'Sense Us', Sandy and the debt

Joan Grant Cummings, GUEST COLUMNIST

The last few weeks must have felt like a psychological tsunami to Jamaicans. We were just beginning to 'Sense Us' about the census 2011 results, including wondering what the almost equal male-female population would mean. Future generations may never experience a bull session or hen party!

Then along came Sandy. Sista Sandy was as direct in character as an activist! Miss Lou would have said, "She lickle but she tallawah!" Sandy mash we up, and she was only Category One! Who didn't get flood out, didn't have any 'current', or both. Some of us 'had was' to cook on outside fire because we didn't buy the standard hurricane fare of crackers and bully beef. Thanks to Sandy, we had plenty breadfruit that she picked for us. Me still tyad from dat adventure!

The headlines quickly turned to what were we going to do, given an already untenable economic situation. The finance minister quickly asserted that the Budget would not be altered to deal with Sandy, as provisions had been made for such an event. We are looking forward to this demonstration of the inclusion of disaster management in the national Budget!

Speaking of the Budget and the finance minister - a representative group of civil society met with him this week. Thanks once again to the leadership of the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition (JCSC) for arranging this as the next step in understanding and having our input in the IMF process, the Budget and pushing our point on the critical importance of social development and support for the most vulnerable populations during these austere times.

MINISTER'S BOTTOM LINE

The minister essentially delivered the same presentation he had made to Parliament and other audiences. He reiterated that there was no delay in the IMF process; that the Government was committed to and, in fact, implementing several components of the tax-reform plan, that the pension-reform process was under way, and that both items would be dealt with in November by Parliament. White Papers had been or were being developed on both. Additionally, he reaffirmed the Government's commitment to the public-sector modernisation process and that the unions were involved in discussions with the Government on a way forward in the national interest.

He further went on to share his own observations of the situation in the country. Dr Phillips also stressed that there was a "trust deficit" in the country - something he said at a Gleaner Editors' Forum some months aback. Basically, regardless of political party, Jamaicans do not trust their politicians. He called for greater collaboration amongst Caribbean nations. Seven of 15 CARICOM nations, he revealed, have IMF programmes, in particular after the global economic crisis of 2008.

The Caribbean is thought to be a region most greatly affected by the meltdown of 2008 and expects to feel the impact longer than other regions. Dr Phillips reminded us that tax forgiveness, reconstruction and debt swaps needed to be a part of the international agenda, especially in relation to small-island developing states (SIDS) most vulnerable to climatic events.

Many SIDS such as Jamaica, he pointed out, are designated "middle income countries" by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), which don't take into account the vulnerability of their people and country to climate change and extreme weather.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

From civil society's perspective, there are many unanswered questions, and issues that need to be dealt with. While there is a trust deficit, civil society has also observed that there is a democracy deficit, where good governance, meaningful consultations and accountability are lacking.

Is the IMF our only alternative? How do we get the Government to understand that balancing people's lives involves not only entering into technical agreements with the international financial institutions to deal with our debt and fiscal deficit. It is also about the political and social choices that we make.

Whose interests do these agreements serve? Who benefits from debts? What will be the impact on social investment, human resource development, and investment in productive activity? How is Vision 2030 being taken into account in the Budget and the debt-management processes?

A number of SIDS are racing to achieve developed-nation status. What does this mean in the context of SIDS's vulnerability to climatic events that can destroy their economies in one instance of extreme weather, relegating them to developing-country status?

WHO BENEFITS?

In answering the question of who benefits from debts, Jamaicans need to take into account the debt of students, hire-purchase debts, personal loans and mortgages. How will we deal with these as increasingly we face pay cuts, joblessness/underemployment and pay more for goods and services?

In Iceland's meltdown in 2008, taking into account the disenchanted population, the Government decided not to go with an IMF-type bailout. Instead, the Government and the financial and the business sectors collaborated on a plan that prevented mass foreclosures, unemployment and dispossession/major social upheaval.

Given SIDS's vulnerability, how are we dealing with issues such as climate change, which not only affect our temperature and sea-level rise but right now affects our health, tourism, agricultural and other business sectors. The increase in mosquito-borne diseases is an expectation of climate change, which favours survival of mosquitoes and other vectors bearing diseases in increasing numbers and habitats.

Undoubtedly, our economy - tourism, productivity, health, shelter, water sources and fuel sources are affected. How do we capture this in our Budget?

With Sandy's rampage from the Caribbean to the US and Canada, how will this affect remittances, food prices, tourism? Sandy is a game-changer, underscoring the fact that interdependence must become part of our language in this hemisphere.

We want to know what is the Government's commitment or plan to relieve the debt burden through mechanisms such as debt cancellation, debt waivers, debt swaps? As proven by the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica, debt swaps are viable mechanisms by which valuable research, leading to evidenced-based solutions to environmental and social issues, can be addressed. Debt swaps give the Government the space to facilitate civil-society participation in national development, while reducing the debt burden through non-payment of the interest.

It is through partnerships with civil-society organisations (CSOs) that vulnerable communities are able to find solutions to their issues, innovate sustainable livelihoods, especially through micro, small and medium enterprises in their communities. Civil society involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement have long maintained that the "financialisation of capitalism" the "engine of debt extraction", has a net negative impact on social development and is not sustainable.

Debt cancellation, debt swaps, and debt waivers are viable and appropriate mechanisms to deploy in returning any country, big or small, to economic viability and positive social development.

The debt jubilee movement sought to sell governments worldwide that "our agenda is a combination of intellectual and spiritual renewal". For civil society in Jamaica, this means creating a society that includes a Budget and debt-management strategy that demonstrates political, social and economic equity and equality.

Joan Grant Cummings is a gender and environmental specialist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.