Accelerating National and Regional Development through Social Partnership - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Accelerating National and Regional Development through Social Partnership

Regional Consultation on

Partnership for Jamaica

Westmoreland, April 2015Slide2

Jamaican Governance and its Parishes

In 1663 the first “general” election was held in Jamaica, in which 300 white men (out of a population of 6,000 whites) voted for members of the Assembly.

In 1664 one of the earliest actions of the Assembly was to divide the country into seven parishes.

The first seven parishes formed were all in Eastern and Central Jamaica: Clarendon, Port Royal, St. Andrew, St. David, St. John, St. Catherine and St. Thomas.Slide3

The Uniqueness of the Parish of Westmoreland in Jamaica

In 1670, five new parishes were formed, St. Ann, St. Elizabeth, St. George, St. James and St. Mary; all with the prefix “Saint” because they were established during the reign (1660-85) of Charles II, a secret catholic, whose mother was Henrietta Maria, sister of Louis XIII, King of Catholic France.

The remaining surviving parishes, all saint-less, were formed as follows: Kingston (1693), Westmoreland (1703), Hanover (1723), Portland (1723),

Trelawny

(1770) and Manchester.

Westmoreland, although not the youngest parish, is the only existing parish that was named for its Jamaican location.

All other parishes were named after British royalty, British Governors, or their wives. Portland, for example, is named after the first Duke of Portland, Henry Bentinck, who was the Governor of Jamaica when the parish was formed. Slide4

Jamaica’s First Development Priority was to give Voice to the Voiceless through the VotePrior to the nineteenth century many Jamaicans were voiceless.

In 1830 free mulattoes and free black men were allowed to vote.

In 1831 Jews were allowed to vote.

In the early 1830s Catholics were allowed to vote.

In 1838 black men were allowed to vote, but because of stringent property and income qualifications, in 1863, in a population of 441,264 the total electorate was 1,457, or 0.3% of the population.

Women were allowed to vote in 1919, but with a higher age of majority (25 versus 21) and a higher income tax payment threshold.Slide5

Voice through Social PartnershipDaily Gleaner, Tuesday May 25, 1979 – Wilmot Perkins

“The social contract represented, hypothetically, the Government’s last hope of being able to affect a sufficient degree of national consensus to make possible under its leadership a determined and effective assault upon the nation’s problems.”Slide6

1996 National Industrial Policy Called for a Social PartnershipSocial partnership efforts continued in the 1990s and early 2000s with industry accords (

eg

. Manley Accord in Bauxite); ACORN Group Dialogue, led by Ward Mills, OD; PSOJ Efforts led by Hon. Beverly Lopez, OJ.Slide7

In 2011, after three years of consultation, Prime Minister Bruce Golding led in the signing of the Partnership Code of Conduct at Jamaica HouseSlide8

In 2013, Prime Minister Simpson Miller led in the signing of the Partnership for Jamaica at Kings House

The Partnership for Jamaica is Jamaica’s first ever signed social partnership agreement, which gives voice in matters of national and regional development to all social partners.Slide9

Partnership Voice MechanismsFiscal Consolidation - Economic Programme

(with social protection) Oversight Committee (EPOC)

Rule of Law Adherence - Unite for Change, Justice

(and more timely justice outcomes) Council

Energy Diversification and - Energy Council

Conservation Electricity Sector Enterprise Team (ESET)

Doing Business - National

and Employment Competitiveness Council (NCC)

General - National Partnership Council

Regional Consultations

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Partnership Organisational Structure

National Partnership Council, chaired by the Most Hon. Prime Minister.

Partnership Coordinating Committee, chaired by Ambassador, the Hon. Burchell Whiteman, OJ.

Partnership Governance Committee, chaired by Rev.

Anglin

, includes Hon. Donna Parchment Brown and Ambassador, the Hon. Fay

Durrant

, OJ.Slide11

International Observations on Jamaica’s Social Partnership ProcessIs Jamaica Poised for a Turnaround, by Robert Looney,

Foreign Policy

, Feb. 12, 2014

It’s easy to be pessimistic about Jamaica. The Country has the World’s highest debt burden and its economic growth has been at a near standstill over the past several decades. It has one of the highest murder rates in the World. Consequently its refreshing to hear some good news about the Country. And there is certainly reason for optimism. The ongoing economic crisis and the

spectre

of default has generated a previously unseen spirit of cooperation. After years of hard work Prime Minister Simpson-Miller established the Partnership for Jamaica on July 31, 2013. Its priority areas include fiscal consolidation (with social protection), rule of law adherence (and timely justice outcomes); improved ease of doing business and employment creation and energy diversification and conservation. The Agreement relies on the cooperation of various groups, which will hopefully build up trust and put an end to the erosion of social capital.Slide12

Partnership for Jamaica TargetsIndicator 2013 Actual Current 2016 Target

GDP Growth (%) -o.3 0.4 2-3

Murders per 100,000 38 38 25

Ease of Doing Business 90

th

58

th

75

th

Unemployment Rate 14.2% 14.2% 10%

Electricity (per KWH) 42c 30c 30c

% Debt to GDP 142 132 105

Primary Surplus (%) 5.3 7.5 7.5

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Jamaica’s significant

improvement in the DBR was linked primarily to reforms (collateral registry, single point, company registration process, new credit

bureaux

) and marginally to the change in methodology .Slide14

Energy has recently been an important area of partnership focus and concern.Against this background, social partners requested the creation of an Electricity Sector Enterprise Team in May 2014.Slide15

International Observations on Jamaica’s Energy PlanThe Economist

, October 4, 2014.

Jamaica spends more on fuel imports than it earns from tourism. There may be some movement. Jamaica has dithered for years over its energy investment strategy. But proposals are now circulating for new power plants fueled by liquefied natural gas, ethane or propane made available by America’s shale gas boom, or by low-

sulphur

Columbian coal. … Too many projects are struck on the drawing board, however. Negotiating terms with commercial developers is a nightmare when costs and returns are uncertain; environmental issues cause endless disputes.Slide16

Examples of Partnership in ActionThe voice mechanisms of the partnership have been very active. The examples of the work of EPOC and ESET illustrate.

EPOC has issued some 20

communiques

and hosted a similar number of press conferences since its establishment in 2013. On her visit to Jamaica, the MD of the IMF commended this institutional innovation by Jamaica.

ESET, beginning with its first meeting on June 5, 2014 has met 84 times, made five cabinet submissions and hosted 2 press conferences.Slide17

Partnership DialoguePartnership Council meetings have focused on monitoring performance in the key areas of focus: fiscal consolidation with social protection; rule of law and justice, Doing Business and employment; and energy diversification and conservation.

Partnership Council meetings have also focused on key issues and governance challenges, for example, adherence to planning permit process by government minister, governance at the National Housing Trust; improvements in national solid waste management structures and processes. Slide18

Adding Voices in Pursuit of National and Regional Development

The first Jamaican “voice challenge” was to ensure that all Jamaicans could exercise their voices in choosing national leaders. Our recent celebration of the seventieth anniversary of universal adult suffrage is an important recognition of a critical Jamaican “voice” milestone.

The current national social partnership process is a contemporary effort to “add voices in pursuit of national and regional development”

Adding voices can lead to a cacophony of confusion, and so the social partnership process seeks to add voices in a structured way by seeking to fashion consensus on key national priorities, while ensuring that all partners remain

commited

to the principles enshrined in the PFJ Agreement.

Today provides an opportunity to hear the voices of residents of Westmoreland in this structured process of regional consultation.