IN OBSERVING the first anniversary of the historic fourth term won in the October 16, 2002 General Election, the party said that although there had been certain challenges, steady progress had been made in implementing its manifesto commitment.
Perhaps the most difficult of the challenges faced in the last year was the vicious criminal acts which continued to claim the lives of innocent Jamaican at all levels. The People's National Party (PNP) is committed to working with the security forces, civil society and all law-abiding Jamaicans to rid our society of the scourge of crime. Apart from the economic blight which it brings, too many Jamaican families continue to experience the pain of murder of their loved ones in the most brutal ways.
In relation to the economy, the first year of the fourth term has coincided with a three-year programme to bring Government operations back into fiscal surplus. This, the party noted, had meant a serious curtailment of the fiscal budget which, in the short run, is affecting implementation of certain important government programmes.
The PNP is sensitive to the anxieties of many of our people, particularly the youth, on the issue of employment and urges that growth with jobs must be a key ingredient of the economic policy and programmes going forward. To this end, the party is pleased with the tourism investment programme announced some months ago, which will see the construction of over 5,000 new hotel rooms in Negril and St. Ann and the prospect of more development in other resort areas.
However, the party also notes with pride the start of certain important programmes, including Highway 2000, the National Health Fund Programme, the beginning of the phasing out of school fees at the secondary level and the completion of the liberalisation of the Jamaican telecommunications sector, which lays the basis for building a knowledgeable society.
The party has itself engaged in a process of self-analysis and renewal. It remains committed to the Party leader's vision of building a more united Jamaica, and at the same time to becoming a more efficient and responsive organisation.
COLIN CAMPBELL
Deputy General Secretary
