Dear Editor,
I have long been a believer in the currency of co-operation, but equally the exercise of good leadership, which often ruffles a few feathers, but secures the greater good.
Imagine then my surprise at last Tuesday’s curious Observer editorial entitled, ‘The first missteps of Messrs Holness and Shaw’.
In highlighting the new Administration’s relatively small majority, the writer submits that the prime minister’s announcement to discontinue the sale of government vehicles to ministers is “ill-timed”, since it “will not contribute to the atmosphere of co-operation that his Administration will need when it takes office”. Fancy that!
This is exactly the sort of thinking that the worst democracies are made of and that the Andrew Holness-led Administration must move swiftly to cancel. His timing could not have been more appropriate.
What our country needs, as voters have co-signed, is a fiscally responsible and accountable Government on behalf of the Jamaican people. That the Opposition may not be able to agree is, well, the reason they are in Opposition.
In 2012, it was a triumphant Portia Simpson Miller-led Administration that swung into office before the purchase of 20 motor vehicles for her ministers at nearly US$694,000 (approx $60 million) that year. They justified the spend, as nothing short of what the previous Administration had done with the purchase of 18 vehicles for their ministers.
It is true that successive administrations may move to purchase new vehicles for certain staff, but this is fiscally unsustainable for Jamaica, with a debt burden of some $2 trillion, according to the World Bank.
The move proposed by Holness will be important in supporting other fiscal growth strategies, such as removing the wretched personal income tax for those who earn $1.5 million or less annually, thereby increasing the purchasing power of many Jamaicans and growing our economy.
Holness’s call is not “vindictiveness”, as Mark Golding said, but basic fiscal responsibility.
The new prime minister must not be fazed by a slim parliamentary lead, nor must he allow same to hinder bold and decisive moves for the good of all Jamaicans. Bi-partisan support is important and should be continuously invited, but he must be stern on good principle. Today, leadership wins.
Daren Miller
daren.miller@live.com
I have long been a believer in the currency of co-operation, but equally the exercise of good leadership, which often ruffles a few feathers, but secures the greater good.
Imagine then my surprise at last Tuesday’s curious Observer editorial entitled, ‘The first missteps of Messrs Holness and Shaw’.
In highlighting the new Administration’s relatively small majority, the writer submits that the prime minister’s announcement to discontinue the sale of government vehicles to ministers is “ill-timed”, since it “will not contribute to the atmosphere of co-operation that his Administration will need when it takes office”. Fancy that!
This is exactly the sort of thinking that the worst democracies are made of and that the Andrew Holness-led Administration must move swiftly to cancel. His timing could not have been more appropriate.
What our country needs, as voters have co-signed, is a fiscally responsible and accountable Government on behalf of the Jamaican people. That the Opposition may not be able to agree is, well, the reason they are in Opposition.
In 2012, it was a triumphant Portia Simpson Miller-led Administration that swung into office before the purchase of 20 motor vehicles for her ministers at nearly US$694,000 (approx $60 million) that year. They justified the spend, as nothing short of what the previous Administration had done with the purchase of 18 vehicles for their ministers.
It is true that successive administrations may move to purchase new vehicles for certain staff, but this is fiscally unsustainable for Jamaica, with a debt burden of some $2 trillion, according to the World Bank.
The move proposed by Holness will be important in supporting other fiscal growth strategies, such as removing the wretched personal income tax for those who earn $1.5 million or less annually, thereby increasing the purchasing power of many Jamaicans and growing our economy.
Holness’s call is not “vindictiveness”, as Mark Golding said, but basic fiscal responsibility.
The new prime minister must not be fazed by a slim parliamentary lead, nor must he allow same to hinder bold and decisive moves for the good of all Jamaicans. Bi-partisan support is important and should be continuously invited, but he must be stern on good principle. Today, leadership wins.
Daren Miller
daren.miller@live.com