Recently, Richard Byles, leading private sector member, in an address to the Jamaica Institute of Engineers claimed that the last time Jamaica had an economic plan was in the 1950s and '60s when we had an import-substitution plan and he now misses us not having one. According to Byles, the missing plan is at the heart of our economic woes.

However, import-substitution is a policy position or an objective in a plan but it is not a plan. A plan for a country ought to have a vision statement of what is the ultimate ideal, and a mission statement of how those goals will be achieved. These goals should be credible, understandable and exciting. It should have a situational analysis and address issues of resource allocation and how to maximise economic growth and development.

If import-substitution were a plan, then the industrial policy of the 1990s, in which Professor Donald Harris of Stanford fame had a hand, would have been a plan. There was even a boast that the 'plan' would have generated an average of six per cent economic growth annually. Furthermore, the 343-page Vision 2030 Strategic Plan authored by the PIOJ is a plan which seeks to make "Jamaica, the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business".

Another problem

That Byles was unaware of this plan or forgot about the plan, highlights another problem with our economic crisis. If Byles is indicative of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), it means that our private-sector leaders are not as aware as one might have thought, and it might be indicative that the citizenry might also be unaware of the plan. Professor Harris' recent articles in The Gleaner showed that the Industrial Policy was poorly executed. The problem is not lack of a plan but poor implementation.

Another problem that is stifling economic growth is the colonial mentality of leaders who feel a sense of entitlement and desire to be treated as foreigners, and leaders who feel that they are not accountable to the citizens and more answerable to foreign powers. Recently, this point was reinforced as I watched Talk TV where an eloquent and knowledgeable Ugandan was talking about Uganda in 2007 and you would believe that he was describing Jamaica in 2009. We need to change course or we will end up like Uganda. We need to learn from the mistakes of other countries and adopt their best and successful practices.

Blank cheque

The colonial entitlement mentality needs to change. In other words, the Jamaican economy cannot afford providing Cabinet and civil servants with free housing. Persons should be paid a salary and use their money to buy or rent a house. Nobody knows the cost of housing and transporting the executive, advisors, consultants and government agents. It is like a blank cheque. Members of Parliament, political parties etc., who are entitled to duty concession vehicles need to understand that the economy cannot support these waivers. In addition, Jamaica cannot be undergoing the worst economic downturn, and the two largest banks making $28 billion between them.

How comes the manufacturing and other sectors are under so much pressure while those who push paper make such huge profits? It is due to the wide spread between savings and loan rates - the widest in the world, save Guyana - and the wide spread in foreign currency trading rates and the exorbitant fees. Extracting the most taxes and fees from the locals is a colonial mentality that continues to ruin us.

Richard Byles misses that there is a plan, and missed the poor implementation of the plans and the colonial mentality among our leaders.

Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church and author of Rebellion to Riot: The Church in Nation Building. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com