During the ground-breaking and contract-signing ceremony for the Raintree Commercial Complex on April 16, 2025 at Ferry Pen, St Catherine, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness made an observation, which, although not new, seldom has ever been expressed with such clarity, simplicity, and conviction.

Highlighting improvements at the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), which is in charge of managing the project, the prime minister said it has been the custom of workers in the government sector to work towards perfecting the bureaucracy, adding more regulations and red tape when the goal should be to work towards perfecting the lives of those served.

One month earlier, at the March 17 swearing-in ceremony for two newly appointed ministers, the prime minister took an important step in advancing what has become his laser focus on reducing bureaucratic red tape and improving government efficiency. In a release by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Senator Audrey Marks was given specific responsibility for efficiency, innovation, and digital transformation. Her role will be instrumental in reforming government bureaucracy to create a more agile, innovation-driven, and growth-oriented public sector. Senator Marks will oversee the Streamlining Processes for Efficiency and Economic Development (Speed) initiative, the online post said.

This is not some flash-in-the-pan election sloganeering based on a distant dream. There is at last, it seems, the realisation that Government, through legislative over-reach and its own bureaucratic processes, can get in the way of businesses doing what only businesses can do, grow the economy.

In announcing the establishment of a Speed Task Force at the Jamaica Stock Exchange 20th Regional Investments and Capital Markets Conference on January 21, 2025, Dr Holness made this telling point: “We are the country of the fastest man alive; we must translate that speed on the track to the speed of doing business.”

The focus on reducing bureaucracy is not disassociated from Government’s new macroeconomic direction. Last November, in a policy address, Prime Minister Holness enunciated a medium- to long-term vision to guide the nation’s pivot to inclusive economic growth. The vision is built on six pillars under the acronym ASPIRE. The ‘R’ stands for reform of bureaucracy to improve ease, speed, and cost of doing business.

The prime minister’s pivot to inclusive growth mirrors the position put forward by People’s National Party (PNP) spokesman on finance Julian Robinson. In his presentation at the 86th annual conference of his party held on September 14, 2024, he was reported as saying, in part, the following: “Our focus is on growth that does not just inflate numbers but improves lives, lifts families out of poverty, and creates opportunities for all Jamaicans regardless of their background.”

That there is unanimity between the political parties on the issue of inclusive growth, which has eluded Jamaica for most, if not all, of its life as an independent nation, bodes well for the likely success of the vision, even allowing for differences in strategy. This in itself is a signal achievement made possible by the fact that macroeconomic stability has been achieved through fiscal discipline practised by both PNP and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administrations.

Those among the readership who get news from varied sources, locally and internationally, may detect similarities between the stated aims of Prime Minister Holness’ Speed, headed by Audrey Marks, and President Donald Trump’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), headed by Elon Musk. One hopes that’s where the similarities end.

Unlike Marks, Musk does not occupy a Cabinet-level position. He is what could be referred to as an efficiency czar, having wide-ranging powers and reporting to no one but the president. With that level of autonomy, he has embarked on a rampage — symbolised by a chainsaw in hand, which he proudly displayed at the CPAC 2025 convention — indiscriminately cutting departments and personnel at will in a bid to cut the budget by US$3 trillion and reduce the national debt, which stands at over US$36 trillion. Mistakes have been made; targets missed; livelihoods destroyed; and protests, some politically motivated, have popped up across the country.

Given the long and unsuccessful struggle to reform the public sector, one understands these latest announcements by our Government will be met with scepticism in some quarters. The January 26, 2025 Jamaica Observer editorial, in reference to the Speed Task Force, opined as follows. “So far so good. But as we pointed out in this space last November after Holness signalled his intention in a policy address, we won’t start doing cartwheels until we actually see this policy working like a well-oiled machine.”

One hopes the new minister will be given the level of authority to summon joined-up action across departments and agencies of government and make the necessary policy and procedural changes necessary as well as be provided with the financial resources and staff support to at least make a dent in the country’s overbearing and entrenched bureaucracy.

Dr Henley Morgan is founder and executive chairman of the Trench Town-based Social Enterprise, Agency for Inner-city Renewal and author of My Trench Town Journey — Lessons in Social Entrepreneurship and Community Transformation for Development Leaders, Policy Makers, Academics and Practitioners. Send comments to Jamaica Observer or hmorgan@cwjamaica.com.

Audrey Marks (Naphtali Junior)

Andrew Holness

Government bureaucratic processes can get in the way of businesses’ ability to grow the economy.