EDITORIAL - Time for the nitty-gritty of policy

By and large, this newspaper welcomes the tone that has so far been adopted by Prime Minister Andrew Holness in discussing the difficult economic problems facing Jamaica.

For instance, in a break with the norm for such occasions, in his first address to the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) as its leader on Sunday, Mr Holness did not seek to excite the crowd to a frothing frenzy. Rather, he attempted to soberly alert his party to the tough times ahead if we are to seriously confront the country's $1.6-trillion debt. In an interview aired on CVM Television on Wednesday, Mr Holness maintained this approach, declaring that he has no promises to make.

But as the PM and his opponents in the People's National Party (PNP), including that party's leader, Mrs Portia Simpson Miller, should be aware, merely identifying the problems and outlining the difficulties they pose are of themselves insufficient. We have to get to the substance of solutions.

That is why we look forward to further and better particulars from the prime minister, and his team, on the many critical issues to help inform a serious national discussion. At the same time, we look to the PNP for its alternatives, or statement of agreement with Mr Holness, that if it formed the government, and was serious, it would have no option but to maintain the policies of the current administration.

Public-sector reform

Among the matters on which we seek clarification from the prime minister is his thinking on public-sector reform, which, if robustly pursued, will inevitably lead to job losses. A government wage bill, excluding pensions, of nearly 12 per cent of GDP, is unsustainable - as Mr Holness concedes.

In this regard, Mr Holness, in his CVM interview, pointed to the work of the Public Sector Transformation Unit and its proposals for job losses by attrition, and seemed to suggest that that might be as far as he would be willing to go. "It makes no sense releasing people from their jobs without having jobs to send to," he said.

That remark is reflective of the kind of fuzzy thinking that often traps even well-intentioned politicians, to the detriment of genuine reform. Another way Mr Holness might think about it lightening an overburdened public sector would be to release resources that would help to create the new jobs to absorb departing public-sector employees.

Targeting energy

Among other issues on which we look for engagement between the Government and the Opposition is Mrs Simpson Miller's offer, if elected, to roll back the 10 per cent general consumption tax that was imposed on some electricity consumption in April's Budget. Mr Holness likened the promise to writing a 'bounced' cheque, knowing that it would be turned back for insufficient funds.

Yet, this tax, aimed at raising $700 million, will hardly have benefited Mrs Simpson Miller's natural constituency, poor people who consume less than 200kWh of electricity at which the tax kicks in. More than 70 per cent of electricity consumers do not reach this threshold. It is, therefore, 60,000 large residential consumers and the light and power company's 100,000 commercial and industrial customers who would get the break.

The question is whether what Mrs Simpson Miller suggests is good policy, or whether it is a matter to be addressed in general tax reform and a new approach to energy, whose high cost is a hindrance to Jamaica's economic growth.