The following is a speech given by Aubyn Hill, managing director of the National Commercial Bank (NCB), to the Rotary Club of Kingston last week.
WHATEVER OUR position may be on the war between Iraq and the 'coalition of the willing' many Jamaicans may be sighing 'thank God for the war' although we really regret the casualties and destruction but at least it takes some of the attention away from the crime, high interest rates, fiscal deficits and the large appetite the Government has for borrowing money."
But the war takes only some of the attention away from our problems.
The problems I mentioned above are so pressing that the talk show hosts, journalists and editorial writers have no choice but to keep them in front of our faces like a distasteful dietary regime.
As managerial and opinion leaders in various sectors of the society, whether we like it or not, we are being pressed into trying to find solutions to some of the many difficulties that Jamaica faces at this time.
The eminent American historian, Arthur Schlesinger, who is also known as the Kennedy family historian, once wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal outlining the differences between a businessman and a politician and why it is quite often difficult for the first to transform himself, or herself, into the second.
He pointed out that businessmen are used to making clear definitive decisions based on a great deal of authority, while government leaders while appearing to have a great deal of authority must make decisions based on consensus and compromise.
Having just returned to Jamaica six months ago, I have heard the calls of many business practitioners, commentators, people of social prominence and academians (the most prominent of which is Rex Nettleford and his report of some years ago), call for the paring down of Government. I imagine that after 14 years in power this is probably a pressing requirement but given this Schlesinger observation it will be hard to accomplish.
CUTTING 'CONSULTANTS'
In this time of difficulty in Jamaica the private sector, and other sectors and institutions within the society, should adopt a new role that of cost-cutting "consultants" to the Government.
Again, if we remind ourselves of the Arthur Schlesinger observation that Government arrives at decision by consensus and compromise, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), to which many of our institutions belong, can offer help to the Government by outlining which areas of Government activities and expenses should be cut.
The PSOJ could be one of those institutions that start a useful set of private discussions with the Government about what and where to cut.
These discussions should develop quickly into a very necessary and sensible public debate that can sharpen the focus as to what the society as a whole expects the Government to cut from its ongoing set of activities.
But the PSOJ is not the only institution that could act in this "consultant" role to the Government and to help with the public debate that must lead to some sort of consensus and compromise as to what the Government will have to cut in these difficult times.
Civil society, the churches, associations such as the Rotary Club, the Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF) and, most importantly, the trade unions must join the band of public and private consultants to the Government as we work towards a difficult set of compromises and consensus as to where the Minister of Finance and the Government will have to apply the sharp budgetary scalpel to reduce its own size.
Make no mistake, this will be a very difficult exercise. Those of us who run businesses, and especially those of us who have had to turn around businesses that have been besieged by economic and managerial difficulties, know how difficult it is to pare and repair such a business and the Government is infinitely more complex, pervasive and the source of dependency for many more people than those who rely on any one business or industry.
