Andrew's fairy tale, Portia's realities

Ralph Thomas, Contriburtor

It was a perfectly ordinary day when the thunderbolt of lightning struck. The day began with just a faint tint of orange colouring the morning sky and the greenery of four years of rainfall covered the land. In the palace, the young prince yawned and stretched, while his courtiers arose early and unalarmed. He was confident that his well-fed troops would march out to a decisive victory against the seemingly lightly supplied and equipped invaders led by a woman.

He reflected on how far he had come and how quickly, and in his imagination revelled in the thought that as soon as he had settled the simple matter of an uprising by the people, he would get back to single-handedly making big decisions that would make his newly acquired kingdom the showpiece of the world.

He smiled as he admired his new chariot and contemplated expansions to the palace. How could he possibly lose this battle when he had his two uncles, battle-scarred generals of the past, to advise him and direct his every move? He didn't notice that his generals and lieutenants had grown a bit corpulent as they gorged on a rich diet and no longer walked on the ground with the troops and among the people as they used to do.

At the end of the day, he would be crowned King. The nobles of the land fawned on him as they snickered quietly behind their ruffled sleeves. They told him how handsome and smart and brave he was, poured treasure into his war chest and admired his new transparent suit. The court jesters vied with each other to entertain him with smoke and mirrors and magical calculations of his expected great margin of victory. Life in the palace was good.

promise of plenty

In the hills and valleys and across the land, the people prepared quietly and organised efficiently under the orange banner of their liberator, the legendary woman who internalised and embodied their hopes and aspirations. They really had no choice, as they were hungry, and their rulers, no longer caring about their survival or welfare, had cleanly gleaned the fields, leaving nothing on which they could survive. Despite the promise of plenty for all, only the few had benefited.

The stage was set for the moment of destiny. History will record that the people's champion prevailed in a one-sided outcome, as all across the land the people moved in unison to overthrow those who ruled as if in a pre-arranged and secret plan still to be explained by the pundits. Like swallows in coordinated flight or schooling fish in a synchronised dance to evade a predator, they moved with a single heartbeat as if directed by some unknown and unseen and inexplicable force.

He never saw it coming. The prince was knocked from his high horse by a bolt of orange lightning, reflected from the sword of Portia and energised by the power of the people and her heart and compassion for the poor and her countrymen.

Displaying character, intuitive intellect, vision, statesmanship, hard work and dedication and an uncanny ability to manage the collective consciousness of the Jamaican people in a gallant display of leadership, Portia Simpson Miller has finally silenced her critics by acquiring a mandate for radical change in our society implied by her decisive 42-21 victory over the Andrew Holness-led JLP.

As we begin the New Year 2012, we are mindful of the significance of the eve of our 50th year of independence from colonial rule, the pathways of social and economic evolution of our society that we have followed, the internalised values and beliefs that have emerged, the fragmentation of our society into class and income-based divisions, the widening gap between rich and poor and the increasingly elusive ideal of achieving the Jamaican dream embodied in our Vision 2030 plan.

Yet, there is renewed hope that our society can change, that our democracy is strong and vibrant and we possess within ourselves the capacity to chart a new course and achieve our true destiny if we have truly great leadership, shared vision and a steely resolve to implement that which we can conceive with honesty and integrity. We must be willing to believe in our shared destiny.

avoid shallow platitudes

In this milieu, we must find a new way to engage, integrate and involve all Jamaicans, including the diaspora, into our emerging society that now transcends global borders and makes us a people of more than five million Jamaicans worldwide. We must avoid the shallow platitudes that have shaped our engagement with the diaspora in recent years and come to grips with the insider-outsider conflict faced by Jamaicans in the diaspora and those who have returned to serve our land. Speaking from personal experience, after five years of returning to serve my country in an idealistic and patriotic exercise, there have been barriers and impediments to full engagement in the opportunities in our society that I and other returning residents are yet to overcome, notwithstanding steady but slow progress.

Much of this arises out of attitudinal resistance to returning residents by those who remained over the years and this contributes to slowness in technology transfer, adoption of new ways of thinking and doing business. It is important to note that I have never held foreign citizenship, despite a lengthy stay abroad. It is opportune, therefore, to speak on behalf of the Jamaican diaspora and to demand that we use this unique opportunity presented by a resounding mandate to swiftly remove some legal and other obstacles that block their engagement in our governance and full participation in our economy.

We must create mechanisms and pathways to utilise the full inventory of talent, intellect and resources of this global Jamaican community to create the Jamaican social and economic miracle; something other countries such as Israel and India have done successfully.

Turning to the thorny issue of our economy and the IMF, clearly these arrangements must be swiftly renegotiated to gain breathing space as a new economic model focused on a reshaped economy and accelerated growth is fully developed and implemented. Structural weaknesses in the balance of payments caused by import dependency and weak exports are to be addressed.

new possibilities

In assessing the policy statements by the new administration, we are heartened by the new possibilities confronting us: that with struggle and determination, including full engagement with the Jamaican people, this economy can be quickly stabilised, turned around and moved on to a path of steadily accelerating growth. As evidence of this promise, readers are encouraged to revisit the 2011 Election Manifesto and the Progressive Agenda documents put out by the PNP, which are a carefully crafted mix of policies, programmes and promises incorporating 21st-century thinking, which if implemented effectively can indeed create the Jamaican miracle. Short-term emergency measures such as JEEP are described and a framework for medium- and long-term growth is articulated and should be understood by all Jamaicans, whose lives will either be bettered or worsened by these initiatives.

Significant points of policy difference between the approaches of the outgoing administration are clear. Similarly, significant differences are also evident when compared to the last PNP administration, which successfully focused on physical infrastructure such as Highway 2000 that opened up vast areas of Jamaica, modernised airports, port facilities and hotels. What is unique about the present policies is that they build on past infrastructure and focus on economic transformation in the new global reality and within local resource constraints, by creating mechanisms such as the financial superhighway of the Jamaica 50 Growth and Development Fund (J50GDF) which will channel investments from outside and within Jamaica and deploy such resources into investments into Small and Medium-sized enterprises in the form of equity. This will propel the growth of new high-growth industries and scaling up and creation of new ventures to create jobs and economic growth.

better accountability

It signals the resurgence of business growth in Jamaica. The technological super-highway included in these plans, the reshaping of the energy sector, development of new supply and value chains in industry and better accountability and governance envisaged by the Participation, Accountability and Responsibility (PAR) platform of the administration led by the trusted leader, Mrs Simpson Miller, promises better governance and a better outcome.

It is time to put aside the divisions of party loyalties and allegiance to bankrupt ideas and ideologies and unite in a common purpose to move this great nation forward, from whichever part of the planet you happen to be standing at this time. Hope has been restored, as witnessed by the exuberance of the people, and we must fulfil this expression by seizing the business opportunities presented by the new policies and share in the creation of the Jamaican dream.

In this drive for progress, the personal attacks and pillorying of Portia Simpson Miller that we have witnessed must not be tolerated. The people have spoken. Let us respect our leader and those who serve us, as we enter this new dispensation and together strive for progress for our nation.

Ralph S. Thomas is a senior teaching fellow and joint appointee of the Mona School of Business and the Department of Management Studies, UWI. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and ralphthomas003@yahoo.com.