Last week the PNP launched its manifesto under the banner Mission Jamaica Love. The party’s core message was that economic stability has not translated into an improved quality of life for Jamaicans.

The manifesto is grounded on 11 pillars, each represented by a paragraph below. The following account is mainly based on the verbal presentations made at the launch rather than the written manifesto itself, although obviously they are similar, and is not intended to be a detailed analysis.

Justice for all means the PNP’s plan is not just to replace King Charles III as Jamaica’s head of State, but to replace the UK Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice as Jamaica’s final court, of note to foreign investors. In the cultural sphere, it plans to include the Diaspora, people of disability, and Rastafarians in Jamaica’s Senate, and protect the cultural rights of Rastafarians as well as Jamaica’s Maroons. Importantly, it plans to strengthen Parliament by passing impeachment legislation and considering fixed election dates as well as restoring Opposition chairmanship of key committees. They also plan to pursue reparations and, notably, join the international criminal court.

In regard to education policy, the party emphasised subsidised taxis to transport schoolchildren rather than the second-hand school buses recently bought by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Government. It reiterated the first in the family university education scholarship idea, while current student loan repayments are to be capped and tied to income, combined with both an increased dollar amount and number for school lunches. An undertaking to improve teacher’s salaries was also included.

Modern infrastructure includes energy, water, and road policy. Shadow Minister Phillip Paulwell supports the recent move not to renew the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) licence in pursuit of substantially lowering energy costs and noted that he ended “the 50-year licence of Cable and Wireless early” through negotiation. Paulwell advocated “power for the people”, meaning rooftop solar sold to the grid as part of community “microgrids” and holding JPS accountable for the damage to appliances from fluctuating voltage. The party proposes universal water access by 2030 and increased investment in climate resilience. Shadow Minister Mikael Phillips argued for increased investment in both the 27,000 kilometre road network (particularly the restoration of a dedicated road maintenance fund), a light rail network to Portmore, and digital highways.

Various ideas were put forward for agriculture and food security, including vastly increased irrigation (it was stated that only 15 per cent of agricultural land is irrigated); the creation of an Agricultural Development Fund; school buying of agricultural produce, particularly in agricultural districts (I approve); special economic zones for agricultural exports; and restricting imports — unless one can’t find produce — to reduce the food import bill by 25 per cent over five years.

The proposal on innovation and industry, or Jamaica 4.0, by Anthony Hylton was perhaps the most interesting “business” presentation,
but it needed to be expanded. It stated that Jamaica needed to move beyond a logistics/hub strategy to a supply/value chain strategy that embraces the digital revolution so that the value of a brilliant mind in Mandeville, for example, becomes as good as one in Massachusetts, USA, and Jamaica becomes the gateway between the Americas and the world. He advocates the creation of a National Innovation and Supply Chain Council, as the age of extraction (bauxite) is ending and innovation beginning. He argued the future of Jamaica 4.0 will be as a global value chain with an internationally competitive business environment driven by best-in-class trade agreements, forward-facing incentives, and best-in-class logistics.

In health, Dr Alfred Dawes invited his audience on a journey to world-class health care, highlighting many remaining deficiencies, with a welcome emphasis on areas such as a cancer.

In the area of accountability and governance, Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding, described as the “Integrity Boss” by his audience, proposed a participatory, inclusive, accountable democracy, starting with restoring the Office of the Political Ombudsman to being an independent entity, separate from the Electoral Commission of Jamaica, with which it had been merged. He proposed strengthening the Integrity Commission and amending the Access to Information Act to allow for a simpler process, shorter timelines, and broader scope. He proposed participatory budgeting as part of local government reform, along with community-led planning. He also emphasised the PNP’s traditional support for Caricom and expanded ties with Africa and the Global South.

In the area of land, housing, and ownership, stating that “housing is a right”, the PNP again proposed ending the diversion of the current $11.4 billion a year grant from the National Housing Trust to the central government in order to finance the acceleration of its mandate to build 50,000 affordable housing homes in five years, along with introducing a rent-to-own programme for informal workers (after six months one can convert to a mortgage), and reducing interest rates from 3 per cent to 1 per cent for civil servants.

Opportunities for youth included a $1-billion National Youth Innovation to fund 5,000 businesses in five years, along with private sector partnerships.

The approach underlying the heading ‘Violence Prevention and Safer Communities’ was to treat violence as a public health issue, combined with legal reforms for better law enforcement. Peter Bunting described this as moving the security forces from a “warrior” (everyone is a potential recruit to a gang) to a “guardian” ethos (opportunities to divert one from a life of crime). He argued that as justice minister, Golding had already moved in the direction of transformation with decriminalisation of ganja and the expungement of related criminal records.

In the area of environmental resilience, the party proposes to increase independence by creating an independent appeal process for the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) so that the final arbiter is not the minister of the environment, which it was noted is currently part of the prime minister’s portfolio.

While the PNP is to be commended for launching its manifesto only two days after the election announcement, it would have been helpful if some costing and timelines for the promises had been included. A presentation by shadow minister of finance Julian Robinson would have been useful in this regard.

Keith Collister