We have taken note of Jamaica’s recent slippage on the UNDP’s Human Development Report. Successive administrations have refused to engage in complete reform of entitlement and labour market systems, the economy and most important education especially at the early childhood and tertiary levels and available health services.
It should be the intention of any responsible administration to create educated citizens who are able to participate in the economy, thus allowing them to benefit from the fruits of growth. In order to improve on the Human Development Report, Jamaica needs an efficient state, more accountability, much less corruption and more Public-Private Partnerships. These partnerships would reduce the public sector cost of delivering these critical services to the public.
If we continue to practice the corrosive political culture, wrong socio-economic policies and poor governance in Jamaica we can expect to continue to slip down the ranking of the Human Development Index.
It is interesting to note that Jamaica’s has been governed by one political party (the PNP) for 21 of the last 25 years (a quarter of a century).
Peter Townsend
President
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