THERE IS reasonable anticipation that the Budget Debate starting this week will provide a clearer definition of the path forward for the new administration as we enter into the second quarter of the year.
Expectations have been high for new directions in national policy following the political changes during the first quarter and the country is now anxious to see some firm indication of the Government's intent to correct any shortcomings of the previous administration and to map out a vision and strategy of its own.
While the Prime Minister has moved swiftly to take the high moral ground in the political arena, the monotonous reports of crime, scandals, budget overruns, and social disorder are striking a note of discord; and there is a growing, even chilling realisation that perhaps these spectres that haunt our country's soul will, like the poor, be with us for a long time to come.
The Government, however, knows like we do that the success of the economy relies on finding the solution to these problems and that they need to be addressed as requisites in any master plan for Jamaica's development over the next several years.
We are expecting therefore that serious debate will take place on the social as well as on the economic issues with vigorous contribution from the Opposition to map out a budget that takes us past scoring of points and into serious management, not just of the economy, but of the country.
Governments have taken on increasingly widening responsibilities in that regard and must demonstrate management skills in forward planning to counter the unexpected vagaries of nature, the complexities of foreign trade, the irrationalities of globalisation, and other uncertainties that can derail schedules and timelines for completing important projects as with the World Cup preparations.
In the meantime, there seems to be little appreciation of the serious situation we are in with regard to the soaring oil price, diminishing returns from agriculture, violence in schools, and an everlasting foreign debt.
Indeed, there seems to be a creeping public malaise in the general attitude towards the discomfiting signs of more, rather than less difficult times ahead, and a preference to lumber onwards from holiday to holiday, weighted down by bun and cheese, and sedated by murmurings of faith, hope, and charity.
We maintain that the Budget Debate offers the opportunity for a wake-up call to Jamaica, when our parliamentarians can ground our thinking and action plans on solid, practical, and constructive lines, put aside any myths and fantasies, and provide a stern reality check for Jamaica. Some of those realities were dramatised in the vigorous exchanges in the Standing Finance Committee which in recent times have been open to public view. The formalities of Budget Debates should be no less vigorous and informative.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
