PM scoffs at view that Jamaica is headed in the wrong direction

By Clinton McGregor 

   

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the government is determined to improve efficiency in the public service by offering better wages to public sector employees.

 

Speaking at a National Housing Trust handing over ceremony in St. James, Mr. Holness recounted that in the early 1990s, the government of the day was forced to offer housing solutions to its workers because it had no money to improve their wages.

 

The Prime Minister challenged a recent national poll which showed that 58 per cent of respondents believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. 

 

"To those people who talk nonsense about the country not going in the right way and that nothing has changed in Jamaica, I urge them, before they open their mouth, in the information age, just go on Google. That was the situation 32 years ago. Today the government has allocated $200 billion to make the adjustment in public sector wages," he insisted, insinuating that more public gatherings were needed to "put things in context" and dispel widespread ignorance. 

 

"If it is not done quickly in the public service [it is as if] it's not done well, Mr. Holness lamented, suggesting that Jamaicans' penchant for speed dismisses the steady progress already made.