Realigning Government to achieve the 2030 Vision

There have been numerous voices calling for Prime Minister Bruce Golding to reshuffle his Cabinet in the New Year. Most, if not all, of these calls have been in the context of real or perceived poor performance by several Ministers. There is an old adage which says that organizations should not be designed to fit persons; rather that persons must fit within organizations. I would like to take a different approach therefore and recommend how the Prime Minister needs to realign the Government Ministries to better support the achievement of the 2030 Vision of Jamaica being the best place to live, work, raise a family and do business.

Why does Government Exist?
There have been many theories put forward over the years on the purpose and role of Government. There has also been much confusion within our own administrations on the role and purpose of Government. At the 2003 Government/Private Sector Summit at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, then PM Patterson had no definitive answer to PSOJ President Peter Moses when the latter asked the former to clarify the role of Government. At the recent Productivity Conference, current PM Golding said that if 1,000 public sector employees were asked about the roles and purposes of their respective organizations, chances are that very few identical responses would be forthcoming. The best definition that I have seen is that crafted by Thomas Jefferson et al and included in the United States constitution. It reads in part “…all men were created equally and were endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights – the right to life; the right to liberty and the right to the pursuit of happiness. It is in order to secure these rights that governments were created among men.” If we indeed accept this fundamental definition, then Government is really the premier human rights organization in Jamaica.

Translating Government Purpose to Broad Functions
We can then break down the securing of rights into various broad functions as follows:

1. Right to Life may be protected by effectively ensuring safety and security of every individual through the provision of external defence of the country and locally the protection of life and property

2. Right to Liberty may be protected by ensuring that Justice is administered effectively, efficiently and without any bias; and that human development opportunities are available and accessible to each and everyone

3. Right to the pursuit of happiness may be protected by the provision of An Enabling Economic Environment; Supportive Physical Infrastructure and Effective Sectoral Facilitation and Support.


Recomended Ministry Structure to undertake Broad Government Functions
In order to better align it to support the achievement of the 2030 Vision; Government must stick to its policymaking and regulating functions while providing facilitating and supporting services to organizations and individuals. Also, to set the tone for focus and efficiency in the entire public sector, I recommend the following Ministries:

1. Office of the Prime Minister – to include Planning, Development, Information & the Public Service

Safety and Security
2. National Security and Defence

Administration of Justice
3. Justice

Human Development
4. Health
5. Education, Youth, Culture
6. Labour and Social Security

Physical Infrastructure
7. Transportation and Works
8. Energy and Telecommunications
9. Water, Housing and Environment

Enabling Economic Environment
10. Finance
11. Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Investment

Sectoral Facilitation and Support
12. Tourism, Entertainment and Sports
13. Agriculture
14. Industry, Mining and Commerce


Assigning Ministerial Portfolios
The Prime Minister has, in addition to himself as per conventional wisdom, 31 other members of Parliament and 13 Senators from which to choose his Cabinet. The usual approach when a particular Minister is not performing is to transfer said person to a different portfolio; however its highly unlikely that such an underperforming Minister will fare better elsewhere. My personal belief is that underperforming Ministers need to return to the bank benches in the relevant house.

While I wanted to refrain from recommending Ministers for various posts, the fact is that our number one problem in Jamaica is crime; and while its long term solution is multi-faceted; short term solutions must emanate from the Ministry of National Security. We have tried Derrick Smith, Trevor McMillan and, for a short acting period, Dwight Nelson. None of the three have distinguished themselves with the Colonel being the most disappointing. Some commentators are calling for the Prime Minister to handle the portfolio while others are suggesting that Mayor McKenzie be placed in the Senate and given the job. I personally believe that the Prime Minister needs to think and act outside the box as tough times need tough decisions, and offer the Ministry to former Minister Peter Phillips. The Prime Minister must follow the lead of President-Elect Obama’s who has asked President Bush’s Defense Secretary Gates to continue. This would be a huge test of tolerance on both sides of the political divide. They are both asking the citizens to join hands, let them take the lead.

Copyright @ 2009 by Robert C. Wynter