Paul Taylor, Contributor

Auto mechanics in training at HEART Trust, Newport. - File

An examination of the state of Jamaica's development over the years since independence reveals some very important achievements along the path to the creation of a better quality society. Institutions such as the HEART/NTA, the National Housing Trust, the Urban Development Corporation and the Port Authority of Jamaica have played a seminal role in the continued development of our people.

In spite of these achievements, we still need to do much more to help our people achieve their full potential, because this is what development is all about.

Unleashing potential

Development is concerned with the unleashing of human potential; the empowerment of people to fashion the quality lives they want through their own creative effort and endeavour. Development is about people and placing them at the centre of our concerns.

After 46 years of Independence, we owe it to ourselves to define the kind of Jamaica we want to bequeath to our children and theirs.

We must decide that we want to make this 'little-piece-of -rock' the best place to live. For, let's face it, we are an indomitable people. Our talents are innumerable and we do possess the creative capacity to transform ourselves, to learn from the failing of the past and embrace the hopes and aspiration that the future affords.

Each of us, across the length and breadth of this country, must rekindle our latent talents, imagination and energies. We need to capture anew the sense of country and love for our brothers and sisters across this land.

The spate of crime and violence now gripping our shores must be halted. And even as we grapple with the global challenges of rising oil and commodity prices, as reflected in the general economic turbulence with which our major trading partners must contend, we must not lose hope.

But, as United States presidential hopeful Barack Obama puts it, we must ask the Almighty to "guard us against pride and despair". We must engage our brains to begin creating the changes we require to enhance the quality of life of all our people.

VISION 2030 Jamaica

It is within this context that the work of the Millennium Institute, the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the Office of the Prime Minister and the other relevant interest groups in fashioning Vision 2030 Jamaica must be located and embraced.

Vision 2030 Jamaica represents a strategic response to Jamaica's current development challenges. It is a 25-year national development plan which is expected to put the country on a path to achieving developed country status by the year 2030. It is an ambitious plan which gives us the opportunity to visualise, name, stake out and create the quality society we want.

At its core, Vision 2030 Jamaica seeks to put 'people' at the centre of Jamaica's transformation, for as has been noted elsewhere in this paper, development is about people.

Thus, Vision 2030 Jamaica is concerned with "making Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business".

Akin to this vision are four clearly defined national goals, which are in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. These are:

A society empowered to achieve it fullest potential

A safe, cohesive, orderly and just society

A prosperous economy

Development in harmony with the natural environment.

Alongside these national goals, a number of specific national outcomes have been developed.

Accordingly, when, as a country, we will have achieved the national outcomes outlined, we will not only have achieved the national goals we want, but realise the vision of Jamaica being the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

A number of strategic priorities have been identified as critical elements in fulfilling the goals of Vision 2030 Jamaica. These strategic themes have been developed to give priority attention to key areas of national development, such as the development of our human resources, health, science, technology and innovation; effective governance; environmental sustainability; international competitiveness; and safety and security.

Of note, too, is the fact that Vision 2030 Jamaica represents a marked improvement on the country's planning process, making it more structured, integrative and holistic.

Vision 2030 Jamaica gives planners the availability to steer the developmental process over the medium to long term, and so encourage a culture of continuity across political administrations.

This planning process allows for timely and adequate resource planning to support the implementation of strategies. It also enables the incorporation of structured management systems, such as the increased utilisation of strategic project management, to support the achievement of national outcomes.

NATIONAL CONSENSUS

Indeed, Vision 2030 Jamaica provides opportunity for us to come together to fashion the Jamaica we want to live in in 2030.

The engagement of citizens at home and abroad, coupled with effective civil society and public-private sector partnerships in this regard, will encourage the participation of all organs of our society in the process of national development.

This coming together of all of us will facilitate consensus building, which will positively impact the development of social capital in the country. For we urgently need to create a society where dialogue becomes the currency of debate and the medium for the building of national collegiality.

The process of nation building requires all hands on deck. It also requires us to bring our creative ideas and solutions to the fore to the address our country's developmental concerns and charting the course towards the society we want.

By envisioning the kind of society we want to live in, and working together to realise this objective, we advance the process of national development. Through this process of working together, we can plan the future with imagination and wisdom.

Moreover, having defined a shared vision, we can then establish goals and objectives around which we can coalesce.

This as we will have created a meaningful context to guide collective action, as well as define and highlight the value of our respective role and contribution in achieving the overarching mission of making "Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business".

Paul Taylor is a management consultant and graduate student. He may be reached at palt_a@hotmail.com. Send feedback also to columns@gleanerjm.com.