Golding: Gov’t’s plan to cut red tape rings hollow

The People’s National Party (PNP) has dismissed the Government’s recent proposals to reduce bureaucracy in the public sector as “hollow”, criticising the Andrew Holness-led administration for its lack of progress on legislative reforms over the past nine years.

“The truth is that their very poor track record shows that this government does not have the capacity required to deliver the reform required to achieve an efficient bureaucracy, and this is not a task that private sector bigwigs can be of much assistance with,” PNP President Mark Golding stated at a press conference on Tuesday.

In a policy address last week, as well as at the Jamaica Labour Party’s 81st annual conference on Sunday, Holness decried the crippling effects of cumbersome government bureaucracy.

“As my administration moves to the next chapter in our economic independence journey, in ensuring that you get the benefit of a good economy, we will be active and strong in cutting red tape and bureaucracy will hold up and frustrate your prosperity,” he said on Sunday.

Pledging to remove “outdated requirements”, Holness said the Government will implement innovative ideas and technologies to increase efficiency in “delivering prosperity”.

But Golding countered that transforming bureaucracy into a more efficient and user-friendly system needs “continuous attention” and the Holness administration has failed at this.

“The current Government’s performance in the last nine years has been dismal. In their two terms they have done virtually nothing to improve the efficiency of the bureaucracy and the ease of doing business in Jamaica,” he said.

Golding pointed to the achievements of the previous PNP administration, which passed key laws like the Special Economic Zones Act, the Insolvency Act, and the Public Procurement Act. These efforts, he noted, helped Jamaica achieve the top ranking in the Caribbean for ease of doing business in 2014.

“When the prime minister on Sunday promised to make Jamaica’s bureaucracy modern, user-friendly, and efficient, it is yet another empty promise, similar to his 2016 promises to pass a fixed election [date] in the Constitution and to hold a grand referendum to settle what he calls outstanding national issues within his first 100 days in office,” he stated.

In the meantime, Golding pushed back against criticisms that his party has no concrete plans for Jamaica, stating that he had indicated “broad outlines” of the policy direction of a future PNP administration. He highlighted several key areas for future PNP governance, including creating a more inclusive and equitable society, strengthening economic growth through investment in human capital, addressing critical issues in education and healthcare, strengthening agriculture and focusing on rural development.

“In terms of the granular detail, we believe there is a time and place to get to that level and we will decide when we get to that level,” he said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com