According to Dr. Peter Phillips, Jamaica's Minister of finance, Jamaica has no alternative to the earth shattering announcements made last week which are guaranteed to put the economy deeper into recession , virtually wipe out the middle class, devastate minimum wage earners and PAYE workers and send pensioners to the grave even earlier.
While the country has been crying out for decades for properly organised public service to serve the best interests of the people and cut down corruption, no government will take the necessary steps but instead always seek as a first option, socking it to taxpayers and pensioners.
As to this government God forbid that they should lead by example by cutting that over- sized whatnot and operating with a small, efficient cabinet, ( at least fifty percent of the current ministers and ministers of state are non performers anyway) getting rid of some political hacks who have been rechristened as Consultants, fly economy or drive ordinary vehicles. As to the thought of relocating government ministries and agencies from expensive properties in posh New Kingston while thousands of square feet of government owned property lie idle in downtown. Yes everyone has talked about it for years, but because we have such a docile, compliant population which does not seem to be able to differentiate between performance and talk, no one really has to follow though with things that can bring about real savings in this ever sinking country.
But apart from doing such basic housekeeping activities that can save billions of dollars and send a message that they are prepared to make sacrifices too, there are changes to our current structure that can allow us to operate an efficient public service in a modern society and throw off the shackles of colonialism that politicians talk so much about when trying to rile up a crowd.
I am speaking about the army and local government which as currently structured are nothing but expensive "relics of colonialism" . For now what we need from an army is an efficient Engineering corp, a well equipped Coast Guard and a small Air Wing, not an over populated Infantry whose only utility is to occasionally assist the police, something they are not trained to do efficiently anyway. (ask the Green Bay victims and Keith Clark)
As to the huge, expensive Local government system which was established when communities were isolated and communication difficult, hundreds of years ago. You know how much could be saved from just these two agencies alone if they were restructered to meet the needs of a modern society?
Then there are of agencies and statutory bodies that have outgrown their usefulness or have never performed . The ones that come immediately to mind are the Office of Political Ombudsman which works only one in five years, the Office of Public Defender which does not seem to work at all and three anti corruption agencies when only one delivers and I am sure there are many others that we can do without. But why bother to strive for small efficient government when the ever complacent taxpayer is always here to jook it to?
While the country has been crying out for decades for properly organised public service to serve the best interests of the people and cut down corruption, no government will take the necessary steps but instead always seek as a first option, socking it to taxpayers and pensioners.
As to this government God forbid that they should lead by example by cutting that over- sized whatnot and operating with a small, efficient cabinet, ( at least fifty percent of the current ministers and ministers of state are non performers anyway) getting rid of some political hacks who have been rechristened as Consultants, fly economy or drive ordinary vehicles. As to the thought of relocating government ministries and agencies from expensive properties in posh New Kingston while thousands of square feet of government owned property lie idle in downtown. Yes everyone has talked about it for years, but because we have such a docile, compliant population which does not seem to be able to differentiate between performance and talk, no one really has to follow though with things that can bring about real savings in this ever sinking country.
But apart from doing such basic housekeeping activities that can save billions of dollars and send a message that they are prepared to make sacrifices too, there are changes to our current structure that can allow us to operate an efficient public service in a modern society and throw off the shackles of colonialism that politicians talk so much about when trying to rile up a crowd.
I am speaking about the army and local government which as currently structured are nothing but expensive "relics of colonialism" . For now what we need from an army is an efficient Engineering corp, a well equipped Coast Guard and a small Air Wing, not an over populated Infantry whose only utility is to occasionally assist the police, something they are not trained to do efficiently anyway. (ask the Green Bay victims and Keith Clark)
As to the huge, expensive Local government system which was established when communities were isolated and communication difficult, hundreds of years ago. You know how much could be saved from just these two agencies alone if they were restructered to meet the needs of a modern society?
Then there are of agencies and statutory bodies that have outgrown their usefulness or have never performed . The ones that come immediately to mind are the Office of Political Ombudsman which works only one in five years, the Office of Public Defender which does not seem to work at all and three anti corruption agencies when only one delivers and I am sure there are many others that we can do without. But why bother to strive for small efficient government when the ever complacent taxpayer is always here to jook it to?
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