One Year In Government - Prime Minister Andrew Holness

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• • gleanerjamaica • jamaicagleaner • FEATURE THE GLEANER, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017 E3
IT IS my honour to serve as your prime
minister. I will continue to do my best to
ensure that our message of hope and
prosperity continues to impact your lives. Since
last February, our administration has kept you, the
Jamaican people, foremost in our minds, as we
deliberate every action.
I am pleased to report to you that we have had a
successful year on several fronts, as we tackle
issues that affect our beautiful island. While we
have achieved much, we have much further to go.
The economy has stabilised, but my commitment
to you is to ensure we work towards overcoming
the challenge of crime in the country. Let me
share the good news with you about the economy.
It has shown robust signs of improvement.
Inflation is at its lowest level since 1964. Last
year, we recorded just under two per cent
economic growth, with third-quarter growth being
2.3 per cent. In that quarter, too, unemployment
declined to a five-year low of 12.6 per cent. The
net international reserves ended the year at
US$2.4 billion.
Revenue inflows were above budget by nearly
six per cent, reaching more than $200 billion. Tax
receipts were at a record high. Business and
consumer confidence are at the highest they have
been in 15 years. That’s good news!
The Government remains committed to a stable
macroeconomic framework as well as to inclusive
growth and job creation. We are acutely aware
that a number of our challenges can only be
addressed on a foundation of economic growth.
But this growth has to be equitable.
CONFRONTING CRIME AND CORRUPTION
But there is also no room for complacency.
Crime, more particularly murder, remains a
serious challenge and a blot on the nation.
Corruption is at an unacceptable level, as reflected
in the latest Transparency International report.
We are, however, confronting our challenges.
There are some cultural attitudes which are
inimical and, indeed, hostile to growth and social
development, and we have to resolve, as a people,
to finally and permanently put them to rest. The
broad acceptance of violence as a means of
resolving conflict must change. The reflexive
response of fighting it out rather than reasoning it
out has to be resisted.
Culturally ingrained attitudes of taking lightly
the abuse of our women must be decisively
rejected. This ‘see and blind’ attitude to carnal
abuse and the sexual exploitation of our children,
thinking it is ‘just a little sex’, has to be
condemned. We have to move away from the
normalisation, tolerance and pervasiveness of
domestic abuse and grooming in our families and
communities as a whole, protect our children and
show respect to our women.
Our dream, our future ...
ECONOMY POSITIVE,
CONFRONTING CHALLENGES
... Joined hands, not clenched fists
SOCIAL PARTNERSHIPS KEY TO JA’S PROGRESS
THERE ARE some challenges that
the administration cannot
successfully tackle alone. If there is
one thing of which I am absolutely
convinced, it is that the solutions to
our problems will have to come
from collective and deliberate
action.
We are building partnerships. This
is a theme I have continued to
emphasise since my inaugural
address last March. No one group,
whether Opposition, private sector,
civil society or labour, has a
monopoly on wisdom. We must all
work together to solve common
problems. We must build bridges
and hold hands rather than clench
fists.
It is because of this deep
conviction about the primacy of
partnerships why I established the
Economic Growth Council and why,
in addition to continuing the
Economic Programme Oversight
Committee, I also established the
Public Sector Transformation
Oversight Committee. In December,
I signed a new agreement, the
Partnership for a Prosperous
Jamaica, intensifying the
engagement with our social partners.
Our country’s future is a ‘big deal’
and, therefore, we have to take the
utmost care in safeguarding it in our
children’s interest. We do so through
partnerships, through collaboration
and consensus-building. It is because
this Government believes in the
partnership approach to governance
why we implemented the $1.5-
million tax giveback to the Jamaican
people. We believe the Government
must not just take. It must give back
something.
CITIZEN STAKEHOLDERS
When the Government gives back
to the people, citizens feel that they
are stakeholders in the country’s
growth. It creates a virtuous circle.
When we increased the funding to
our schools from $2.6 billion to $5.3
billion, we made a statement that
investment in our children’s
education and guaranteeing them
access was important in building an
inclusive society. The Reduction
Waiting Time Project in our health
sector, which is being funded under
a $350-million pilot project,
demonstrates the respect we have for
people and our care for their social
welfare.
The range of social benefits being
provided to people and the
measurable achievements outlined in
these pages speak unmistakably to
this administration’s stewardship.
Our prospects have never been
brighter.
Economic Growth Council
member Adam Stewart recently
spoke of the over US$3 billion in
investment projects up to 2019,
which will create over 25,00 new
jobs, with another 100,000 indirect
jobs. In the burgeoning Business
Process Outsourcing sector, over
300,000 jobs have been targeted for
the next five years.
The State must be responsive to
the needs of the people. Indeed, the
State exists to serve the people, not
the other way around. This is why
public sector modernisation is so
critically important and will be
receiving priority attention in the
coming fiscal year. People want a
government that is serving their
interests and one that is efficient and
prudent in managing their tax
dollars.
... As I said in the beginning
OUR FIRST year in office has seen significant advances. But there are no laurels to
rest on. I repeat what I said in my inaugural address and I am reaffirming my
commitment to it.
“There is no majority for arrogance
There is no space for selfishness
There is no place for pettiness
There is no room for complacency
There is no margin for error.”
Together, let’s continue to build on the firm foundation for prosperity.
– Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica
RICARDO MAKYN/MULTIMEDIA PHOTO EDITOR
Prime Minister Andrew Holness at the Office of the Prime Minister.
FILE PHOTOS
Prime Minister Andrew Holness (centre) with his Cabinet ministers and state ministers after they were sworn in at King’s House in St Andrew last year.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness and members of his administration beat the desks in
Parliament to show of approval for the presentation of a speech.