‘We cyaa continue so’: Robinson raps Gov’t for ‘not listening’ to Jamaicans
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Julian Robinson has accused the Government of not listening to the Jamaican people.
According to him, this is evident in the fact that the government failed to budget for the Local Government Elections that became due in 2020 and which were postponed for a third time last month.
Robinson made the accusation on Thursday as he made his contribution to the 2023/24 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives.
“When a government decides how to spend taxpayers’ money, it must listen to the people. I can’t say that I am convinced that what we heard from the finance minister considers these questions, or that he is listening to the people. Otherwise, at the very least, there would have been provision in the budget for Local Government Elections,” Robinson stated.
“If we call ourselves a democracy, we must enthusiastically take every opportunity for the people to be heard. Elections are consultations. Elections are opportunities for the people to participate in governance. Elections give the people a voice. Yet, this government has not seen it fit to hold them in the constitutionally determined time,” Robinson added.
He argued that if things are going as well economically as the government says, “then how, in a trillion-dollar budget, can they not find one billion dollars to hold elections?”
“Is it that the finance minister and his colleagues know in their hearts that the budget presented on Tuesday, with all the theatrics and table banging, simply does not address the basic needs of the people?” Robinson queried.
He further asked, “Why are they afraid to face the people?”
Robinson said he was using his budget presentation to speak to the many Jamaicans who feel detached because they think the government does not consult them, or budget in their interests.
He said: “I have listened, I will listen, and I am listening. The message that I am hearing from the people is the same over and over again: we cyaa continue so”.