For the latter part of 2009, much focus by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) centred around the creation of the Public Sector Transformation Unit (PSTU) and, to a lesser extent, on the Consultative Monitoring Group named by Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, to ensure fairness and transparency in the transformation process.
According to Mr. Golding, the transformation exercise “is a matter of restructuring Government to be definitive in what it is about, efficient in what it does, less of a burden to the country’s taxpayers and a stepping stone, instead of a stumbling block to growth and development.”
It is obviously the most important development in the civil service, in terms of the effective recruitment and deployment of human resources, since the 1980s, and probably even more profound in light of the expected agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which appears to be focussing on more efficient use of public resources.
The development is so crucial to the OPM, that Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Patricia Sinclair McCalla, has been transferred to the Transformation Unit as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Chief Technical Director in the Cabinet Support and Review Unit, Ms. Onika Miller named acting Permanent Secretary.
The Planning and Development Division of the OPM was established to bring various agencies together in order to better co-ordinate planning and development.
The Division has four key units to carry out its mandate - Business Development Policy, Development Planning Policy and Strategy, Infrastructure Planning and Project Implementation, and Project Planning and Monitoring, which houses the Programme Management Office (PMO).
The PMO is involved with the downtown International Financial Services Centre, the Caymanas Economic Zone, and the Portmore ICT Park.
This Division is responsible for driving, facilitating and/or monitoring 18 development projects on behalf of the Prime Minister.
In keeping with the Prime Minister’s announcement on casino gaming, the Division provides ongoing support to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service in the development of a Casino Gaming Policy.
The Government is planning to introduce casino gaming through a proposed investment of US$6.8 billion in two gaming hotels - Harmony Cove and Celebration Jamaica. A study was undertaken to estimate some of the potential impact that gaming activity would have on the Jamaica economy. The casino projects are expected to generate, in total, some 33,332 jobs (8,333 direct jobs and 24,999 indirect).
A special Select Committee of Parliament has started considering the Casino Gaming Bill, as well as a raft of amendments proposed for the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission Act.
Under the CDF, Members of Parliament are required to hold regular consultations with constituents to determine their most pressing development needs. When these priorities are identified, the MPs develop a five-year plan for the constituency with projects and programmes, to be undertaken on a yearly basis, carefully documented.
A mandatory allocation of five per cent is set aside annually to respond to welfare and emergency issues, while another five per cent is reserved for addressing indigent housing needs. For 2009/10, MPs have been allocated $20 million, down from $40 million, due to budgetary problems.
Minister of State, Hon. Shahine Robinson, who has responsibility for the Fund, has given the Fund increased public relations exposure, through the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), in order to reduce ignorance about how it operates and concerns about the spending by the MPs.
This programme, referred to as ‘Fresh Start’, is a value-based programme supported by socio-economic interventions to drive thinking and behavioural changes, in order to trigger a transformation process for all Jamaicans.
The NTP has been communicating to the nation a message of hope, “that change is on the way, as clear action steps are being taken.”
Launched in July at King's House in Kingston by the Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, Fresh Start is a non-partisan initiative and is a partnership of the state, church, private sector and civil society. The NTP's focus is on moral, social and economic interventions and the inculcating of 12 select national core values and attitudes necessary for individual prosperity, community development and sustainable growth of the national economy.
National Director of the NTP, Rev.Al Miller, said he felt the nation was about to enter its "finest hour," but warned that the process of transformation was not easy.
This division has developed a Carbon Copy Trading Policy, in collaboration with the Ministry of Mining and Energy; facilitated consultation on a draft Biosafety Policy; prepared draft Beach Access and Management Policy; worked on a Coastal Resources Policy; participated in the development of the Wildlife Trade Policy, as well as submit an Environmental Stewardship Policy for Government Operations.
Work was also done on the Wastewater and Sludge regulations under the Natural Resources and Conservation Authority (NRCA) Act; Environmental Stewardship Policy; National Policy and Strategy for the Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes; and the development of a national programme for environmentally sound management of electrical and electronic waste (including mobile telephones and computing equipment).
During 2009, the JSIF continued its thrust of providing cutting-edge solutions to combat extreme poverty in local communities.
Among the Fund’s achievements in 2009 were the spending of $19 million on the Mid-Town Sanitation Project in West Kingston; $16.5 million on the Mount Salus Basic School in St. Andrew; and $32 million on the new Christiana Health Care Centre in Manchester.
A major initiative of OPM in 2009 was the Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEP), which the Government initiated to ensure that school leavers, at high school and tertiary levels, who demonstrate strong entrepreneurial spirit, would be able to benefit from training and access to financing for viable projects.
The Government provided $2 billion, through the DBJ, to fund loans to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. The DBJ made $1 billion available, through approved financial institutions (AFIs), to provide loans, ranging from a minimum of $500,000 to a maximum of $10 million. The DBJ also provided an additional $1 billion for loans to some 20,000 micro-enterprise operators.
The Prime Minister explained that in providing a "special wholesale window" for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Bank facilitates loans to these stakeholders for a maximum of five years, at an interest rate of 12 per cent per annum.
In 2009 the Institute continued work on its various projects, including the Labour Force Survey; the Consumer Price Index; and the Survey of Living Conditions.
The Institute also did establishment surveys on production, employment and earnings as well as three special projects - Reproductive Health, National Crime Victimisation Survey, and Inflation Expectation Survey.
STATIN has also focussed on contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with specific responsibility for data gathering for the Caribbean-specific targets, indicators and goals related to the measurement and monitoring of poverty, gender equality, child mortality, health education and environmental sustainability issues facing Jamaica.
Implementation of Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan, Jamaica’s first ever long term development plan, and the Medium Term Socio-Economic Framework (MTF) 2009-2012, which outlines the indicative programme or projects for the three-year period, was the primary focus of the PIOJ in 2009.
The PIOJ also continued to pursue its core functions, including giving policy advice to the Government, planning, research and publications, but also sought to engage multilaterals and secure concessionary rates to fund capital development projects.
Former Director General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wesley George Hughes, was appointed Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, effective September 1, 2009.
During the year, ODPEM increased partnerships with both public and private entities to increase its capacity to contribute more significantly to the country's disaster risk reduction efforts.
An example of the expansion of public sector collaboration was the PIOJ’s introduction of a sustainable development planning model, known as Threshold 21(T21), for the creation of a national spatial plan to guide and safeguard against the impact of natural disasters.
According to the PIOJ, the impact of hurricanes and tropical storms on Jamaica over the past 20 years amounted to some $99.25 billion, with some US$1.2 billion in losses over the last four years.
The ODPEM also teamed with Telecommunications Company, Digicel, to prepare the nation for the hurricane season. Representatives from both organisations confirmed their commitment to raise awareness of hurricane safety across the country, during the celebration of Hurricane Preparedness Month (June).
As part of the on-going programme of works to redevelop the city of Kingston, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) collaborated with the Kingston City Centre Improvement Company (KCCIC) to rehabilitate the St. William Grant Park, Parade, downtown Kingston, and to construct the bus park component of an Urban Transport Centre, between Port Royal Street and Water Lane, at the corner of Darling Street, downtown.
At St. William Grant Park, the works included the refurbishing of the bathrooms, completion of a sewage disposal system, landscaping, construction of perimeter walls, and the rehabilitation of the fountain.
Significant progress was also made in completing bus sheds, paved bus lanes and platforms at the bus park, which will consist of 49 bus bays, with the capacity to accommodate some 273 scheduled buses, daily. This will significantly alleviate the congestion now experienced in the Parade area.
On September 9, the National Housing Trust (NHT) announced initiatives to make loans more affordable and accessible for contributors. These policy changes demonstrated the Trust’s commitment to addressing the challenges its contributors face in buying their homes. These included: Short term lease for any qualified NHT contributor applying for a benefit in an NHT scheme, but who cannot find the difference between the price of the unit and the maximum sum that he is able to borrow from the NHT; combined loan for contributors applying jointly for a loan, that is, when two people join to buy a property, based on their individual incomes, they may each receive a maximum of $3.5 million in loan funds; and extension of the maximum repayment period for all loans, except the solar water heater loan.
The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) initiated a series of stakeholders’ consultations in 2009 to protect and preserve Kingston Harbour. This is the latest in a series of efforts to tackle the pollution problems in the harbour, which is the seventh largest natural harbour in the world.
The Agency, through its Ecosystems Management and Protected Areas Branches, is conducting parallel activities to protect the fragile ecosystem in the area, including the Palisadoes strip.
NEPA also served Enforcement Notices on the National Water Commission (NWC) for breaches of the Natural Resources Conservation (NRCA) Act. The Notices were served on November 30, 2009.