Was it just me, or did a big chunk of Mark Golding’s budget speech in Jamaica sound like a PNP manifesto?  Elections are definitely in the air!  Here are highlights of the Opposition leader’s plans for education, crime and the economy.

Jamaica’s General Elections are constitutionally due by December 2025 so the Government can call them any time between now and then.

It was especially obvious this year that both party leaders were using their budget presentations to lay out their plans for the country.

Now I’ve already told you about the Prime Minister’s speech, so here are some of the highlights from Golding.

Number 1 – education

According to the Opposition Leader, developing human capital would be at the forefront of the PNP’s term in government. 

“The next PNP Government is committed to implementing measures to ensure that Jamaica’s human capital has the capacities and skills to participate competitively in a high value added environment,” Golding said.

Golding said the PNP’s approach to education would include investing in teachers, infrastructure, technology, and support for parents. 

He plans to prioritise early childhood and primary schools by raising standards, and eliminate literacy and numeracy gaps. 

He also wants to give teachers a break on their student loans, motor vehicle concessions, better access to NHT loans, AND priority for NHT houses. 

Number 2 – crime

Of course, one of the biggest issues any Jamaican government will face is crime. Well, Golding said they would revitalise the Peace Management Initiative and train violence interrupters to help lead the change.

This one has stirred up some controversy. The Peace Management Initiative started in 2004.  Its job was to ensure peace and stability, particulary in western Jamaica, by detecting and managing potentially explosive, criminal or violent situations and defusing conflict. 

Now, there is some confusion about the term “violence interrupters” and who they are. In his response to Golding’s presentation, the Prime Minister said…

“I’m not closing the door on something like the PMI… what we don’t want is any legitimatization of gang leaders to believe that they can pretend to be peacemakers,” the Prime Minister said.

But Social justice advocate Horace Levy told RJR news that… 

“The Prime Minister is mistaken in thinking that violence interrupters were criminals. They were not. Violence interrupters that we used in the Peace Management Initiative were never former criminals. They were upstanding people in the community, well respected. So it’s just not the case that violence interrupters were ex-criminals or that the PMI used ex-criminals or former criminals to be used as interrupters of violence. That was never the case.”

So first things first, we’d need some clarification as to who these ‘violence interruptors’ are, and the exact role they would play. 

Now number 3 is the PNP’s plan for the economy. 

Golding mentioned a couple of times that “need to transition Jamaica from a low-wage, low-productivity society”.

And for the PNP, that starts with strengthening food security.

That’s where SMART comes in.  SMART stands for Sustainable Management of Agriculture through Research and Technology. 

According to Golding, this would introduce climate-smart farming to boost productivity, and expand and repair farm roads.  They’d also partner with UWI and other technical institutions to do research.

The Opposition Leader said his Government would also focus on emerging industries like artificial intelligence  and the cultural and creative industries, to maximise Jamaica’s earning potential.

AI is booming right now, and the AI revolution is here to stay.  So investing in AI and AI training doesn’t sound like a bad idea. 

And Jamaica’s culture and creative industries are truly untapped, so the potential there is huge.