The 2011 PNP manifesto

I was pleased to have been invited to the launch of the 2011 PNP manifesto last Wednesday. Having last been in government just four years ago, the People's National Party (PNP) is burdened with a huge albatross around its neck. No matter what its manifesto contains, many will ask why they didn't implement those good ideas during their 18 years in office.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was right at the beginning of the manifesto, a section titled 'Eighteen Steps to Full People Empowerment'. All my life as an environmentalist I have worked at co-management - the empowerment of local communities and resource users to manage the natural resources on which they depend and within which they live. Could the PNP be committing themselves to some new strategy of democratisation, bringing power for the people?

I was disappointed. Only five of the 18 'steps' touched on people empowerment: Like Step 8: "Engage the people through community structures in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of programmes which directly affect their welfare and development". And No. 16: "Fashion new consultative mechanisms, within the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, for the meaningful inclusion of critical stakeholders, including civil-society organisations, in the constantly changing governance landscape." And No. 17: "Extend the reach and efficiency of local government by giving legal personality to properly structured town and community organisations and requiring proper reporting relationships on the part of elected representatives." These are quite good.

Dubious empowerment plan

But the five, taken together, would put us far away from 'Full People Empowerment'. Does the PNP believe that negotiating a new IMF agreement (No. 1) will lead to people empowerment? Or the expansion and re-engineering of Petrojam (No. 3)? Or removing GCT on electricity bills (No. 4)?

Or No. 7: "Lead in the fight against corruption, by example, by the proper use of parliamentary oversight and by public education?" Or No. 18: "Establish a National Council of Justice to formulate the proper administration of justice and to protect and promote respect for fundamental human rights?"

These ideas may be good in themselves, but they seem irrelevant to achieving 'Full People Empowerment'. Does this new-fangled PNP, 22-odd years away from Michael Manley, know what 'Full People Empowerment' means?

Bearing in mind my own concerns, I next turned to the last section titled 'Physical Infrastructure, Housing and the Environment'. The 'Environment' part begins: "The People's National Party (PNP) remains committed to sustainable economic development and is cognisant of the link between the environment and industrial and commercial activities. The PNP, which pioneered most of Jamaica's environmental management policy initiatives, is committed to ensuring the protection of Jamaica's environment and the conservative use and protection of its natural and historical heritage resources. The PNP recognises that environmental quality bears a strong and crucial relationship to an improved standard of living, human health, economic and social advancement and quality of life for our citizens and visitors alike."

Unsustainable development

I always wondered whether the PNP knew these things, for during the 18 years they were in power, their actions reflected a willingness to sacrifice the natural environment to obtain economic development. Any development which they might have attained would have been unsustainable. I don't believe for a minute that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is any better; I just need some reason to believe that a new PNP government would be any better environmentally than the old, environmentally destructive one. The PNP opposition spokesman on the environment (do you know who he/she is?) has been silent and absent for four years.

Under 'Biodiversity', the manifesto says: "Jamaica's biodiversity is ranked fifth in endemism among small island states internationally. These will be protected. The system of National Parks and Protected Areas, initiated under a PNP Government, will be strengthened to ensure conservation of our genetic resources." The PNP Government from 1989-2007 verbally supported the System of National Parks and Protected Areas, but offered no financial resources, and undercut the work of the environmental NGOs collaborating with them. I speak from personal experience. They put in place NRCA boards chock-full of conflicts of interest, which negatively impacted on the natural environment and the biodiversity they profess so much interest in. What has changed?

The trouble with this 2011 PNP manifesto is that it is vague, and full of platitudes, and short on specifics, targets, and deliverables. The PNP wishes to bask in its achievements of the past, which in my view are overinflated.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and environmentalist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.