R ealizing V ision 2030: T owaRds a P olicy s TRaTegy - a l ogisTics - PDF document

CONTRIBUTION TO SECTORAL DEBATE GORDON HOUSE July 9, 2019 R ealizing V ision 2030: T owaRds a P olicy s TRaTegy - a l ogisTics c enTRed e conomy G. ANTHONY HYLTON, MP O p p o s i t i o n S p o k e s m a n o n D e v e l o p m e n t , N a t i o n a l P h y s i c a l P l a n n n i n g , a n d t h e N a t i o n a l H o u s i n g Tr u s t 2

Salutations M r. Speaker, All praises to the Almighty for contjnuing health and strength. As usual, I have several persons to thank for their contjnuing support. • My wife Yodit and daughter Nyle. They are not here today as they are traveling overseas. • My immediate support stafg, Roxanne Brown at my law fjrm, Grace Barretu, constjtuency secretary as well as my security and driver. • Importantly, the great constjtuency of Western St. Andrew, who contjnue to support me and the People’s Natjonal Party. They have never failed to support the PNP at the polls at every electjon and they are ready for the next one, whenever it is called. • Members of my Task Force for assistjng in my preparatjon. Some of whom are present here today. • My three councillors, Hazel Anderson, Byron Clarke and Norman Perry for their support in good and bad tjmes. • My constjtuency Executjve Members, some of whom are here today. • Special recognitjon to Oppositjon Leader, Dr. Peter Phillips, for his wise leadership and commitment to the Party and Jamaican people in good and bad tjmes. • And to you Mr. Speaker, for your own dedicatjon to duty and to the functjons of this Honourable House. I wish for your contjnuing blessing and your own portjon of wisdom as you guide the work of this chamber. 3

Introduction M r. Speaker, the Natjonal Development Plan outlined in Vision 2030 represents the Policy Framework for moving Jamaica to developed country status in the next eleven (11) years. Is this a “pie in the sky” or will we be able to achieve our stated objectjve in the given tjmeframe? The answer to this questjon Mr. Speaker, lies primarily with the administratjon of the day, but from my vantage point as the shadow minister for Natjonal Development and Physical Planning with oversight responsibility of the UDC, Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and the Natjonal Housing Trust (NHT), I say that we are in the best positjon we have ever been to achieve or come close to achieving our target. It is a fact that our economy is realizing its longest period of growth in decades and its highest growth rate in several years though stjll less than needed. We have achieved low levels of interest rates, infmatjon and unemployment not seen in several decades. 4

Government debt/GDP ratjo is the lowest in decades with improved credit ratjngs for our country and instjtutjons. We have managed to achieve this “Holy Grail” through the hard work and sacrifjces of our several stakeholders, including the mass of the Jamaican people, the private sector, Civil Society organisatjons, internatjonal partners and, last but not least, successive administratjons formed by both the PNP and JLP. Mr. Speaker, the role played by our internatjonal partners in the IMF, World Bank and IADB in enforcing fjscal discipline, while helping to design and implement the structural reforms, cannot and should not be underestjmated. Indeed, I believe their role to be decisive, without any diminutjon of the leadership roles played by our various Prime Ministers, Finance Ministers and their Cabinet colleagues in driving the various policies, plans and programmes across administratjons. But are we in danger of squandering the hard won gains of this period, which represents our collectjve hopes of achieving Vision 2030? 5

Crime, Values and Attitudes Mr. Speaker, all well thinking Jamaicans, across age, gender, religion or party affjliatjon must be concerned about the antj-social behaviour refmected in our crime statjstjcs and in the several acts of corruptjon currently being investjgated by law enforcement, the auditor general or the oversight role of the Parliamentary Commituees. This should serve as a reminder to all of us Mr. Speaker, that the maintenance of sound ethical values and enduring attjtudes contjnue to elude our society, requiring visionary leadership at all levels of the politjcal, social and economic spectrum. Keeping the focus on our opportunity to achieve Vision 2030, Mr. Speaker, I observe that this administratjon in antjcipatjon of the ending of the Stand By Programme with the IMF, and wantjng to engender contjnuing confjdence in its economic policy of fjscal responsibility and independent oversight, has moved to enhance the independent monitoring capability with its proposal to replace the EPOC with a new Fiscal Council. Mr. Speaker, the administratjon understands the risks to its fjscal and economic Plans and Programmes going forward and has taken prudent measures to mitjgate those risks, especially in the absence of an IMF Programme with only its Artjcle IV monitoring and oversight. 6

What of the similar risk on the physical or spatial planning side of the Economic Programme? Mr. Speaker, the absence of an updated and functjonally relevant Natjonal Spatjal Plan represents a serious threat to Jamaica achieving its Vision 2030 goal. Mr. Speaker, there is broad consensus in the planning community and among other professional grouping and the constructjon industry, that the spatjal plans of both the Norman Manley and Edward Seaga era of the 1950’s and the 70’s are outdated and in urgent need of updatjng. This is so Mr. Speaker, even if the Manley Plan of the 1950’s contjnues to drive the debate around the development of the Natjonal Heroes Park and the locatjon of the proposed new Parliament building and the Government Campus currently being pursued by the administratjon. The current efgorts in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creatjon to develop a Natjonal Spatjal Plan, leaves much to be desired. Both in its design and development, the exercise is defjcient and, if achieved, will be wholly inefgectual and irrelevant to the task at hand, i.e. realizing Vision 2030. 7

This is so for several reasons Mr. Speaker. Firstly , the exercise repeats the inherent weaknesses of the fjrst two natjonal plans, in that they both lack a clear natjonal policy strategy to inform the natjonal prioritjes in both the design and implementatjon of these plans. Therefore, the discernment of natjonal prioritjes, difgerent from sectjonal and private interests could not be easily determined and led, at least in part, to the less than optjmal achievement of their stated objectjves. Because, Mr. Speaker, depending on the wishes of the administratjon of the day, the natjonal plan would be either ignored by the various planning authoritjes or interpreted to suit the administratjons objectjves in planning outcomes. This, Mr. Speaker, has resulted in weak or no enforcement primarily at the local level, giving rise to a plethora of land use issues and confmicts leading to changed neighbourhoods and with it the undermining of property values. This characterises many communitjes in the corporate area and other urban areas and towns across Jamaica. Secondly , the absence of an architecture to govern the Natjonal Physical or Spatjal Planning process has resulted in sub-optjmal plans and invited confmicts between the various authoritjes at difgerent levels. 8

The efgorts over the years to bring forward replacement legislatjon in place of the existjng Town & Country Planning legislatjon evidences some of these confmicts. Thirdly , the current efgort at evolving a Natjonal Spatjal Plan, through the development of seven academic papers, is not likely to overcome these challenges, where these plans rely explicitly on existjng data sets and not on current primary data. Additjonally, the lack of proper consultatjon with key stakeholders, including the Oppositjon is not likely to improve these major defjcits identjfjed herein. 9

What then are the Solutions to these deficits/ challenges to our National Physical Planning process? Mr. Speaker, I believe the tjme for clear thinking and bold actjon is now!! To the fjrst of the three (3) defjcits inherent in the current exercise at Natjonal Spatjal Planning, I pointed out earlier in the presentatjon, I ofger the following solutjons: (a) Architecture - My proposal Mr. Speaker, is that consideratjon be given to the role and functjon of the Urban Development Corporatjon (UDC) in the year of the passing of its chief architect, Rt. Hon. Edward Seaga, who envisaged a critjcal, if limited, role for the UDC in the implementatjon of the 1970 Natjonal Spatjal Plan. Fifuy years afuer its establishment Mr. Speaker, I believe the tjme has come to review and revise the role of UDC and to re-purpose it for its mission in changing tjmes. Similarly, the role of the Factories Corporatjon of Jamaica (FCJ) should be reviewed, revised and re-purposed in light of current realitjes. Mr. Speaker, specifjcally, I am proposing that both the UDC and FCJ be the subject of a thorough-going review with the objectjve of merging 1 0