THE EDITOR, Sir:
LET ME be one of the many to offer my congratulations to the new Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller. I wish her all the best, and may her abundant faith in the Almighty help her on this journey on which she now embarks.
That said, if the PNP emerges victorious in the next general election, I do hope that Mrs. Simpson Miller will decide to put her stamp on the next government and it will not be a number of the same old faces that we now see. I also hope that the Government will become streamlined. Do you need to have a Foreign Trade Ministry separate from a Commerce Ministry (even if the latter is part of the Technology and Industry Ministry)?
One of Philip Paulwell's duties is to announce to everyone that some multinational corporation's back office operation has selected Jamaica to set up shop. That's a business decision. The closest science and technology has to do with it is whether the computer lines will be DSL or T1 and probably the amount of electricity the entity will consume in its operations. Appoint a scientific adviser to the PM instead.
Another bold move would be to scrap the individual Parish Councils and go to a County Council format. Each county would then appoint a commissioner who would prepare a budget request and submit it to the Finance Ministry for approval. That does away with the Local Government Ministry.
Mrs. Simpson Miller, you are going to get the opportunity to leave your mark on Jamaican society. Let it be one to be proud of.
I am, etc.,
TREVOR DAWES
trevordawes@earthlink.net
McDonough, Georgia
Via Go-Jamaica
