Shifting in the political arena

Steve Lyston, Contributor

Survival is the order of the day, globally and locally. The first 150 days of this year are critical.

With all that is now occurring, there needs to be tight fiscal policies, but the Government and various leaders within the nation will have to lead by example because there will have to be sacrifices made - according to Nehemiah 5.

None of us wants to see a run on banks because, if we do, interna-tional lenders will begin to freeze the assets of the people and the nation.

All stakeholders must understand that times and seasons have changed and there is now instability in the political arena. The nation should have no more than 14 Cabinet members. We could, instead, have huge savings which can help to reduce home-lessness, poverty and increase national literacy.

• Minister of Mining and Energy
• Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
• Minister of Finance, Planning and Entrepreneurship
• Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce
• Minister of Youth, Sports and Entertainment
• Minister of Labour and Family
• Minister of Agriculture and Environment
• Minister of Water, Housing and Local Government
• Minister of Justice and the Attorney General
• Minister of Health and Science
• Minister of Transport and Works
• Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora
• Minister of National Security
• Minister of Education and Culture

Merging and adding new titles, the different ministries are fitting for the times and seasons and puts leaders in better stead to deal with existing and potential problems.

What the nation needs to do now is to get permanent secretaries that are multifunctional and pay them salaries that are comparable to their secular counterparts; giving them greater authority to execute their jobs without political interference.

There are permanent secretaries who have done well and they would, in this instance, be upgraded. The public sector's main problem is a logistics issue.

Things To Think About

Biblical economics speaks of teaching a man to fish rather than just simply giving him a fish each time. The current cash programme is only going to threaten the democracy of the nation and further divide it. We have to change the mindsets of the people through education and sustainable development.

Simply giving money to the people to do practically nothing is a waste of resources. Instead, fund educational activities such as skills-training centres.

Also, set up more community clinics; increase family planning education - teaching them the responsibilities of parenthood and the effects of having children out of wedlock. All these affect the socio-economic framework. There needs to be a system in force that those who have had many children and are not taking care of them to be held accountable, for example, by suspending their driver's licence.

The Year Of Jubilee

'Jubilee' means 'to restore, to set the captives free; liberty; redemption.' So what needs to be done is:

The National Housing Trust should use some of its funds to restore the properties and modify the mortgages of those who lost their jobs or are enduring serious hardships and, ultimately, lost their property because they could not pay.

There needs to be a reduction of car insurance rates.

Businesses should not impose price increases on old stock.

Have a reduction on bank charges overall.

There should be no tax or duty on any entertainment, education or sports products.

The private sector needs to support faith-based organisations and NGO's in carrying out community projects and programmes in the same way that they support the political parties.

Increase the budget to carry out more research on the resources of the nation in order to locate/discover more/greater resources, bring national solutions - ultimately providing more jobs - reducing the national debt.

There needs to be a summit held to identify the root cause of poverty and be ready and willing to embrace unconventional methods of dealing with this issue.

Invite persons from various sectors, including those within the inner city and garrisons to be a part of the discussion.

Term Limits

While the nation may now be looking at removing the queen as head of state, it is more vital for us to look at setting term limits for political representatives and fixing our justice system at this time.

Setting term limits for political representatives and fixing our justice system can prove less costly and more beneficial for the nation at this time.

Steve Lyston is a biblical economics consultant and author of several books, including 'End Time Finance' and 'The New Millionaire'.

Biblical economics speaks of teaching a man to fish rather than just simply giving him a fish each time. The current cash programme is only going to threaten the democracy of the nation and further divide it. We have to change the mindsets of the people through education and sustainable development.