COMRADE CHAIRMAN, COMRADES!
Look at the National Arena! “PNP river come down bank to bank!” at this 84th People’s National Party Conference! You have come from the North, South, East and West with one clear message for Jamaica. Time Come! Time Come Now
Here we are again, Comrades, for the 85th time in this Party’s history. We come together, as a family, dedicated to taking Jamaica in the right direction for a powerful future of hope for our people. And speaking of family, I must take one moment to acknowledge:
• my rock, the love of my life, my wife Sandra, and our children;
• The people of South St Andrew - without you I would not be here.
• the teams at PNP Headquarters and the Office of the Leader of the Opposition;
• the growing family who you see on this platform with me who are coming together to take the PNP’s message of equal rights and justice across this country.
• The officers, Executive Members, NEC members, Regional Committees, Members of Parliament, Councillors, Candidates, Constituency Committees, Group members, cluster managers, workers, warriors, foot soldiers - everyone who plays a role to make this People’s National Party the powerful force of progressive, democratic change that it has been for 85 years!
Your Party Leader hails you today. I welcome those listening to us from your homes and communities, here in Jamaica and among our great Diaspora wherever you are in the world. I bring a message of peace and love to you, wherever you are, in reach of my voice.
We all come together today, to lift every voice, to say - TIME COME NOW! Let me hear you. TIME COME NOW!
BREAK EVERY CHAIN
Comrades! My Jamaican family! What a year it has been! In all my days I have never seen a time like this! We are living in a time of intense frustration and disaffection. It is a time of hand-to-mouth living. This is a time of violence and fear. Look around you, Comrades! So I come to you today with a song in my heart. It goes:
“There is power in the name of Jesus
To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain”
Yes Comrades, Time Come NOW - to break every chain that is holding this country back.
Jamaica had a long, tough and traumatic colonial history. Our journey has been hard, and we are still living with vestiges of the past that are holding us back:
• that’s why a British King is still our head of state;
• that’s why we are not fully on board with the Caribbean Court of Justice;
• that’s why we are so violent in how we deal with each other;
• that’s why we don’t respect our own Jamaican language;
• that’s why we still deny communities access to their beaches; and
• that’s why we see the Government bulldozing of the homes of vulnerable Jamaicans - people who the State ought to be protecting, not oppressing!
We must build one nation, where we are all respected as Jamaicans. That has always been the mission of our Party. As our founding father the Rt Excellent Norman Manley told us - “This national movement continues to be composed of an alliance of these classes and others who sympathise with our aims under the banner of the PNP, to work for the freedom of Jamaica”.
The system we have now is not working for too many Jamaicans. We need a people-centred strategy for development. We need to change the paradigm. And there is hope, because the power to achieve this resides in the people of Jamaica.
INTRODUCTION
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM & DECOLONIZATION:
It is time to free the Jamaican people from the deep sense of frustration and oppression that comes from a system that is not working for the majority of our people.
Jamaica must not squander the chance of constitutional reform we are undertaking as a nation. The constitution is the overarching guide to the way the whole system operates, the rules we make for ourselves and the processes that govern our lives as a people. It is not a meal deal, It is a big deal!
As a first step, we must reform our constitution to complete the decolonisation process.
We in the PNP have no interest in moving to a republic while retaining the King’s privy council in London as Jamaica’s final court. TIME COME for full decolonization!
Jamaicans need a final court where they don’t need a visa to go there, and where the costs are not way out of their reach. TIME COME for a Jamaican head of state and the Caribbean Court of Justice as our final court. We will support both moving forward together. We have no interest in one without the other.
We also want to make the Government accountable to the people in Parliament. This is why I brought the Impeachment Bill to Parliament, so that when a politician violates the sacred trust of the people, he or she will be held accountable.
We must introduce a recall mechanism for non-performing elected representatives, as other countries have done.
And we must restore the convention where the committees of parliament are chaired by the Opposition. Those committees are supposed to be a check-and-balance on the Government, so they should not be effectively controlled by the Government. When Andrew Holness reversed the convention after the 2020 election, it was a retrograde step.
A corrupt government cannot liberate the people. And if the head of the stream is corrupt, the entire river will be also.
I do not support corruption:
• Corruption takes money away from children’s education; it deprives hospitals of basic necessities; it means roads are not fixed;
• Corruption deepens inequality - it syphons off taxpayers’ money to make a few cronies richer, instead of benefitting all the people.
This Government has been doing everything it can to weaken and undermine the Integrity Commission, which is the institution I designed as Minister of Justice and brought to Parliament to fight corruption in our country.
I have said it before, and will tell you again. Jamaica cannot move forward without a government built on integrity that embraces principles of good governance.
That is what I believe in. That is how I live my life. I, Mark Jefferson Golding, am a born Jamaican, a son of the soil. I come from a family that has given great service to the people of this country, giving selfless service to ordinary Jamaicans, and building lasting institutions of inclusion to empower persons with disabilities. That is my family tradition.
I am who I am. I am offering myself to the Jamaican people for service in their interests, with the skills, knowledge and experience I have gained in life. I don’t come to scrape. I come to serve all Jamaicans; and I come with clean hands and a clean heart.
Whatever depraved and divisive vulgarities my political opponents may stoop to in their desperation to hold onto power, I will not be daunted.
I have no fear of them. I stand firm in leading our Party in our mission of social and economic transformation to a better Jamaica for all our people.
THE MISSION OF TRANSFORMATION
The mission of the last PNP Government was to fix Jamaica’s long standing debt problem, so that Jamaica could escape the debt trap and give our people a real chance of inclusive national development. Under Sista P and Dr. Peter Phillips, we transformed the systems of managing our public finances. So successful was this effort, that in just ten years Jamaica’s debt in comparison to the size of the economy (what economists call the debt-to-GDP ratio), has been cut in half, from 147% in 2013 to 78% in 2023.
But as great an achievement as that is, it is not enough. While things look good on the books, we are not balancing people’s lives. Our economy is not delivering prosperity for the majority of our people.
Since getting back to where it was before the pandemic, the economy is once again hardly growing. It is still delivering mainly low-paying jobs. The education system is failing our children. Our society is plagued by high levels of violent crime.
In fact, for this Government, prosperity is a donkey! Yes, their “hee-haw” concept of prosperity is a beast of burden - a low-tech solution for modern day problems. The JLP’s jackass named Prosperity is symbolic of the “low wage, low tech, low growth economy” in which Jamaica is trapped.
But the people are crying out for more. They want to see this country moving in the Right Direction; they want to see positive change. They want opportunities to “step up inna life”, and to see hope for a better life for themselves and their families.
Thousands of tertiary trained students graduate each year having made the investment in preparing themselves for the workforce, but are facing the daunting prospect of an economy that is only offering low-paying jobs that do not meet their aspirations for personal advancement. Our people want peace and security in our communities. They want a society based on social justice, where every Jamaican is respected and treated as a valued citizen of this country.
Jamaicans need a government that will begin to tackle the deep problems that are holding Jamaica back, the challenges that are dimming the flame of hope for a better tomorrow. No more of the same! Time come to move in the right direction!
TIME COME to take real steps towards the next era of transformation of our beloved nation. We can do it, Jamaica. The power lies in the people to make it happen!
The PNP will lead the country on a new mission, which is to achieve the next great transformation of Jamaica. We must take Jamaica out of the current low-wage, low-tech, low growth mode, and move forward to a higher level of national development.
ECONOMY
Our mission is to move from fiscal stability to economic transformation. That is where we are going. We will begin to build a different Jamaica, a Jamaica moving in the right direction.
Education & Training
The PNP believes that investing in the development of our people is the key to economic and social transformation.
The great talents, resilience and creative power of the Jamaican people have made us global superstars in culture and sports. The next PNP government will invest in the development of the capacities of our people to be productive and innovative in other areas too.
To get there, we cannot accept what exists in education today, where over 30% of children leaving primary school cannot read or write, and around 50% do not have basic numeracy nor comprehension skills. That means every year many thousands of children enter high school without the foundational skills to cope with the secondary school curriculum. Most of them eventually leave high school without achieving the basic standard of five CSEC subjects including Maths and English.
This is one of the most significant sources of Jamaica’s problems. It feeds low self-esteem, frustration and anxiety, feelings that lead too many youths to badness and criminal networks. It causes too many of our people to be left behind. The deficits in education and training leave us behind in the global workforce, as we are not attracting investments in high-paying, high tech, value-added production of goods and services, which is key to wealth creation.
Most importantly, our society is still suffering from the long reach of negative ideas built in slavery. We must include the teachings of the Rt. Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey to build back that self-esteem, inner confidence and personal inspiration to all our children.
The power of the philosophies of Garvey, of racial uplift, self-help, collective work will allow our children to recognize and believe that they are beautiful and brilliant and can achieve what they will if they set their minds to it and work steadfastly to accomplish their goals.
We cannot address these fundamental problems that are retarding our national progress and holding us back, without addressing the weaknesses in the education system. Taking our nation in the right direction can only happen with transformation in education and training. Education and training will therefore be the number one priority for the next PNP administration. Education and training are the key to a strong society and an economy capable of transformation.
We will prioritise early childhood development and primary schools because children must have a good start to advance. The goal of the next PNP Government will be to ensure that Jamaica has a first-class system of early childhood development and primary school education. That is how we will focus on bringing along those currently left behind.
We will make investments in teacher training and compensation, in infrastructure and technology, in support services for parenting, to give our children the best start in life. We will expand and improve the school feeding programme, to ensure adequate and proper nutrition and encourage school attendance.
Jamaica is a world power in terms of cultural influence. The expressive style and power of our language is part of what has made the Jamaican language an international cultural language. If it is loved abroad, why don’t we respect it a yaad?
We must acknowledge that we have a language problem in this country. Part of the legacy of our colonial past is the belief that the Jamaican language, created by our own people, is somehow unworthy and only to be spoken by those who can’t do better. It is time to move beyond that negative and backward way of thinking. It is time for Jamaica to formally recognize Jamaican as a language, to give it its due respect.
A major cause of under-achieving primary school performance is rooted in the assumption that English is the home-language of our children. We must use the Jamaican language to advance learning in English, arithmetic, and critical thinking.
We must also place emphasis on student support and the diagnosis of learning disabilities. Many of our children are troubled and need deeper levels of facilitation. We owe this to our children so that they can secure better educational outcomes.
Education must also be the base of transformation towards a nation of productive citizens. The PNP will reinstate civics as a mandatory course in our school system. Our children must understand the structure of our constitution, the fundamental rights and freedoms of every Jamaican citizen, and how to build democratic governance of our country.
The wholesome values and attitudes of good citizenship, of respecting each other, of playing a part and caring for the well-being of everyone in our nation must be inculcated in the minds of our children. That is how we will grow the attitudes for a better, more peaceful, more loving Jamaica, with a sense that we know where we are going.
Education and training are the antidotes to poverty. For our tertiary students, our intention is to remove the barriers and take the fear out of borrowing student loans to invest in their education.
We will eliminate the need for a guarantor of student loans, which many students from low income families find it hard to find.
The State has the responsibility to build a thriving economy, and the State, not the student, should bear the risk of being out of a job. We will therefore introduce a loan payment rule which caps monthly payments at amanageable percentage of income. In periods where the borrower is out of work, their loan payments will be suspended and tacked onto the back end of their loan term.
In the area of training, Jamaica needs to provide training which is relevant to the current and foreseeable needs of the economy. We will incentivize partnerships between the State training institutions and private sector companies with strong training capacity, to address the shortage of workers that is becoming a major factor in the under-investment in the Jamaican economy.
I am already in discussions with private sector leaders to identify innovative solutions to these problems that meet their legitimate needs for workers while ensuring that the country’s training capacity for our people is expanded and modernised.
FOOD SECURITY, CLIMATE CHANGE AND AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION
Cdes, Jamaica imports over US$1 Billion of food each year and has for many years run a large trade deficit in goods. Imports are over three times greater than exports. The pandemic taught us that global systems of supply are vulnerable and exposed the need to reduce our reliance on external sources of feeding our people. Michael Manley said we must “eat what we grow and grow what we eat”. That is still relevant today.
As climate change impacts our weather patterns, we need to be proactive in identifying the steps to build resilience in our food supply systems, as an important part of the overall strategy for dealing with the impacts of more extreme climatic events. As Prime Minister, Sista P had the vision to establish Climate Change as a specific ministerial portfolio responsibility as far back as 2012, and we will build on the work that started then to continue to prepare Jamaica for what is to come.
Agriculture will be a priority for the next PNP government. The rural economy and society depend on agriculture, and developing agriculture is essential to ending rural poverty and expanding rural quality of life. The transformation in agriculture is therefore indispensable to achieving national economic and social transformation.
Agriculture has tremendous potential for export-led growth because Jamaica is blessed with high quality and marketable produce like coffee, cocoa, ginger, scallion and garlic, cotton, herbs and spices, and of course medicinal and therapeutic ganja.
We must develop a modern nutraceutical sector based on indigenous knowledge, and expand the aquaculture industry. These opportunities must be realised by strategic investments by the State and partnerships with the private sector.
Modernization of the sector will not leave the people behind – the needs of farmers and fisherfolk are central to our plans. This requires investments in training, farm roads, irrigation systems and storage facilities. It requires integrated relationships between larger investors in agriculture and agro-processing and smaller farmers, to achieve transfer of technology and best practices. It means deepening linkages between farmers and the other sectors of the economy, especially hotels and restaurants.
Many related initiatives started under previous PNP governments need to go further. We will expand the mechanisms of technical support for farmers, and revive state support in the areas of marketing and distribution, including having clean and dignified markets for people to buy food.
TRANSFORMATION OF ENERGY
Energy is critical to economic transformation. The cost of electricity is unsustainably high in Jamaica, making it difficult for our economy to compete with the rest of the world.
The current Government is not serious about those things. The existing large investments came out of the efforts of the last PNP administration, and since then the pipeline has dried up because of bad management. We need to transition our energy source from fossil fuels to renewables. We will put renewed energy into transforming Jamaica’s energy mix, to produce more clean energy from renewables and reduce electricity costs, which are significantly higher now than when we left office.
The high level of irregular electricity consumption in Jamaica is also unsustainable. There is an important social dimension, as people fear disconnection and prosecution, and suffer the inconvenience of prolonged power outages when JPS imposes protective measures to reduce non-paying consumption. Many families want to regularise their status as electricity consumers, but cannot afford the high cost of rewiring, inspection and certification to do so.
The next PNP Government will introduce a major programme to assist households to regularise their electricity consumption. We will include as part of the regularisation process the installation of solar panels at people’s homes, so that the ongoing electricity usage of those regularised JPS customers is more affordable, and reduces Jamaica’s carbon footprint. Energy is critical to economic transformation. The cost of electricity is unsustainably high in Jamaica, making it difficult for our economy to compete with the rest of the world.
The current Government is not serious about those things. The existing large investments came out of the efforts of the last PNP administration, and since then the pipeline has dried up because of bad management. We need to transition our energy source from fossil fuels to renewables. We will put renewed energy into transforming Jamaica’s energy mix, to produce more clean energy from renewables and reduce electricity costs, which are significantly higher now than when we left office.
The high level of irregular electricity consumption in Jamaica is also unsustainable. There is an important social dimension, as people fear disconnection and prosecution, and suffer the inconvenience of prolonged power outages when JPS imposes protective measures to reduce non-paying consumption. Many families want to regularise their status as electricity consumers, but cannot afford the high cost of rewiring, inspection and certification to do so.
The next PNP Government will introduce a major programme to assist households to regularise their electricity consumption. We will include as part of the regularisation process the installation of solar panels at people’s homes, so that the ongoing electricity usage of those regularised JPS customers is more affordable, and reduces Jamaica’s carbon footprint.
MOVING UP WITH TECHNOLOGY
The next PNP Government will establish a National Research and Development Council bringing all relevant institutions together from within the State, Academia, the Private Sector and the Trade Unions to develop, monitor and evaluate a national R&D strategy.
We also need to draw on all available technical expertise within the public and private sectors and academia to prepare the country for the unfolding impacts, both positive and negative, of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
It is already clear that AI will have profound effects on many aspects of the economy and society, and we need to prepare ourselves for the new era of AI that is emerging so that we can proactively take advantage of the opportunities and manage the risks.
We will accelerate the tax write-off of expenditure on Research and Development to encourage greater private investment in innovation that ties agriculture to manufacturing, science, technology and advancing the labour force. Our new direction must be built on solid research grounds and collaborative efforts.
WORKERS RIGHTS
The PNP has a long history of respect for workers’ rights as part of our decolonising mission of nearly a hundred years.
• We established the Industrial Disputes Tribunal to promote fairness and industrial harmony at the workplace.
• We passed laws to give employees rights to notice pay and redundancy pay.
• We created incentives for companies to establish employee share ownership plans for their workers.
• We empowered women by passing laws for equal pay for equal work and for maternity leave.
• Sista P brought the Sexual Harassment legislation to Parliament in 2016.
We believe in Jamaica’s workers. It is workers who build nations. And therefore, respect for workers’ rights will continue to be at the heart of the PNP’s governance when we return to office.
Social justice must also exist at the workplace. A major concern is the abuse of the contract work mechanism to deny workers basic rights and benefits that are supposed to be guaranteed by law. This must end!
I am not saying that there is no place for engaging professional or technical service providers as independent contractors. Clearly there is. But contract work is being used to deny basic rights and benefits in situations where the worker for all intents and purposes is working as an employee. The next PNP government will put a stop to the abuse of this mechanism, so that all our workers will enjoy the rights and benefits to which they are entitled under law.
We will also revamp the Employee Share Ownership Plan Act, giving existing owners incentives to facilitate their employees acquiring a piece of the pie. I was part of the team led by Michael Manley that pioneered that legislation in the early 1990s, and time come to make it more user-friendly and to promote its benefits.
My own personal experience is that Employee Share Ownership Plans can create great wealth for employees and employers alike, by forging a common economic interest in the success of the business that strongly incentives high levels of productivity. When joined together with a listing on the stock market, I have seen blue-collar workers become millionaires through their ownership stake, as the business grows and thrives.
It is also time to increase the income tax threshold from $1.5 million to at least $3.0 million, to take account of the high levels of inflation since it was last reset seven years ago and to give a reasonable buffer for ongoing inflation.
MSMES/ EXPANDING THE OWNERSHIP BASE OF THE SOCIETY
We live in an era where people want to own a ‘piece of the pie’. The PNP wants that too. In fact, it is important to build an ownership mindset so that more people can build intergenerational wealth. We want the Jamaican people to feel part of their society and treat it like they have a real stake in it.
Economic transformation must have as an imperative, the expansion of the ownership base of the society. We believe this can be achieved through investment in micro, small and medium sized enterprises. Micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) are a critical generator of employment, income and growth, and therefore vital to achieving Economic Transformation.
The PNP will modernise the laws and bureaucratic procedures that apply to MSME. We will create a supportive and nurturing ecosystem for start-ups, so that formalising their businesses is attractive, welcoming and easy. Tax requirements and red tape must be minimised and simplified, to allow new businesses to successfully establish themselves within the formal system where they have access to finance for expansion and other benefits not available to informal business operators.
For example, the last PNP government designed and passed incentive legislation for the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Apart from the former free zone firms which have transitioned to SEZs, it has become a preferred route for new investments in Jamaica.
Under the Act, SEZ operators are offered low-tax incentives, including a special 12.5% corporate income tax rate, which is half the marginal rate now paid by local companies; relief from income tax on rental income; GCT relief (zero rating); employment tax credit; and a promotional tax credit set against R&D and training expenses. SEZ firms also benefit from customs duty relief; stamp duty exemptions on land transactions; and tax deductions relating to capital expenditures.
But I say, if we can create special zones and benefits for big investors, why not for micro, small and medium sized businesses and for people in the informal sectors?
The incoming PNP Administration will offer a similar package of benefits to new and existing MSMEs, if they register their businesses and remain tax compliant. Under the PNP, our small business sector will finally get a proper break and the support they need to drive inclusive growth and employment, and so expand the ownership base of the society. This is moving Jamaica in the Right Direction. Time come Now.
This talk of inclusion takes me now to the adjustments that need to be made in our Tourism Sector,
TOURISM AND INCLUSION
Our economy, as everyone knows, has become heavily dependent on tourism. It is a major contributor to the GDP and employment. It is one of the country’s fastest-growing industries that directly employs 175,000 Jamaicans and generates indirect employment for another 354,000 people.
Yet Tourism in Jamaica should be contributing far more to the national economy. Most of the earnings from tourism never come into Jamaica. The larger hotels have adopted an enclave model, where guests enjoy their entire visit by staying within the hotel or going on tours organised by the hotel. This means the benefits of the sector do not sufficiently drive the local economy, even though significant portions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on advertising Jamaica to promote the industry.
This government wants to expand that model to the benefit of a few. The next PNP government will take things in the right direction, by transitioning away from enclave tourism to a more inclusive model that is integrated into the Jamaican economy. We will provide incentives to hotels which integrate their business models with the local community and economy.
We must also deal with the vexed issue of beach access. As Jamaica sells more sand and sea to the hotel industry, local communities are losing access to beaches as a place where families can enjoy themselves and fishing communities can thrive. This situation only gets worse with each announcement of a major hotel development project. Each time, yet another beach is removed from public use. Imagine growing up going to a beach, creating lasting memories with friends and family, and then one day a fence or a wall is built and you are cut off from your beach and memories.
The form of social exclusion has become a prejudicial line against ordinary Jamaicans. These things create vexation in the nation, as beach exclusion reminds us of our long history of injustice. The people have a legitimate complaint, and the next PNP government will address this issue.
We will work with all stakeholders to implement a progressive beach access policy. The State has leverage to protect the public interest, as the Beach Control Act makes provision for the acquisition of rights over private land to provide beach access to the public. The PNP will use this tool in the public interest, and we will adjust it if we have to, because we have a vision of tourism that is in harmony with ordinary Jamaican people.
We will partner with tourism investors to secure appropriate rights of access for the public to be able to enjoy our beaches, while at the same time allowing tourism to contribute even more to the economic well-being of investors and Jamaica at large. Time Come Now to move in the Right Direction!
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
This government has failed miserably after seven years in dealing with the critical issue of building a safe and secure society.
The Andrew Holness-led administration has failed in keeping his promise to make Jamaica a place where we can sleep with our windows and doors open, just as they have failed to deliver 5% growth in 4 years, and in so many other unfulfilled promises.
Last year we had the worst murder rate in Latin America and the Caribbean. 52.9 murders per 100,000 people in Jamaica is not acceptable.
So, what is our strategy for dealing with this chronic problem? Our position on crime, violence and the delivery of justice for our people remains consistent. It is rooted in our vision of social transformation.
We believe in a balanced approach, using both crime control as well as crime prevention measures. A balanced approach is essential to social harmony and crime reduction. A more cohesive society is essential to reducing discontent and violence in society. Whether we are dealing with gender, race or class, I am hearing the prophetic words of Peter Tosh: there will be no peace without equal rights and justice.
We have to focus on building peace and unity, as the main approach to reducing crime and violence. It is a mindset change that will guide the next PNP government. Peace cannot be achieved through oppressive laws and government badness that trample on the basic rights and freedoms of the people. Peace and unity are directly linked to equal rights and justice. Spending on the JDF more than doubled over the seven years that the JLP has been in power, which is twice the rate at which spending on the police force increased. Yet Jamaica has a crime problem, and it is the police force, not the military, that has the responsibility to fight crime and needs to be supported and empowered to do so effectively.
This has come in tandem with the failed strategy of using States of Emergency as a routing crime-fighting measure.
This is a very dangerous situation, because every Jamaican’s basic rights and freedoms are suspended when they are within a State of Emergency. Many thousands of Jamaican youths have been held in detention under these States of Emergency, often for prolonged periods, but very few have ever been charged with any serious offence. Many have lost their jobs and been stigmatised as a result of this misuse of the State of Emergency. It is costing taxpayers millions and millions of dollars, as the court awards compensation to those who have been wrongly detained in those SOEs. We consider this to be a serious abuse of power, as there is nothing routine about a State of Emergency. It only exists and is intended to be used as the constitution’s mechanism of last resort by which the State can protect itself from subversion. That is why we have taken the matter to court for a definitive ruling. We will always defend our democracy and the basic rights and freedoms of our people.
The increasing militarization of law enforcement is not a strategy that we endorse. We must give law enforcement the tools they need to be effective. We will focus on properly equipping our police and the justice system with the legislation, tools, technology and human resources to carry out their work.
Those who choose a life of badness and won’t change their ways will face severe consequences. We will be resolute in coming down on those who insist on perpetuating badness.
From the law enforcement perspective, what is required is carefully-designed legislation that allows spear-fishing that enables the effective prosecution of dangerous criminals, not casting a wide net that makes the many who are good suffer for the few who are bad. I have already designed the essential elements of the legislation to enable the police to take dangerous criminals off the streets for a reasonable time (I have suggested 42 days) under a court-supervised process that allows a prosecutable case to be built, where there is credible intelligence that needs to be turned into evidence.
Jamaica’s chronic problem of crime and violence reflects the failures within our society as a whole. We must address the systemic weaknesses that create the conditions for so many of our youths to become attracted by a life of serious crime. We cannot continue to ignore them, and expect the security forces to then suppress the resulting chaos in the society. As Jimmy Cliff sang, we must “treat the youths right or you’ll be playing with dynamite”.
We in the PNP understand these things, and that is why we favour effective interventions for youth-at-risk. Under the next PNP Government, there will be a well-funded, wide reaching national programme to provide opportunities for vulnerable youths. We must give them a chance to become productive citizens, through mentorship, training, remedial education and job placements.
We must help to develop them by reinforcing life skills, building their self-esteem and a sense of citizenship.Jamaican society was built on a system which embraced violence. In our decolonising mission, we must seek repair of that history. That’s why we favour restorative justice measures.
The Peace Management Initiative will be revamped, revitalised and made to work in all the hot spots across the country. We have seen, over and over again, how reprisals kill and maim the innocent, including our precious children.
We must train and resource teams of violence interrupters on the ground to intervene in conflicts and avert escalation of conflict.
This must be supported in our schools, with school-wide positive behavioural interventions through the Ministry of Education. We started this before with programmes like the Peace Management Initiative and Unite for Change, but the JLP government quickly abandoned them as soon as they came to office.
The Private Sector is now seeking to fill the gap with Project STAR. While we endorse and support their effort, there needs to be a well-funded programme on a national scale in order to make an effective change.
The matter of domestic violence is of great concern to the PNP. It is wonderful to have a good Empress in your life. And for the Empresses, a good man in your life is a wonderful thing. We have to live more loving, and settle our differences without resorting to violence. That approach is good for the children. It is good for our communities. It is good for our peace of mind and great for our society. We each have to personally commit to rethinking how we deal with each other.
Time come NOW for a full parliamentary review of the Domestic Violence Act, which has been delayed for the past seven years under this government. It will be an immediate priority of a new PNP administration. The State must also put in place protective legislation with effective mechanisms and remedies to protect survivors and rehabilitate offenders. Survivors must have safe places for retreat. The PNP will establish support centres in every parish to provide safe havens for the survivors of domestic violence.
We must also focus on rehabilitating prisoners. In our prison system, the inadequate attention to rehabilitation and post-release employment opportunities, has resulted in unacceptably high rates of persons reoffending and returning to prison. The rate of re-offending in Jamaica is an unacceptable 40%. It means our prison system is contributing to crime and violence getting worse. The whole society benefits when a former criminal turns his life around and becomes a constructive member of society. Time come for moving in the right direction!
Too many Jamaicans suffer serious abuse of one sort or another, with no means to get lawful justice. That is why we will bring legislation to empower the Public Defender to bring legal proceedings, to defend the rights of vulnerable Jamaicans. We will also expand the scope of the Office of the Public Defender to become a National Human Rights Institution, that will monitor and report on Jamaica’s performance in respecting the rights of our citizens.
This kind of thinking is not new to the PNP. Wi neva jus come. The PNP has a long history of pursuing a social justice agenda for the people of Jamaica.
Jamaica’s laws relating to ganja had been an instrument of oppression for a hundred years. We decriminalised ganja so that no-one can be arrested and charged for a draw of weed or a spliff. Decriminalising personal use of ganja has rid the courts of over 10,000 cases a year, and prevented thousands of youths from the burden of a criminal record.
We also established an automatic expungement procedure, to clear the police records of anyone who in the past was convicted of an offence involving personal use of ganja. We who abolished flogging and whipping, the colonial punishments of brutalization of our people.
Ultimately, we want to build a Jamaica where we are spending less on crime and more on education and training. We want everybody on board, working for a better Jamaica. Time Come Now!
BUILDING JAMAICA AS HOME
I have been talking to you about mine and the PNP’s vision for Jamaica.
• I have said we want to broaden the ownership base of the society.
• I have said we want Jamaicans to have access to its natural resources like our beautiful beaches.
• I have said we want Jamaicans to be free of fear of violence and free to move in their communities and their country.
By extension, our vision for Jamaica is about Jamaicans being truly independent and owning Jamaica. Many Jamaicans face insecurity in the very basic matter of shelter. Under this government, the price of housing has spiralled out of reach of ordinary people. What about affordable housing for the average person?
We in the PNP have not forgotten our dedication to providing affordable housing to the people of Jamaica. We are therefore alarmed about what we see happening to the NHT.
• Over $100 Billion has been taken from the NHT by the government, leaving it depleted of resources and unable to play its catalytic role in bringing affordable housing to the Jamaican people.
• As a result, the NHT will no longer make mortgage loans to some categories of its contributors. It means people who could have depended on the protections offered by a not-for-profit government institution, will now have to take their chances with private lending institutions.
• And there is more, the NHT will then bear the cost of paying over interest rate subsidies to the private lenders, further undermining the financial position of the NHT.
This Government has put the future of the NHT and your housing benefits in jeopardy. We are proud of having built the NHT to provide affordable housing for the people of Jamaica. Michael Manley must be turning in his grave to see its destruction under the current government.
We cannot accept that.
• The next PNP government will restore the National Housing Trust to its rightful role as the central agency for financing affordable home ownership in this country.
• We will end the Government’s annual extraction of $11.4 Billion from the NHT.
• We will refocus the NHT on financing the development of affordable housing for Jamaicans.
• We will do what it takes to establish partnerships with real estate developers to serve the badly underserved market for affordable housing.
A homeowner with a title is an economically empowered Jamaican who can break the chains of intergenerational poverty and “step up inna life”. We believe Jamaicans must have such opportunities.
Hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans presently live in informal settlements, without the security of land ownership and without basic housing infrastructure.
The last time a serious attempt to tackle this problem was in the 1990s, when the PNP brought infrastructure and land ownership to over 50,000 Jamaicans. I have visited many of those projects and witnessed first-hand the amazing homes built by our people, once they are given a little helping hand to get started.
Time Come Now for a new deal for vulnerable families living in informal settlements. We are committed to introducing a new programme to organise informal settlements across Jamaica into proper residential communities. We will provide financing on soft loan terms to residents for infrastructure development, land acquisition, land titling services and home improvement.
Time Come Now for practical, doable, fiscally responsible solutions for our people with a heart.
DECOLONISATION 2.0A CULTURE IN DEVELOPMENT APPROACH
All that we have spoken about today - the decolonisation mission, a transformation model for the economy, and moving Jamaica in the right direction, all converge in development and culture.
The next PNP will continue on our path of developing the structures of the Jamaican cultural economy. We will streamline supportive programmes to advance the culture and entertainment sectors. We will develop an overarching plan that intersects ministries and includes all cultural sectors. We will identify priorities for development, and create a more enabling environment for our cultural and creative practitioners.
We will have to address the current implementation and coordination deficits that exist across public sector agencies related to the cultural economy. We will promote content production and intellectual property development through a music studio programme island-wide, where funding and technical assistance will be provided to build community and home studios that will put young people with creative talent to work. This means streamlining and properly managing work that is already in progress.
Our culture represents who we are, and we understand how vital it is to use this sector to solidify positive changes in lifestyle and behaviours, and build on the gains we want to see. The next PNP government will adopt an all-of-government approach to national development, including a strategic alliance of culture, information, sport, entertainment, technology and Innovation–based industries, nutraceuticals and MSMEs.
This culture-in-development approach will provide a network of integrated government programmes across ministries that emphasise productivity, creativity, innovation, values and attitudes.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
I could not leave this space, as a government in waiting, without a comment on Jamaica in relation to the rest of the world. Our Party has had a history of progressive international relations, which over many years has earned Jamaica a respected place in the international community.
National leadership requires a close focus on international trends. We also know that our economic transformation is dependent on our international trading relations. Critical to this are the framing of our international relations and trade policies.
The international policy position of the People’s National Party mirrors that of our domestic policy. We are Good Neighbours to all - embracing peace, social justice, equity, self-determination and non-interference. This is bound up in our clear emphasis on upholding the rule of international law, a commitment to multilateralism in tackling the world’s problems, while always safeguarding our sovereignty and independence, and we will continue to maintain the right to exercise independent thought and make independent decisions.
The PNP takes note of the changes in the global dynamics. We are committed regionalists, and we are monitoring the possibilities of the expanding BRICS arrangements. We will continue to work towards strengthening our position and relationships amongst the Global South, and join in their demands for greater emphasis on climate change and debt relief for small, developing countries. We will do this even as we maintain our strong relationships with our traditional partners, which are based on mutual respect.
Looking to Africa is high on our priority list, and the Party stands with and honours our Former Leader PJ Patterson who has been actively working on forging deeper linkages between Africa and the Caribbean.
After so many aberrations by the current Government in how it has dealt with regional issues in particular, Jamaica has work to do to regain our standing in the family of nations. We are ready to take Jamaica back to the position of respect, regard and collegiality we once enjoyed. We will provide the leadership that the region has traditionally looked for from Jamaica, building on the tremendous work done and goodwill built by Michael Manley, PJ Patterson and Portia Simpson Miller, who all stood tall in the global arena. Time Come Now!
CLOSING
The next PNP government intends to move Jamaica in the right direction. Our concept of progress requires social and economic transformation. We understand what it will take to achieve higher levels of inclusive and sustainable economic growth that will drive national development built on principles of integrity, inclusion, equity and justice.
We believe that the Jamaican people have the power to make this happen, and it requires the leadership of the People’s National Party to take Jamaica forward in the great mission of hope for our people. Time Come Now!
It is dependent on you and me, and all well-thinking Jamaicans, at home and abroad, working together for the greater good. Coming out of this wonderful 85th conference, let us continue to build the unity and strength that has brought us to the point where we have reached today.
I am confident that the Jamaican people will give us the chance to implement our plans for delivering hope and a better life for the people of Jamaica, as we continue to focus on our noble objectives and historic purpose as a political party.
I have no doubt that the PNP will form the next government of Jamaica, building on what we have achieved over the past year to make ourselves ready to shoulder the responsibility of government in service of the people of Jamaica.
We have had a remarkable conference. We have made sound strategic decisions for our Party. We have outlined a vision of hope for the people of Jamaica. Let us continue to work together in our groups, divisions, constituencies and regions to ensure that, when the trumpet sounds, we deliver the victory for the People’s National Party. God bless and keep you, and God bless Jamaica, land we love.
