GENERAL SECRETARY of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Karl Samuda, says the two-year-old Bruce Golding administration is adamant that the remainder of the political term will be used to undo much of the damage wrought by the global economic mess that has plunged the country into unparalleled hardship.

Samuda's impassioned pronouncement to The Sunday Gleaner appears to be a precursor to the main address by Party Leader and Prime Minister Bruce Golding at today's public session of its annual conference.

"We are not intimidated by the past. We intend to challenge the future … . We are putting in place structures and programmes to propel us into the future, many of which the prime minister will speak to," said Samuda.

Signalling that the Government has big plans to be outlined by Golding today, Samuda added that the prime minister would speak to the fallout in foreign-exchange earnings.

"We are going to have to take steps to replace that fallout," he asserted. "The focus is to stabilise the economy."

recovery process

But the veteran politician was quick to warn that the recovery process would not be without severe pain and hardships.

The outspoken general secretary candidly conceded that the two years that the JLP has occupied Jamaica House have been fraught with hardship and uncertainties.

"I kid you not. It has not been a cakewalk; it's been like walking a gauntlet in every sense of the word," Samuda declared.

But even as he declared that unprecedented challenges had unleashed severe blows from all angles, Samuda boldly maintained that the Government was geared for a full-scale assault on the mounting problems.

"We are not allowing the past to cripple us … . Of course, we reflect on it to prevent a recurrence of past mistakes, but our focus is squarely on the future."

Samuda conceded that the spirit of hopeful hard-core loyalists, as well as on-the-fence supporters, had flagged over the past two years.

"Indeed, it has served to dampen the spirits of many of our supporters who had great hope in a quick recovery, but the financial meltdown has put paid to this."

Samuda said a highly energised JLP had stepped into office with hopes of making fundamental changes when the new Government was met with monumental obstacles.

"In keeping with our (campaign) promises, we began to honour our commitments in health and education the minute we took office, but we were not fully seized of what was to come," he admitted.

"What served to energise us is that fact - that we were challenged from the outset."

Samuda said a disgruntled People's National Party (PNP), which formed the Opposition, saw to it that the new government was not given the luxury of settling in.

Referring to the protracted dual-citizenship legal disputes, Samuda described them as disruptive and challenging attempts by the PNP to unseat some government members.

"Quite frankly, it (the dual-citizenship court battles) kept the Government off balance," Samuda said. "It was an extraordinary distraction … . They never gave us a chance to settle down properly."

Samuda told The Sunday Gleaner that it had an adverse effect on governance in general. "Apart from being disruptive, it preoccupied the minds of the members that they are headed back to the polls."

willing to snatch victory

Samuda charged that Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller was willing to snatch a victory through the courts despite her repeated claim that she would seek victory only through the electorate.

"So instead of having to devote time and energy to the economic conditions we inherited, we were distracted by campaign strategies."

Samuda said the wranglings with the PNP cost the party a fortune as it was forced to return to its financial backers soon after the general election.

In the face of the challenges, Samuda said the Government has put in place programmes to protect the poor and the vulnerable.

He cited the Government's move to subsidise the price of some basic food items; expansion of the Programme for the Advancement of Health and Education to reach an additional 130,000 Jamaicans; expansion of the school-feeding programme; advancing agriculture; and, facilitating the retooling of the manufacturing sector.

Samuda, who has ministerial portfolio for a multibillion-dollar investment project at Caymanas Estates, St Catherine, told The Sunday Gleaner that the pace of development was proceeding beyond the expectations of the Government.

2010 construction

Revealing that he would be meeting with the international investors this week, Samuda said given recent developments, it was likely that construction could start in 2010.

Illustrating the magnitude of the challenges over two years, Samuda said he entered his first meeting as minister and was greeted with the news that rice and cement were in short supply.

To make matters worse, Samuda said the global economic crisis tumbled menacingly on to local shores, wreaking havoc on everything in its path and eating up much-needed revenue, forcing the Government to cut back on critical expenditures.

Furthermore, he said, the Constituency Development Fund, which would help parliamentarians alleviate some of the difficulties faced in constituencies, had to be slashed in half, from $40 million to $20 million.

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com