I believe that the population is in need of a massive education campaign regarding the structure and role of government. This could be one of the reasons for the apathy and lack of engagement of the majority of the population.

Government is made up of three parts, legislative, executive and judicial, which should each independently stand as regulators of each other, and serve to provide a framework for the oversight of the entire country. It should also be noted that the agencies of government (ministries, departments) are not named in the constitution, yet they carry out the function of the management of the country’s resources. It must be noted that these entities are nowhere mandated to be business operations or make profit, something that was handed down to us from the International Monetary Fund in previous visits, that resulted in “executive agencies”, with the objective that they would be operated as for-profit entities, whose profits/returns would be the property of the Government. But the Government is not a corporation or required to be held to operational conduct as any corporation. If they were, then many would be out of business, and we really cannot do without the National Works Agency or the National Water Commission, both performing management of required operations.

However, the government administration — the executive — took the decision many years ago to operate under the umbrella of corporate business. This might have been a great idea, if the members of the executive running the country were all educated in running a business. However, based on past and continuing performance, elected members of parliament rarely have any background in operating businesses, and the results are obvious. We are getting more and more broke. Hence, it makes sense that the ministers be professionals in the field of the ministry they head if they are to be effective. And MPs, as legislators, should make sure laws are effected that ensure that ministers placed in the position of running the entity know what the entity is tasked with, and can work in a manner that will benefit all Jamaicans. Not qualification by being just a political party faithful.

Once upon a time there was a Ministry of Housing, which was unfortunately overrun by corruption in the form of patronage by elected representatives handing out work to party faithful from top to bottom. The scene is still played out at any ministry tasked with the job of creating public works or buildings. I recommend all governments step away from the business of construction.

Construction in all matters should be given to those who do construction for a living, and the government should be the one enforcing the rules that govern the practice. Construction requires a significant amount of expertise, money and material resources, which require and create a large amount of jobs, at every level. A big sound going up to the heavens is the lack of work, a paradox, considering that we are in such dire need for everything including housing.

I don’t envy those who have taken up the challenge to run the various ministries or the departments and agencies, and it will always be easy for me to stay on the sidelines and find fault. However, considering that we have 54 years of experience in government as precedence, we should be able to shape some of those lessons learnt into government-funded plans and revised governmental operational structures. We have very capable people, both experienced and recently graduated from universities and colleges, who make excellent candidates for the new generation of technical and management personnel. We must make way to train, nurture and guide them, especially in the built environment, and allow those who know how to do the business to do it, free of government interference.

Now, operating from the comfort of my residence, I would like to make a recommendation to the government “executive” — who make the policy decisions that affect us all daily — which might actually create a lot of work.

Who minds the purse strings?

The National Housing Trust is a cash machine. The trust fund, raised by deduction from the people it is supposed to help, is sitting in banks and too close to the Consolidated Fund of the country, causing a great temptation. Similarly, the other cash machine called the education tax flew, like Icarus of Greek mythology, too close to the sun called the Jamaican Government and got burned. It has fallen to the earth known as the Consolidated Fund, never to be seen again by the happy children looking for a “likkle” help. However, it is rumoured to have been seen doing menial tasks like fixing potholes and fences at various places all over the country.

The Government needs to adopt a policy to enact legislation conceived for particular purposes and hold managers to their intended use. The money held by the trust is presently being held in discretionary accounts from which Government can take money when necessary. Unfortunately, when they take the money they are not replacing it with interest for it to be used to benefit the people who pay into the trust. An awkward situation exists where the payees into the trust have been unable to take advantage of the collective value of the billions of dollars being so-called held in “trust” for them.

With the significant housing shortage in Jamaica, were the Government to provide financing for housing at all levels of salary it would relieve a lot of stress on the middle class and those who aspire to a place beyond that class. This means that perhaps the Government will have some additional conditions on their loans, but I think that such conditions would be easier to manage than what the present private banking sector is willing to provide. So if all these billions of dollars which would be paid back by the contributors plus their loans with interest, this could provide a source of funding for more families. It could grow well enough to expands into commercial and institutional sectors. A lot of construction would be going on.

Not just spending…planning

Nothing is worse than rushing a plan and producing foolishness. Jamaicans say, when dog have money, him nyam cheese, so it is imperative that wise decisions are made on a sure foundation. The elusive national spatial plan — my favourite hobby horse — must be attended to with the greatest urgency. I suspect the reason this plan has not come out of gestation is that it might be thought to be too complicated. Nothing could be further from the truth.

All Jamaicans know how they want to live and where would suit them best. Also, all Jamaicans know that everybody cannot live in Cherry Gardens or Norbrook, some will have to live in Harbour View or Bull Bay. These are reasonable places to live, and most homes there have basic amenities. Plans would have to be executed to ensure that all areas have the requisite services to ensure that all needs are met. This would see to it that the lop-sided development does not continue. Infrastructure such as banks and health facilities will be planned based on population.

The Government, in its zeal to build Highway 2000 and more, has removed the population from the shorelines to enable hotels and other luxury entities to be built to enjoy the cool breeze from the Caribbean Sea, creating a massive amount of space for development. This is true all over the island, and so not much accommodation has been made for the people who lived in these communities along the shorelines, who, for the most part, have become the de facto workers for the hotels and luxury homes. Their circumstances are not being managed. A master plan — a national spatial plan — may have been made for this divestment, therefore the public would have been included in the discussion.

More highway development is being touted for the south coast, yet no plans are known about how this is to affect the many hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans living along the shoreline. Although many are saying that the jobs created by the new roads and hotels are a good thing, I don’t think everybody wants to be a busboy, bell hop or waiter at the next hotel or restaurant. The young people may want to be engineers, architects, lawyers, computer programmers or pilots. Their circumstances need to be planned and managed.

This is where we go back to the financing available from the NHT. The Government could turn the stalled building industry engine on by completing the national spatial plan. This would enable architects, planners, engineers, lawyers, contractors to be able to have a viable job in an industry not based on political affiliation or party in power, but on the execution of a master plan of development which considers all people. Government has a poor record in this regard, due to its objectives which are tinged by party politics, and because it has no accountability.

So the plan is this. Land will be identified and tagged for a particular purpose; housing, commerce, industry, recreation, transportation, and open space. All developments require accompanying infrastructure, comprising utilities, ie water, sewerage, electricity, schools, hospitals and parks for active and passive rest and recreation. Planning will project requirements for amounts of water necessary for development and sizes of sewage treatment facilities. All this needs to be integrated in the development and will be driven by the national spatial plan.

I strongly suggest the Government adopt a project management philosophy, and free themselves of the operation of playing with spoils. There are many good examples of project management in the government presently, they just need to be refocused to achieve better outcomes, and leave the skilled areas to those specifically trained for the task. Government, through it ministries, must then regulate.

Hugh M Dunbar is an architect. Send comments to hmdenergy@gmail.com.