LETTER OF THE DAY - PNP seems clueless
Published:Friday | December 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
After watching the debate on Tuesday, it was quite clear that the People's National Party (PNP) has absolutely no clue of how to manage the economy.
Portia Simpson Miller's suggestion that the PNP would be able to renegotiate three major contracts within two weeks simply borders on the ridiculous. The agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) alone will take months. Every Jamaican must know this.
The sad fact is that the PNP doesn't seem to have a plan. Period. If there are Jamaicans who believe that the next government will not have to cut the civil service, God help us all.
Another point that became obvious was on job creation. Mrs Simpson Miller validated all suspicions that JEEP was simply a crash programme. I cannot believe that the PNP wants us to accept redistributing JDIP funds to JEEP to clean gullies constitutes job creation. The PNP must go back to the drawing board. Certainly, by now Jamaicans must realise that JEEP was not a well-thought-out plan.
If the plan was truly what the PNP was going to implement, should it form the next government, it would have answered the basic question as to how the programme would be funded. Asking the Chinese to use money intended for infrastructure development to clean gullies instead is worse than using the money to buy furniture.
Seriously, after more than four years in Opposition, that is the PNP's best idea? At least the JLP leader knew that the best use of the JDIP funds is for infrastructure development. There is simply no ideological difference between the two parties; we are simply going to have to pick the one which seems to be better managers of the country's affairs.
The JLP's plan to keep interest rates low, pursue private investments to help drive the economy, and focus on infrastructure development seems more practical.
ANDRE S. MCDONALD