Jamaica Observer

JAMAICA’S political and private sector leaders have been urged to arrive at a consensus on the nation’s priorities before heading into the next election campaign.

The call came yesterday from chief executive officer of the Jamaica Observer Ed Khoury, who says politicians and business leaders are both at fault for not deciding on Jamaica’s most urgent needs and acting on recommendations to move the country forward.

“… We must first establish our national priorities after the necessary dialogue between government and civil society. then we must have a sign-off from both political parties and the private sector,” Khoury said.

“If we begin now we can work toward an election campaign in which competing parties present five-year development plans for national debate rather than continuing with the predictable rhetoric, crossfire platitudes and back-patting even as the social and economic indicators point in a different direction”, Khoury said.

Khoury, who was addressing a luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Kingston at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston yesterday, was reflecting on Jamaica’s progress as it approaches its 50th anniversary as an independent nation.

Acknowledging gains in areas such as education, life expectancy and physical infrastructure, the Observer boss noted that crime remains at unacceptable levels, and most university graduates have to migrate to find work.

He said while no two politicians seem to agree on Jamaica’s priorities, private sector leaders are just as divided and many have lost their “appetite for the national project”.