Ed Bartlett is not the villain

GIVEN THE censure he received from the contractor general for concluding those airline-seat guarantee deals with the approval of the Cabinet, we believe Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett's recent announcement of a 10 per cent duty waiver on material for the refurbishment of hotels would have been formally and appropriately endorsed by his colleagues.

Unfortunately for Mr Bartlett, the administration has to pull back from the undertaking and it is for this he is taking the flak from disappointed sector interests and being cast as something of a flip-flopper.

The larger issue, though, is really the administration's approach to the formulation of policy. The Government was forced to retreat from the special duty waiver because it conflicts with policy undertakings in its standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Indeed, within days of the announcement of Mr Bartlett's disclosure of the special incentives for hotels, Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced a broader freeze on tax waivers.

The incompatibility between the scheme for the tourism sector and the IMF programme should have been appreciated by the administration, particularly the finance ministry, which monitors the deal with the fund and oversees the country's finances.

Mr Bartlett, whose primary job is to ensure that visitors come to Jamaica, which he has been doing reasonably well in difficult circumstances, ought to have been made aware of the problem. He is not the villain here.

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