DEPUTY MANAGING director of Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) Keith Duncan has expressed concern about the recent silence on the Partnership for Progress.
The private sector-led initiative aims to build a social partnership, including the private sector, unions and Government, to ensure that Jamaica's socio-economic climate improves through a combination of public expenditure cuts, wage restraint and tax reform.
Speaking at the launch of the Jamaica Computer Society's Showcase 2004 yesterday at the Terra Nova Hotel, Mr. Duncan recalled that as a result of the fiscal crisis suffered by the Government in the last financial year, the partnership was heral-ded as a saviour. But with Prime Minister P.J. Patterson's stated upbeat feelings about the economy, the urgency with which the partnership was being pursued,seems to have waned.
"The financial sector has settled down, so it's all of us, not just the Government, that seemed to have forgotten the partnership," he said. "The whole Partnership for Progress has lost its urgency because we are no longer in a crisis situation."
He warned that Jamaica was still vulnerable to economic shocks, reminding the audience that every sector was rocked by the September 11 terrorist attacks. He urged that the topic be put back on the agenda.
"Beverley Lopez and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica continue to give it (the social contract) their best shot. We need to encourage all stakeholders to put the social contract back on Jamaica's radar."
Reacting to Mr. Duncan's comments, Mrs. Lopez said: "I wouldn't say it was on the back burner. We have had our first meeting with Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies, who leads the Government team and we shared our draft of the initiatives. He has been off the island so we hope to hear from him soon."
SOMETHING DEFINITIVE
She explained to The Gleaner yesterday that the members of the partnership wanted to make sure they had "something definitive" to tell the public regarding the social contract before bringing up the issue again, hence the apparent silence. She was optimistic that whatever queries and concerns that were raised about the partnership had been thoroughly discussed and clarified and indicated that the ball was now in the government's court.
"This is a quid pro quo relationship and so we expect that the Government will put its items on the table concerning what they would like to see in the agreement. We await their response and look forward to having meaningful discussions on the topic," she said.
Yesterday, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson told journalists during a briefing at Jamaica House that his administration had received a draft of the PSOJ-authored policy document, but he said he was awaiting the return of his Finance Minister from overseas to begin a review of the Partnership for Progress.
