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Saturday, June 30

Path to sustainable growth and development

Some hard and possibly unpopular decisions will have to be made, but we will see if the elected officials mean the country any good or if they are only present to collect their salary cheques and get rich by unstated but questionable means. The new minister of finance will have to be more flexible and communicative and less combative with the private sector, as well as all the government agencies he ultimately presides over indirectly. He will have to manage the nation's funds and get value for every dollar he collects and subsequently spends. He will need to be proactive and not reactive. For too long, political committees have been established to evaluate different proposals, only to send in their recommendations and have them changed or shelved. I say we establish rules and laws and enforce them!

Here is my shortlist for the next government to seriously consider implementing.

. We are held to ransom annually by our dependence on oil imports, so make it mandatory for 25 per cent of all new cars to be Flex fuel cars and gradually increase the ratio to 85 per cent over five years to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles. Flex car engines run on either ethanol, gasoline, or any combination of the two.

. The government of the day should pass a law forcing oil companies to add small quantities of ethanol to their gasoline. Make it mandatory for the gasoline retailers to retrofit some pumps to sell Flex fuel. In a bid to cut the country's reliance on foreign oil imports and help our own sugar producers, we should follow Brazil's example, where the government pushed alcohol-powered cars in the early 1980s. Jamaica does not yet produce enough sugar cane to provide all the raw material for an ethanol plant, but importing same from Cuba and Haiti could result in real growth and development in all three countries. With oil prices at a record high, there is a clear advantage to diluting gasoline or even substituting it with sugar-based ethanol. We need to plan for the future; oil is finite and it is going to get more and more expensive.

. In addition to the savings to operate a Flex car, the reduction in pollution will be a positive step for the environment. It should be noted that the technology is readily available. Unlike hybrid cars sold in the US, for example, flex cars sold in Brazil don't cost any more than traditional models. Ethanol engines use 25 per cent more ethanol per mile than gasoline. But ethanol can be sold at somewhere between a third to half of the price of gas and still obtain a reasonable profit.

. With the savings from the oil imports, the government could then complete the much-needed road infrastructure and maintain it!

. Forget about rejuvenating the railroad. It's not a dead horse. It's just plain dead!

. Look to the Ministry of Agriculture to promote non-traditional crops (basil, lemon grass, ginger, ginger lily, limes, nutmeg, peppermint and turmeric), and encourage the private sector to invest in these products, with a view to extracting the essential oils and generating some much-needed foreign exchange. Talk is cheap. You have heard the opinions from the economists, the experts, the world market. Now walk the walk! And lead the country.

. Enforce the litter act with the same enthusiasm, then ask the police to enforce the Road Traffic Act. Go into the poorer communities and "tell" the occupants that the law exists and it will be enforced. If they continue to dump refuse into the gullies, they will be removed forcibly from beside said gullies to discourage them.

. The pain of crime has affected us all, rich and poor, young and elderly. It is now permeating our schools. No school is immune. We all know discipline begins at home, but is reinforced at school. Allow the schools more freedom in establishing their rules and codes of acceptable conduct. Depending on the Ministry of Education to act as judge, jury and enforcer results in inadequate attention to our growing disciplinary problems in the education system. Justice delayed is justice denied.

. The masses blame lack of opportunities for the high level of crime. To some extent this is a contributing factor, so the creation of jobs needs to be prioritised. On the other hand, having the current laws and punishment reviewed could be a worthwhile exercise. Giving the security forces the necessary equipment and remuneration to perform their duties is of utmost importance.

. The promise of free education from one party and free health care for the young and the elderly from the other are merely demonstrations of how ignorant our aspiring leaders assume the citizens of Jamaica to be. They may actually wish us well but the reality is that "nothing in life is free". Someone will have to pay the cost of providing these services, ultimately the "taxpayer" - us. As Bob Marley would say, "Don't mek dem fool yuh"!

. The bureaucracy in the health-care system needs to be evaluated and revamped as soon as possible. The current CEOs and administrators should be held accountable or be replaced. Each hospital and health centre should be self-sufficient and earn its way with minimal subsidy from the government, if any. You may ask, what about the poor? Well, I say, what about them? Let them stop harbouring criminals. Let them find employment to survive. Let them stop idling at home and having so many children whom neither they nor the state can afford to maintain. Many of these so-called poor people are still looking for a hand-out from their political representative. Unfortunately, many of them will receive said hand-out over the next few weeks leading up to the election!

. For the next prime minister and government, I say to you, "Good luck", for you will surely need it. Start praying now, and pray every day because without divine intervention to guide our leaders, we are headed towards greater hardships, while forever being classified as a "Third World Economy".

I say to you, Prime Minister and Government , " He who knows what to do and does not do it, will live to want to do it, thinking of when he should have done it !"

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