THERE IS never a right time to implement a politically difficult decision, but when such a decision is unnecessarily delayed, it can lead to much greater problems or strife. This is why politics and economics do not mix well, since economic medicine is never palatable, even if swallowed in bits or digested whole.
The above could apply to many things, from the many consultants employed to the proliferation of government reports, to the parliamentarians' salary reports. In this case I am talking about the expected water rate and bus fare hikes, that will have to be implemented sooner, rather than later.
Now most politicians do not like to be the bearer of bad news, although had it been an announcement of some benefit one would have to watch out for the stampede to the podium to be the town crier. I suppose it's human nature, unless you are either so combative that being unpopular does not matter, or unless you are so secure in your post that you can ride out any storm of criticism that follows the bad tidings.
By now everyone should have an idea of the deep fiscal hole that Jamaica is in. This means that even revenue projections were running at 80 per cent above the 2003 fiscal year (FY) projections, the country would still be in a deep fiscal hole.
FISCAL MUSCLE
The government has therefore been exerting its fiscal muscle and taxing everything that moves in and out of Jamaica, while cutting real expenditure by paying the same warrants to its various bodies. It has done so by holding the nominal sums, the same it has in reality cut down what it needs to run these bodies. When it can do so, it has also raised the user fees for government services by significant percentages.
Two major government entities that remain a huge burden to taxpayers are the bus transport , JUTC and the water utility company NWC. It should be clear to most persons that these two companies carry huge liabilities. The NWC is at present, seeking to carry out an expensive redundancy exercise that will still cost it a pretty penny, but will not reduce much of its high wastage levels or water theft.
The JUTC is in a similar position, as having replaced the ramshackle system that existed prior to its inception, it cannot now contract or even wither (as buses gets damaged and are not replaced). With unions pressing for wage adjustments, the JUTC management 'is being given a basket to carry water'.
The Minister of Finance has already 'spilled the beans' about the hikes, doing what the Minister of Water and the Minister of Transport should already be saying. We need to know what are the level of increases and when they will take effect, to ensure better planning decisions. The respective Ministers seem afraid to state these, because of the likely erosion of any remaining goodwill with which this government is held; fear of rank opportunism on the part of the opposition (who in power would not do differently); and the spin-off effects of these costs on production and transport costs.
I would suggest that these ministers get their public relations agencies in place and educate the public as to why the increases would take place and then implement them before September 2003, rather than create the base of demonstrations as the school year starts.
