(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaica has since Independence suffered from poor leadership from not just politicians but across the board, Richard Byles, co-chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC), has declared.
Addressing the St Ann Chamber of Commerce 2013 awards banquet at the Sunset Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios, St Ann, on Saturday night, Byles argued that failures in leadership must also be acknowledged by the private sector and civil society.
“If we ask ourselves the question, as I do very often, ‘Why have we performed so poorly? If your business was run for 50 years in the manner that the country was run what would happen?’, I come up with one answer – We’ve had poor leadership,” said Byles, who is also president and chief executive officer of Sagicor Life Jamaica.
“When I say poor leadership, I mean poor political leadership in the first place, a leadership that has never really faced the tough question and made the right decision but it’s also a failure of leadership in the private sector and in civil society because we have stood by and watched it happen.”
He added: “We’ve run a bad business called Jamaica and we have stood by and watched it happen. So we are as guilty as the political leaders are and if there’s one lesson I want to leave us with tonight, it is for us to think about that fact. We can’t stand on the sidelines anymore; the politicians alone won’t do it; we have to get involved.”
All not lost
Byles said all was not lost even though getting back from the brink would not be easy.
“First of all, a reality check – there is no easy way. There is no silver bullet, there is no oil, there is no gold, there is no special project, logistics port, that is going to get us out of this problem by itself. It’s going to be a slow, hard grind as we step back from the precipice of a 150 per cent of GDP.”
He noted that the economic plan to reduce the debt to 96 per cent of GDP by 2020 was positive but even at that figure, there was still a long way to go for Jamaica.
In the current situation, the island seems headed in the direction of Greece, Byles said. But he offered hope, saying there were two things the country could do to get out of the economic mess.
“First of all, we must have a good plan and I think we do,” he said. “When I look at the plan that has been structured between Jamaica and the International Monetary Fund, it is a good plan.”
But while commending the plan, Byles warned that it could fail very quickly if the country does not have the determination to stick to it, as happened when the 2010 economic plan was essentially abandoned after three quarters.
Byles asked the Jamaican private sector to ensure the plan does not fail this time.
“I promise you we would not have abandoned that plan had we done what I’m asking you and all of the Jamaican private sector to do tonight, which is to get involved, to be interested, to participate, to hold up your hand, to shout whenever you know things are not going right; to make the Government know that we are interested in where the country is going, and that we do pass all of the tests of this plan.”
