Mark Ricketts | The politics of patronage and personal affection

The People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have now concluded their annual party conferences and, as usual, it was that time of giving to the people and securing personal affection from the people. The competition is always stiff as to who gave more, and who warranted more of the people's affection, "Peeta" or "Anju."

So important are the results of this adjudication that I am convinced every year our leaders lose sight of the issues of cost, budgeting, and resource allocation, and become more extravagant in what they are offering to the people.

Those in charge see critical needs which must be satisfied, or programmes that produce social transformation, or a business concession that will drive development. The party faithful, clothed and draped in orange or green, seized by the occasion, and seduced by the moment, are gullible, and the more outrageous the promises, the more affection is showered on the leader. It is the politics of patronage, material inducements, and personal affection.

As I watched our two leaders spar over their capacity to give and give, I am a little saddened by the over development of politics at the expense of economics and financial management. There must be a buoyant growth economy something we have not had in decades capable of providing surplus to justify the level of redistribution being advocated by our two party bosses.

MATERIAL INDULGENCE

The Prime Minister at a Jamaica House press briefing indicated that the country's ranking in the Global Competitive Report (GCR) as well as the Doing Business Report (DBR) dipped, and he reminded everyone that in the 2009 global financial meltdown the country came close to defaulting. A major reason for that, if I had to summarise the PM's thinking, is that the society, not generating sufficient wealth, became too dependent on overseas assistance. This allowed the population a level of material indulgence not supported by the production of goods and services. Not only did the country have to scramble to meet its debt obligations, but the population meanwhile was afforded a level of comfort that was not real and could not be sustained.

"We can't continue to depend on overseas development assistance. Economic dependence means that many of those practices we have felt comfortable doing as a nation have been spread among the population and have given the population a false sense of comfort," Holness said.

Do you think that the PM's public acknowledgement of the negative consequences of heightening expectations stopped Dr Phillips and himself from pandering to the people and offering largesse which cannot be supported by the budget? No way.

In his presentation at his party's conference the Leader of the Opposition placed great store on land reform and land titling. This was followed up in a column in last Sunday's Gleaner titled, 'Land-titling reform transformative' by attorney at law, Norman Minott, who has been appointed chairman of the National Land Ownership Commission by Phillips.

While land reform is important, archaic laws, resource constraints, the really massive costs and regulations involved in subdivisions, the detailed work requirement and resulting high costs of Commissioned Land Surveyors, the reality that much more digital mapping needs to be done, and an estimated 354,900 parcels of land without registered titles, not including captured land and illegal settlements, tell you that the pace of land reform and land titling will be modest, as it has always been, despite billions already invested. Over promising to justify a social revolution is not the answer.

How our politics run, if Peeta come with land, ("so, so, land," as Jamaicans would say, although it is more than just bare land, since he is also addressing the issue of titling which can involve built structures), in the context of jousting, it is land that is being emphasised, so you know Anju is going to come with a more finished product for the people, namely housing.

Holness, leader of the governing party, not to be outdone in over promising and giving the people hope that can't be fulfilled, offered housing; housing for the poor, the indigent, the old, the downtrodden, housing it seems for everybody.

"Building houses for the Jamaican people is my passion. We are going to build houses so that every single Jamaican would not have to think to go squat on somebody's land."

Continuing the PM said, "whether you are a janitor, a grounds man, a gardener, or a helper, you too must have it in your mind that one day, not far away, not a dream, not an illusion, but one day you can own your own home with a title that you can pass on to generations to come. That's how you break the cycle of poverty in the land." And the bell rang, and the people cheered, and the entire population of Jamaica went home to their houses and slept with their doors and windows wide open and no burglar bars were in sight.

PIPE DREAM

Jamaica for years has fallen behind in the annual production of houses to satisfy a growing population, and this year is no different, and the situation is particularly severe in the rental housing market.

People capture land and build illegal settlements not only because of general lawlessness in the society, or the question of pricing, but because the existing stock of housing is totally inadequate to satisfy needs.

While Holness offers a pipe dream of home ownership for all, more land is being captured every day. The situation is getting worse, not better. Go behind the zinc fences, walk down the never-ending narrow lanes, whether in inner city urban areas, or in small towns right across the country, and watch the add-ons, the new expansion, the new structures. It is zinc; it is cardboard boxes; it is building blocks and steel.

Compounding our problem is the infrastructural deterioration, the danger of fires, and the blight, the dilapidation, the physical falling apart of so much of our existing housing stock, even in formerly attractive neighbourhoods. This withdrawal of many of our housing units because of non-acceptable living standards has compounded the problems of availability and ownership.

The income question poses a challenge for the country as well. In a country where so many are not trained or certified, thereby exacerbating an already perverse income inequality situation, the ability of many to rent or secure mortgages to buy, even from the NHT, is a non starter.

Our leaders shouldn't over promise anymore until our education system is revamped, significant changes are made to property taxes, and a major overhaul takes place in the planning departments of our municipalities.

- Mark Ricketts is an economist, author, and lecturer. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and rckttsmrk@yahoo.com