It seems to me that the PNP cabinet has no coherent policy on anything and there is total lack of direction from the Prime Minister. What we end up with is each Minister appears to be setting their own policies , which at times appears to be in conflict with each other.
Let’s examine a few such cases.
NWC K-Factor programme to employ thousands – Pickersgill
Monday, January 28, 2013
Some 5,000 Jamaicans are to be directly employed under the National Water Commission’s (NWC) K-Factor Programme, according to Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Robert Pickersgill.
Speaking at the programme’s launch on January 23, held at the Four Seasons Hotel in St Andrew, Pickersgill said that jobs would also be created for hundreds of skilled workers.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/NWC-K-Factor-programme-to-employ-thousands—Pickersgill#ixzz2VrfoYhSr
Minister of National Security was reported to have said 5000 cops and soldiers were to be trained and I would assume they also would have been employed by the state.
Sunday January 27, 2013
In addition to more robust operations, Minister Bunting says 5,000 police officers and soldiers are to be trained. He says more intelligence-driven vehicle check points will also be implemented.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=42499
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Minister of education says ” current teacher in college will find no job in the public sector, so they may have to change profession”.
The reason is we must maintain public sector wages as % of GDP.
Also $6b more set aside for Jeep.
In November 5, 2012 this is what was reported
NEARLY 100 teachers have been employed at the pre-primary level under the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP), and another 100 are in training to be deployed under the programme’s second phase, education minister Reverend Ronald Thwaites disclosed last Thursday.
: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/100-employed-as-teachers-under-JEEP_12902244#ixzz2Vrm54kvU
Now can someone explain to me why these 3 minister are on a different page and how can Ronnie 6 months after he promised to add 300 teachers under Jeep can now say no space for teacher ??
What am I missing here
Filed under: Education |
Warren's Blog 
A trick that is usually used by governments under IMF austerity programs like those of Greece and those in South America is to blame the IMF for actions that they themselves take to weaken select social groups that they themselves find undesireable. This group s have usually been a thorn in their side for a while, and thus they use the opportunity to withdraw funding from them. I see that we are no different.
Oh, and don’t these many contradictory views sound like a power struggle going on with the Comrades?
Now can someone explain to me why these 3 minister are on a different page and how can Ronnie 6 months after he promised to add 300 teachers under Jeep can now say no space for teacher ??
What am I missing here?
I suspect your faint-hearted attempt of appearing confounded is meant to support your views that the pronoucements by the three Ministers are contradictory. Maybe I can be of some assitance in helping you understand the quotes you highlighted above.
As far as Thwaites’ comments are concern one could argue that any “employment” on JEEP would not be considered as full-time equivalents of public sector workers (temporary workers maybe?). The classification of these workers under JEEP would be tied directly to a particular funding source, outside of the normal budgetary process and as such, would not be linked to the public sector wage total. There is also the possibility that Thwaites anticipated some level of Teachers’ attrition, and the 300 additional Teachers would not necessarily add to overall number of “new” Teachers. In other words, if 600 Teachers wll be leaving the System, 300 added through JEEP, would only require another 300 Teachers being needed. Either way, I do not think these statements are contradictory in any form. Plausible? Probable? You be the judge.
Nowhere did I read that the 5,000 police officers and soldiers are to be trained”, equates to adding 5,000 “new” police officers/soldiers. Maybe they are training existing police officers/soldiers. Maybe I’m wrong here, so please provide the proof that the referenced statement implies adding 5,000 additional security personnel to the GOJ payroll.
Again, does the statement, “5,000 Jamaicans are to be directly employed under the National Water Commission’s (NWC) K-Factor Programme,” means that these individuals will be directly employed by the GOJ or will they be employed by third-party contractors who bid on the eight-year, $50 Billion projects?
You keep saying that the PM is nowhere to be found and make very few public statements, allowing her Ministers to do all the talking. Well, it appears that this is by design. The Ministers can publicly announce various “bitter medicine” and when there is severe push back on these “trial balloons”, the PM steps in and say that “The Minister” spoke without getting cabinet approval. 🙂 I think that statements made 7-months pre-signed-IMF-agreement, are subject to change, per the final negotiated agreement…. don’t you think?
I still in awe at your ability to put together snippets of various quotes and statements from various sources and attempt to weave it, into what appears on the surface, as being a logical and well-thought out argument, even when couched as being in a state of bewilderment! Hat off to you, The Teacher (decorated 4-star General), from the student-in-training. 😀
I could careless about Jay’s rantings; because people like you and the other idiots in Jamaica would never accept a Margaret Thatcher or a Lee Quan Yew