people on board.

In this regard, I would suggest to the Government that it be very thoughtful about the timing and nature of the programmes which it conceives and announces at this time. Any perception of the pursuit of a policy of largesse at this time may be counterproductive and not engage the population in rallying behind the sacrificial and uphill task which faces the nation.

Perhaps the timing of the announcement of the inner-city housing project and the revelation of the Government obligation for payments for the electricity bills for sugar workers on estates are not the most fortuitous announcements.

The mobilisation of the people of this country toward the cultivation of a different attitude toward the solution of the problems of this country and to appreciate why our current low level of productivity will not cut it, will require the combined efforts of the church, non-governmental agencies, and leaders and organisations of all kinds in civil society.

Within recent days I listened to a fellow Jamaican bewail the fact that we have become a people who are satisfied with mediocrity. It was not very comforting to listen to such an assessment of myself as a Jamaican, and yet I am aware that in so many ways we accept mediocrity in service from public and private sector institutions, we get “lick and promise” and “slap dash” work from persons we employ, and there are also times when we just decide that we can’t be bothered and simply give in to what is offered.

This will not work. We must each commit to be citizens of honesty, integrity, and productivity, and demand the same of our fellow citizens. And, in the present climate in which there are wage restraints and economic difficulties, we will need to acknowledge that there is no monetary value that can determine our worth and our contribution. What we contribute today may not mean a better life for us, but for our children and grandchildren. Indeed, the social upheaval that could face this country by 2020 may very well be within our generation if we do not come together in this determination to move our country forward.

The hackneyed term “patriotism” will need to take centre stage in our vocabulary and life once more. We must learn from the kind of advertisement which the United States of America proudly uses to get Americans to avoid purchasing foreign goods, namely, “Made in America”.

During the past week I listened to a former corporate executive bemoan the fact that as he spends time looking out at the Port of Kingston, he can see the many ships filled with containers of cheap and inferior goods being imported by business interests in Jamaica, only to be off-loaded on our unsuspecting and naïve citizens, who have no idea how they are destroying their own opportunities for jobs and local production, while enriching the pockets of some self-serving entrepreneurs.

But for productivity to become a reality and meet with success, there needs to be a commensurate system and structure to ensure that goods and services produced will have a market and an outlet. Farmers in this country know how to produce, even if some of the methodologies need to be brought into the technological age.

But how are they to produce or even make a transition to technology when a supporting agency like RADA has not been effective and able to deliver the kind of marketing intelligence that will bring producers and consumers together?

When, for example, one can see the finest carrots being produced in Portland, and the farmers being allowed a limited market, like that provided by passing motorists, meanwhile tasteless carrots are imported to flood our market, something has to be fundamentally flawed with our approach.

Without doubt our economic success in moving forward is inextricably bound with our ability to confront crime and violence. At one level, farmers will never be able to make a significant improvement in agricultural production if praedial larceny cannot be brought under control, and this will not happen unless we can confront the prevailing value framework which sees nothing wrong in making a way of life of praedial larceny and in purchasing goods at discounted prices which we know have been stolen.

Neither will persons feel safe and want to remain or invest in the country if they are in constant danger of being victims of crime and violence. The message being sent by the criminal element, as evidenced in the shooting of Leroy Robinson of Little London, Westmoreland, who went to rescue the woman whose house was firebombed, is that we must cower in fear and let the perpetrators of evil prevail.

At the individual and community levels we must come to understand that the containment of crime begins with each of us standing up to the forces of evil, crime and violence. It must involve a system of policing which can achieve a much higher level of crime-solving and a greater level of trust with people in communities. So, too, must the system of justice be improved to allow for much speedier trials.

In the long run, what is being called for is a more active and forthright citizenry which will not be silent or afraid to state precisely what sort of nation it wants to become and to hold government accountable and responsive to those concerns. As I indicated in an address to the Press Association of Jamaica recently, there has been a politicisation of every issue in our national life and the attempt to label and pigeon-hole anyone who would speak on issues that have a clear political dimension.

I believe that it is also a strategy of complicity which those in party politics have used to render impotent any serious reflection and evaluation of issues of national significance with political implications. The issues which confront us as a nation at this time are not the making of the present Government but of a pattern of governance which we have had by repeated governments since Independence, and the pursuit of a lifestyle and pathway to development which has not been sustainable and forward-thinking.

If we are not prepared to stand up and be a vibrant part of this collateral strategy for economic recovery, then we shall come full circle when the IMF programme comes to an end.

— Howard Gregory is the Lord Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands