( L - R ) GOLDING and LOPEZ
BRUCE GOLDING has committed the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to exploratory discussions with the private sector on participation in revived tripartite social partnership talks previously shunned by the Opposition.
It was clear, however, that the Opposition Leader's approach was far more tentative than the initial assumption of Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) President Beverley Lopez, who had earlier in the day suggested that there was a firmer commitment on the part of the JLP boss.
"I spoke to Bruce Golding on whether he would be willing to have people sitting at the table for the talks, and he said yes," Lopez said.
But yesterday, Golding later said: "Our involve-ment at this stage is exploratory."
According to Golding, he had requested that his Shadow Minister on Commerce, Shirley Williams, have further talks with the PSOJ on the matter, making clear that the JLP was not prepared to make any firm commitments to its own participation at this time.
FIRST MOVE
"The Government must (first) commit itself to specific targets that are measurable and enforce-able," Golding said. "We want something that is sealed and tight."
The Government and the private sector had negotiated for the better part of two years on a broad agreement, aimed at creating an environment for economic growth and job creation beyond the anaemic performance of the past three decades. But the JLP, under former leader, Edward Seaga, never came to the table, and senior party officials ridiculed the effort. They hinted at the Opposition's fear of being co-opted into support of administration strategies, thereby limiting their ability to criticise.
Despite the emergence of a draft agreement last year, the talks fizzled without the signing of a pact between the Govern-ment and the private sector. Participants attribute the stalemate to distractions in the ruling People's National Party during the campaign for a new leader, involving three senior ministers, including Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies, who had led the Government side in the negotiations.
NEW NEGOTIATIONS
But administration officials said yesterday that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller will this week announce renewed talks, with Dr. Davies again leading the Government side. Simpson Miller has had second thoughts about entrusting the nego-tiations to Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, who has been badly bruised by his handling of the crisis over the shortage of cement.
According to private sector sources, the new negotiations will have to lead to a substantial redrafting of earlier agreements to include economic targets such as a new timetable for the balancing of the budget, as well as inflation rates and growth in the gross domestic product.
Golding told The Gleaner that, having seen social partnership agreements work in Ireland and Barbados, he would place great store on one in Jamaica.
In fact, noting that such talks would "cut across ministries and require someone unencumbered by specific portfolios," he suggested that Simpson Miller should take direct leadership of the negotiations.
"If I was sitting in Jamaica House, I would be leading the discussions myself," he said.
The Opposition Leader's sentiment on the importance of the talks was echoed by the PSOJ's Lopez.
"I am hoping that it will work," she said. "It is important for our governance and the future of Jamaica."
