Dear Editor,

I read a report in the media recently about a speech given by Prime Minister Andrew Holness in which he said that a singular focus on wage increase without matched productivity was doomed to fail and is not the answer to our economic problems.

The prime minister was speaking on agriculture at the launch of the Parnassus Agro Park in southern Clarendon. As I read the report I wondered how ironic, as the same principle could apply to other sectors and industries, including governance, as parliamentarians and members of Cabinet received massive increases up to 300 per cent, while employees in other sectors struggle.

It is odd that the prime minister now has concerns about output and inflation, given the impact of wage and salary increases. We haven’t heard of any specific measures to manage performance and output of parliamentarians to make them accountable and more responsible. One could also argue that the Cabinet is top heavy for a country of our size and budget, considering that ministers’ focus is on strategy and policy. Recently the prime minister added three new senators and two were appointed minister of state and minister without portfolio, which adds to the wage bill.

Prime Minister Holness and his Cabinet might think that most people have forgotten the increases and the pre-election promises, moreso the first 100 days. I cringe sometimes watching Parliament and the House Speaker — Juliet Holness, the prime minister’s wife — who appears to take great pleasure in using her power to turn off microphones, usually that of the Opposition members, as if to silence them when it suits her.

Many feel the Administration is authoritarian and not open to constructive criticism; they remain tone-deaf and out of touch, considering the harsh economic realities of many Jamaicans who work but struggle to make ends meet for the basics. The comment by the Minister of Finance Fayval Williams, while speaking with Television Jamaica’s Dionne Jackson Miller on her programme All Angles, suggesting that “faithfully” saving $2,000 per month for three years would allow the average Jamaican to make a down payment on a Toyota Probox motor car, spoke volumes.

I saw a comment on social media recently under the caption ‘Who would you vote for?’ The person wrote: “Ina jus four years unu salary jump from 9 million to 28 million yet minimum wage a struggle like some single mother wid ten pickney, yes growth a gwane to only at the top.” I wanted to laugh but couldn’t as the statement packed some powerful punches from every angle.

The prime minister is right about wanting to place greater emphasis on productivity, but he would have more credibility if his actions reflected his words. No one would’ve opposed a reasonable increase to parliamentarians considering their responsibilities; likewise, no one would oppose reasonable increases to the minimum wage and to public sector workers, police, and teachers, whose economic output is out of sync with their meagre earnings.

P Chin

chin_p@yahoo.com