The Editor, Sir:

We note with great interest the development-planning comments made by Minister James Robertson in a Sectoral Budget presentation recently. Your newspaper perhaps only highlighted the PPP (public-private partnerships), which is important and was last highlighted to a great extent in the Thatcher years in the United Kingdom and with favourable success.

What perhaps is more important is James Robertson's attempt to institutionalise development planning as occurred under former prime minister, Edward Seaga, and operationally implemented by Robert Lightbourne. This speaks to developing a Jamaica development model that can make us sustain growth rather than dream of it.

Old model

What was clear, the old model of telling the masses of Jamaica what should be (normative) rather than the (positivist) what is and fix it, has now begun to resonate and is a better fast-track approach to achieving First-World status ('Vision 2030') and also, taking into consideration the Constituency Development Fund, we are now on a development path this time of really achieving this.

Kudos to James Robertson for attempting to clearly define the development-planning process in Jamaica and his ingenuity in attacking the missing links rather than pandering to a Jamaican-type Washington-consensus approach, which was perhaps the not clearly defined approach of the previous administration.

I am, etc.,

Dr CHARLES

DEMONTAQUE,

Stafford University

c/o 101 Weybrige Road

Addlestone Road, Surrey

United Kingdom

KT152QS