The speech that will make Peter Phillips the greatest leader of the 80-Year-old PNP.

My fellow Jamaicans I am about to speak to you on a most important matter that will either make me a villain or a hero for the PNP and Jamaica.

I am 68-years-old and has been a member of the PNP for nearly all my life. I love this party dearly and truly believe it’s the party that cares most about the sector of the Jamaican society that sits on the fringes and have been marginalized for decades.

Over the years, we have done more for these people than any other party in our history and we are very proud of our achievements during this time.

Make no mistake about, we have had many challenges, many tough times, but we have weathered them all to be where are today.

We at the same time must recognize that we have fallen short of the expectations of the people, we have made many mistakes, which tend to happen with a newly independent country. We could have done a lot better than we have achieved thus far and I stand here as the leader of the opposition PNP to apologize to you the people of this country that we have not fully achieved the mandate given to us by all of you.

We have enjoyed a good run at the crease, with a record of 4 consecutive wins covering a period of 22 years, which has been a record for any political party in this country, which goes to show that the people of this country have believed in our policies.

I am not going to spend much time talking about the past tonight, I want to focus on the future instead.

At age 68, I am past the retirement age of most public sector workers and would like to retire in a country where I can live peacefully and my grandchildren and yours can enjoy a much better quality of life than I had, and people of my age did up to this point in time.

Our Westminster system in my opinion, while a good way of governance has not worked in the best interest of our country. While we were in government the JLP would have opposed almost everything we did no matter how good a policy it was. When they formed the government, we sought as well to do the same, but seriously where have that gotten us.

We lost the last election in 2015 after having had to make some very tough economic decisions geared towards putting us on the right track, it was what was required, and I make no apologies for those tough decisions. Today the JLP and the country at large are the beneficiaries of the decisions made by the party leading up to the 2015 national elections.

It was our government that put the IMF negotiations back on track, it was our government that negotiated with the Exim Bank of China  for money to support all the major infrastructural projects currently on the way.

In a sign of our maturing politics, the JLP has not only retained the name of the infrastructural policy framework under which these projects fall, but they have sought to continue the implementation of those projects, which we would have done had we formed the government.

We are very happy these projects have not been abandoned like it use to be in the past and this is indeed a positive development for the country.

On the economic side, the present government have largely continued with the economic framework which we have laid out, and today, for the first time in a very long time, we are seeing not just one quarter of growth, but growth for almost every quarter for the last 4 years( the last two years of our government and the first two of the present government).

For the country to see the level of growth that the average man can feel, we need to growth between 4-5% per annum, which is twice where we are today.

As I told the students at the University of the West Indies with whom we met last week, the growth agenda must be inclusive i.e. the entire country needs to be involved with every last one of us rowing in the same direction.

This is where I would like us to focus and this is the main thrust of my address.  When you examine the elections results, you would have realised that from a statistical standpoint, the country is split right down the middle. Based on the polarized nature of our politics, it would be reasonable to assume that the half of the country that is focused on growth of the economy and supporting the policies the present government would be labour party supporters and those who may be “neutral”.

It stands to reason that the remainder are either working hard to make life difficult for the government with the hopes that they fail, so the opposition can be re-elected the next time around. It could also be that they are not actively working to ensure failure but are not rowing at all, therefore not making an effort to allow the country to succeed.

This has been the way we have traditionally practiced our politics, but I firmly believe that if we are to grow  and become a very strong country and the economic giant of the Caribbean, we must begin to change this approach.

I am not suggesting that we ought to agree with everything the government does, not at all, we must question those things we believe are not in the best interest of the country. We must keep the leadership on its toes and ensure we get value for money, while eliminating pockets of corruption on the government.

For far too long both parties have sat back and allowed corruption to take root in the country and in so doing divert money from projects meant to improve some aspect of the country, and into the pockets of those connected to the political system.

For far too long we have sought to fill top positions in government, not with the most competent people but those who we consider to be the most loyal to us.

My fellow Jamaicans, I am near the end of my political career and at this stage I do not believe I would ever become Prime Minister of this country even though that has been a lifelong dream of mine.

I will not however allow my dream to derail the progress that Jamaica has undoubtedly made over the last 4 years.

Despite my pronouncements and those of the shadow cabinet, while we may not agree with all the present government has done, we are very happy with the progress being made on the economic front. We are seeing growth, albeit not at the level we would like, but let’s not take it for granted, we have not had continuous growth for a very long time.

We are not happy with the way they have gone about with the execution of the major road works in Kingston, but Jamaicans we ask you to be patient because at the end of these works, we would all be happy and proud of the road networks in Kingston. Commute should be a lot easier with less time being spent in traffic, which should lead not only to lower energy consumption and bill but should aid with the productivity of our people.

Crime remains the elephant in the room and we must tackle and neutralize this monster once and for all.

The PNP tonight will pledge its full support of the government of the day and we are asking our followers to do the same. Support , I must add does not mean we will not oppose those things we believe are inimical to the well being on the country, we will do that but instead of saying we will not oppose  the good policies, we will in no uncertain terms express full support where that is required and work actively to translate those words in to action.

For far too long we have been at each other’s throat, for far too long we have had knives drawn as we work feverishly to ensure we do what we believe is necessary to either stay in power or win the next election.

Look where it has gotten us. We have created the Marcus Garvey, Norman Manley, Michael Manley, Alexander Bustamante, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Usain Bolt, Shelly Ann Frazer, Veronica Campbell, Mike MacCallum, Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh, Asafa Powell and I could go on and on. We have the capacity to produce great people, great leaders, what is preventing us from creating a great country, one that will be the envy of the rest of the world.

The one thing that has not allowed our country to be as good as could be is “politics”.  Our politics have divided us and has not allowed us to unite and rally around whoever is leading the country at a particular point in time.

The PNP has always been a party of leaders, we are always breaking new grounds, creating what has never been there before and tonight we are creating something new, something that many would have thought they would have never seen in their life time.

We are not abandoning the role of opposition, instead we are choosing to join forces and rather than having only 50% of the country focused in one direction, we are moving to get the entire country moving in the same direction.

This is NOT political ploy or showmanship, this is real, this is our commitment to the people of this country. The country is on the right path and I am of the firm belief that if we all join forces, rally around a common cause, we can double the growth we are seeing and cut crime to unprecedented low levels.

Let’s not give the criminal elements in this country any reprieve, let us demonstrate that we have had enough, and we will not continue to allow them to tarnish the reputation of this country.

United we can do great things, tonight is a call to unity, tonight is a call to all Jamaicans to put aside our past political difference and work to move Jamaica to its rightful place in the Caribbean.

Tonight, I ask you all to join with me and the government to finally create a Jamaica that works for all.

Our constant fighting will NEVER get us to where we ought to be, however I am close to 90% certain that united we will be a force to recon with for years to come.

As  I the leave the platform tonight, I leave knowing that while we may never form the next government when all the ballots have been counted at the next elections, but I will be proud to have been the leader who has broken tradition and has created a new paradigm, a new and transformational way of thinking and a Jamaica that our forefathers would have been proud of .

Unity is Strength

Good night and God bless you all.

Jamaica National Identification System (NIDS)

While most well thinking Jamaicans seem to agree with the need for a nearly fool proof Identification system, they seem to be  concerned about the following

1. The mandatory nature of the system
2. Criminal penalty/fine for failure to register
3. Security of the data

I firmly believe the system should be mandatory for all permanent residents of Jamaica as well as Jamaican nationals( born or naturalized), however I am willing to cede on the clause to make it a criminal offence with payment of a fine as well as the mandatory nature of the act.

I am therefore suggesting the following approach be taken

Make the system optional but make it very difficult for person not to opt in via these clauses.

1. You will not be allowed access to any government services without a national ID with the exception of medical services and primary school registration.
2. No voters ID, TRN,  NIS or Passport renewal or new passport application can be accessed without the national ID.
3. Work with the government of US, UK, CAD to include in their application process for visa the need for Jamaican National ID number, along with passport. No visa will be processed by these countries were the applicant does not have a national ID.
4. The registration process for GSAT, CSEC and CAPE will all require national ID .
5. Application for bank account will not need national ID, but you must have this to access loan facility at the banks, credit union, building society, as well as doing all business transactions with money transfer house such as Moneygram, Western Union etc as well as application for credit card from any financial institution.
6. Will be required in your application for telephone, cable, water and electricity services.
7. Higher tax rate for non holders of NI ie payee worker will automatically be required to pay higher income rate ( Say 30% vs 25% for those who have registered)

These are just a few areas I believe the government will need to look at to get the system going as it most likely the the court will not rule in the favour of the government in the new few months.

The national identification system must happen and it must happen within the next year.

In terms of the safeguard of personal data, I can point to the voters ID system which has been in place for over 12 years with about 1.6m prints of Jamaicans, which has never been breached .

This is proof that we have the capacity to protect data of our people .

Insofar as DNA is concerned, this should collected from all persons charged for any criminal offense whether they have been convicted or not and should form part of the national DNA database maintained by the country’s crime lab.

Bless.

CAPE 2018 Top Results, Subject, Student and Schools