'Give us hope'

• Portia urges Golding to consider the people

Erica Virtue, Senior Gleaner Writer

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller wants Prime Minister Bruce Golding to give hope to the nation when he makes his contribution to the 2011-12 Budget Debate in Parliament today.

Speaking at a press conference held at the party's Old Hope Road headquarters yesterday, Simpson Miller said more than 600,000 Jamaicans are now below the poverty line, "which is now why we are pushing that people be brought into the Budget process".

According to Simpson Miller, poverty has doubled since 2007 when the People's National Party (PNP) administration, which she led, reduced poverty levels to 9.6 per cent.

tell the nation the truth

"When the prime minister comes to speak tomorrow (today), it is important that he tell the nation the truth, and exactly what is going to be done. And he must not make the same mistake that his finance minister has made by dismissing the human and social indicators as negatives," Simpson Miller said.

Citing massive price increases, the national debt - increased by 62 per cent in three and half years -over 100,000 job losses, and the unilateral freezing of public-sector wages, Simpson Miller said the prime minister must come prepared.

The opposition leader said one of the most critical areas in need of urgent attention is the health sector, which she said is not only out of pharmaceuticals, but is also out of pharmacists.

Dr Omar Davies, the opposition spokesman on finance, said if the Government wanted to do something for the people, he would advise that health facilities be provided with the pharmaceuticals they need.

"Get the hospitals and health centres the pharmaceuticals they need. It does not make sense for somebody who can't afford it to write them this prescription. Otherwise they head for their members of parliament (MPs). That's their free health care: they head for their MPs," Davies said.

Simpson Miller has urged the prime minister to consider the Culture Arts Recreation and Education (CARE) programme in inner-city communities, which she proposed last Thursday.

Simpson Miller also repeated her call for the setting up of a national energy council. She also asked that the Government prioritise information, communication, and technology as a catalyst for new investment.

"All are intended to take more members of the Jamaican family from welfare to well-being, and from well-being to wealth creation," she said.