Opposition Leader Mark Golding believes that while macroeconomic numbers have improved steadily since 2013, due to bipartisan commitment to a sustained programme of fiscal reforms, the daily reality faced by the Jamaican people is very different, especially over the two terms of the Holness administration.
During his six-minute opening address at the launch of the PNP’s manifesto called Mission: Jamaica Love, on Tuesday, August 12, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston, Golding, said: “Wages cannot stretch, prices rise daily, public services are substandard, young people have too few opportunities, and communities across our country are trapped in poverty, crime and neglect.
“Stability in the public finances without quality of life for the people is not prosperity, and is why the people of Jamaica are clamouring for change,” he said.
In hitting back at many promises for Jamaica made by Prime Minister Dr Holness during a mass rally in Half-Way Tree on Sunday, Golding reiterated that his party members are the architects of Jamaica’s celebrated macroeconomic reforms, from the key elements of the fiscal responsibility framework to the modernisation of the revenue system, bringing the nation’s debts under control and allowing a regime of inflation targeting to be introduced.
He also reiterated that it was the PNP who built the National Housing Trust (NHT) and the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) and modern infrastructure such as the major highways, expanded seaports and airports, enabled modern telecommunications and the transition to renewable energy such as Wigton Windfarm Limited and solar projects under the PNP administration when previously in power.
He also noted that prior to those, his party initiated the fundamental social reforms that decolonised Jamaican society and created lasting programmes such as the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) for the vulnerable, the National Health Fund (NHF) and the Jamaica Drug for the Elderly Programme (JADEP) for seniors.
Golding noted that with the General Election set for September 3, Jamaica stands at a decisive moment, and the benefits of national development have not reached far enough. He outlined that interior roads in every parish are in deplorable conditions, many communities do not have access to water in people’s homes, urban blight and decay plague cities, while rural Jamaica has been left behind.
“Farm roads are often impassible, irrigation is inadequate and outdated, and our farmers lack the tools, machinery and support systems to produce and to prosper,” he said before stating that the PNP understands both the progress and pain of Jamaicans because they have walked the road with them.
In promising Jamaica to make a change in these areas, Golding said in his introduction. “The People’s National Party is ready for the mission ahead. I’m honoured to be entrusted with the historic task of leadership. I respectfully seek your support and pledge to respect it by working hard and honestly for you every single day.”
Persons interested in reading the PNP’s manifesto can click on the link https://pnp.org.jm/manifesto-2/
