KINGSTON, Jamaica — Senator Abka Fitz-Henley has called on more civic and business groups to help educate the population about the importance of current and future administrations in Jamaica not yielding to the temptation of pursuing reckless fiscal management or ‘a run wid it’ approach to the country’s affairs.

The government senator made the comment as he addressed a meeting of the Rotary Club of Kingston East and Port Royal at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Monday night.

He was speaking on the theme of how civic and business groups in Jamaica may achieve greater impact via collaboration.

He reasoned that the current Government has been able to pass on benefits of sound economic management by implementing a range of measures including, doubling the minimum wage, twice reducing income taxes, issuing a $20,000 income tax rebate, expanding the PATH programme and increasing pension payments.

But Fitz-Henley said understandably there is a demand for additional benefits of a stable economy to be passed on to the people.

“I am confident that the sound fiscal management pursued by the administration of which I am apart means some of the demands can be met. But we have to be careful not to spend beyond our means or repeat mistakes of the past where an administration simply pursued a policy of run wid it,” Fitz-Henley told his audience.

He argued that civil society groups and business interests may assist the process of national development by being among the ‘explainers in chief’ that a dual strategy of passing on tangible benefits of sound economic management, while at the same time maintaining conscientious fiscal discipline, is important to Jamaica’s future.

“Even as we do not resile from a commitment to pass on more benefits to the people, we owe it to current and future generations to ensure that hard earn stability in our economy which has been engineered by carefully crafted policies are not reversed,” Fitz-Henley reasoned.

The senator said he is a strong supporter of advocacy by civil society groups against corruption which has been reported to account for approximately five per cent of Gross Domestic Product in Jamaica (GDP).

But he said it is important for advocacy groups and business interests to be consistent in their messaging.

“I was disappointed but not surprised recently to hear a member of civil society lashing out against a former Member of Parliament who has again decided to offer herself to the people despite a charge where she is contesting that she forgot to declare a motor vehicle she hardly drove. But the same advocate was silent on the matter of two candidates from the opposite side of the political fence who pleaded guilty to breaching the same law and also remained silent concerning a current MP who is to be charged and has publicly admitted breaking the law, but maintains superintendence over a parliamentary oversight committee which scrutinizes public expenditure,” Fitz-Henley commented.

He cautioned that if representatives of civic groups and business interests are not consistent in their messaging they will unfortunately attract concern that they are partisan in their posture and detract from the shared goal of reducing corruption in Jamaica and improving standards of governance.