Lance Neita, Contributor

SHAW

The opening of the Budget Debate this afternoon should command national attention, in spite of sundry opinion polls indicating minor public interest in the discussions that followed the Throne Speech and tabling of the Estimates.

The fact is that this will be the first Budget brought before us by the JLP Government since taking office, and the first lead presentation made by the Honourable Audley Shaw who has paid his dues as Finance Minister-in-waiting through a lengthy period as Opposition shadow minister.

The debate will have a drama of its own outside of the weighty matters of economics and finance, as the public will be sizing up the minister's performance vis-à-vis that of Omar Davies, now in the unaccustomed role of Opposition spokesman.

High theatre

Those looking for high theatre may find that in more abundance than the substance of the presentations, as political analysts will also be avidly comparing the contribution of Peter Phillips to that of Opposition Leader Portia Simpson. It is anticipated that the party president will have to give the speech of her life in order to regain traction from her vice-president who has quietly crept up on her in the leadership race that now appears to be opening up in the PNP.

There is going to be much political posturing in this debate. The Government has already been accused of crafting an election budget. There is some credence to this assertion where promises seem to have been kept at the expense of prudent management.

Confidence

Audley Shaw, who has so far exhibited nimbleness and a heartening confidence through his pronouncements and optimism, knows that he must emerge from this debate free of the image that he is unduly dependent on his State Minister Wehby for strategy and policy direction.

There has been unprecedented hype around this Budget, fuelled certainly by the changing of the guard at Jamaica House and the Ministry of Finance, as well as the mixed expectations of the public in response to various prognoses of the state's inability to achieve its lofty targets.

We cannot, however, allow the theatrics and drama to divert from the serious implications of a Budget that must be crafted to meet the critical challenges and constraints of an enormous national debt, alarming increases in the cost of living, those unpredictable oil prices, and widening gaps in our income-expenditure projections.

Can we dare hope for a breakaway from any staid machination of figures and statistics and look for the necessary innovative approaches needed to create a meaningful path forward for the shaping of the nation's fortunes in the short and long-term future.

Budgeting with a vision

There have been calls to take the budget beyond the porticos of the House and to afford wider op-portunities for participation and ownership by Jamaicans of all sectors, from the powerful Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica to the individual small business persons and enterprises who will influence or be influenced by this process?

Jamaicans will pay attention if the right tone is set today with an opening that provides substance and not symbolism, is realistic and not out of reach, and exhibits constructive and innovative steps to make growth and development an attainable target for a nation in need of hope.