MANDEVILLE:
NORMAN DACOSTA, vice-president of the National Workers' Union (NWU), said he believed there would be social unrest among working class Jamaicans, particularly those at the lower end of the economic ladder, if the Government continued on its present economic path.
Against the background of recent increases in user fees, Mr. DaCosta said that if the Government failed to address the needs of the average man it would be writing a "prescription for social unrest."
Speaking in an interview with The Gleaner on Friday, the vice-president of the union said 2003 would be one of the "most challenging years" the country has ever seen. Workers of this country, he said, "have nothing to expect during the course of the year" that would not become a burden to them. The NWU is an affiliate of the ruling People's National Party.
He said the national pie was shrinking while the Government continued to "extract" more and more from people without any plans being put in place to change the economic situation.
"All we have got so far from Government is more taxation while the politicians secure pay raises for themselves," he said. "It has become more difficult for parents to find bus fares and lunch money for their children to go to school. I don't want to be predicting doom and gloom," said Mr. DaCosta, "but I have to be realistic and speak on the basis of my experience and what I know from being associated with the workers of this country. It is from this knowledge that I predict that this is going to be a very unpleasant year, characterised by conflicts and more and more of the population slipping below the poverty line."
Mr. DaCosta said remedies could be found for the problems, but a major obstacle was the Government's inability to "listen" to others besides themselves.
He said taxpayers did not believe they had a "moral obligation" to pay their taxes; rather, they pay only because it was a legal requirement. This attitude, he said, has been nourished by governments over the years by their lack of accountability and waste while not providing the roads, water, security and other infrastructure needed for a more equitable society.
Mr. DaCosta, said, however, that the nation would survive because the Jamaican people were strong and resilient.
