Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer

Phillips

He may have lost his high-profile Cabinet position in the last government, but Dr. Peter Phillips, the former Minister of National Security, is serving notice that he will remain vocal on many of the issues that concern the Jamaican public.

In confirmation of that resolve, Dr. Phillips has already issued an urgent call for the new Government not to abandon the centralised public transportation system which he introduced for the Corporate Area.

While acknowledging that the state-operated Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) needed to cut its losses, he stressed that the country could not afford to return to the ramshackle "one man one bus" operation which preceded it.

The centralised bus service was important, "not only in economic terms, but in social terms, as well", he emphasised, in an interview with The Gleaner.

The new administration will have to "develop the political will to ensure that the company survives," he said.

Mike Henry, the new Transport Minister, has said he would be taking steps to cut the company's losses and make it more financially viable.

While not indicating which portfolio he will assume in the still-to-be-named Shadow Cabinet, Dr. Phillips gave strong indications that national security was still a matter of great interest to him.

"It remains, to my mind, one of the most significant challenges that the country has to face and it is something that I would be prepared to make a contribution to."

He reiterated, however, that he will not stick to the narrow confines of the defined portfolio, but instead will explore the many other social-policy issues which cover such matters as education, employment, urban renewal, and housing - all of which have an impact on crime control or the lack thereof.

Dr. Phillips, a vice-president of the People's National Party, narrowly lost to Portia Simpson Miller in his bid to win the party's presidency last year.

In the wake of the party's loss in the subsequent general election, he told The Gleaner that he had no plan to make another attempt at the party leadership at this time. Instead, he stressed the importance of party unity.

The political scientist has not entirely ruled out that option in the longer term, however, responding with a cryptic "sufficient to the day", when pressed on the matter.

In the meantime, Dr. Phillips has made clear his intention to remain relevant to the electorate and the membership of the party.

A period in Opposition would not only permit time to "reflect and do research", he said, "but to express views more widely about issues".

Prior to his tenures in the ministries of National Security and Transport and Works, Dr. Phillips served as Minister of Health.

Reflecting on his time at the Health Ministry, he highlighted the Drugs for the Elderly Programme and the redevelopment of several major hospitals as among his major accomplishments there.

He also praised John Junor, his successor at the Health Ministry, for the establishment of the National Health Fund, an initiative which he said grew out of his earlier exploration of the possibility of setting up a national health-insurance scheme.