My Two Cents » Restructuring the Economy – Part 4 : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

Restructuring the Economy – Part 4

As I continue to look at the area of restructuring the economy I mention briefly a few areas of consideration. First the government needs to look at its use of real estate. The government owns many properties which are empty or underutilized while at the same time it is paying rent for other premises which it occupies.

Secondly, it is time to implement the recommendations of the energy audit in order to save costs as well as much needed foreign exchange. Many offices are inefficient when it comes to electricity usage and action needs to be taken now. At the same time attention should be paid to how the departments can cut their telephone and water costs. Many government agencies hire consultants for various services, these contracts should be reviewed in order to be sure that they are not for services that the agency staff should be doing.

Consideration should also be given to buying insurance for schools, hospitals, police stations, etc. When disasters occur there is often no money to effect repairs and the cost of replacement is much higher than what the premiums would have been. It may be more cost effective to insure some of the most vulnerable/essential areas of government.

Too much money is wasted on road repairs due to improper planning. The same road is often dug up and repaved three or four times by different government agencies. Whenever the road is to be dug up all agencies should be contacted to ensure that all work is done so that the road only has to be repaired once. In addition more attention needs to be paid to the work of the contractors who fix the road. Often within a few months the road has started to sink or the repairs have washed loose and another contract is issued to repair the road. There needs to be more supervision and enforcement of the repairs to the road to ensure that the work is done properly.

There are many other areas of savings. My aim here is not to criticize the government but to encourage them to look for those areas of saving which are so badly needed at this time.

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3 Responses to “Restructuring the Economy – Part 4”

BOB says:

December 17, 2009 at 10:51 pm

HERE IS MY TWO CENTS WORTH ON THIS PART..
AS FOR ELECTRICITY.. JAMAICA ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH SUNLIGHT THAT WE COULD HARNEST TO USE TO POWER SAY 20 TO 40 PERCENT OF ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICES!.. THERE IS NO NEED FOR ELECTRIC LIGHTS IN THE DAY TIME.. ALL THEY HAVE TO DO TO CORRECT THAT .. IS TO INSTALL LARGE WINDOWS.. THAT BRING IN NATURAL SUNLIGHT..
AS FOR THE PHONE.. THEY MUST MAKE SURE THAT ALL PHONE BILL ARE CHECKED FOR PERSONAL CALLS . AND CHARGE THE EMPLOYEES FOR IT.. MAKE USE MORE OF EMAILS..

CONSULTANTS SHOULD BE HIRED ON TWO BASIS.. HOURLY.. OR ON A WEEKEND TO CONDUCT SEMINAR TO TEACH THOSE WHO ARE IN THESE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HOW TO PERFORM THEIR JOBS.. THE CONSULTANTS SHOULD NEVER HAVE DEDICATED CONTRACTS.. BECAUSE THEN YOU WONDER WHAT THOSE WORKERS ARE REALLY DOING THEN!….

ON THE INSURANCE POLICY.. YOU REALLY SHOCK ME..
I THOUGHT THAT SUCH WAS THE NORM THAT THOSE ENTITIES WERE INSURED!… I AGREE WITH YOU 100%.
ON THE ROAD ISSUE.. THIS IS WHY ALL THOSE WHO HAVE TO DIG UP THE ROADS.. THERE SHOULD BE ONE MINISTRY THAT COVER ALL OF THOSE ENTITIES… SO THAT CAN BE A BETTER COORDINATION ON WHAT ID TO BE DONE… SAY THE MINISTRY OF UTILITIES.. THAT SHOULD COVER ROAD SEWER, LIGHT, WATER , AND PHONE.. THAT MEAN ANY OF THOSE ENTITIES SEEKING TO DO ANY WORK.. THEY HAVE TO SUBMIT THEIR PLAN.. THE MINISTRY CONTACT ALL OTHER AGENCIES I NAMED AND TELL THEM WHEN ANS WHERE WORK IS TO BE DONE .. SO THEY CAN DO THEIR ASSESSMENT AND SEE IF THEY NEED TO EFFECT ANY REPAIRS OF NEW PROJECT.. SOME TIMES SOME PROJECT HAVE TO BE HELD BACK .. BECAUSE THE OTHER ENTITIES WILL HAVE TO DO WORK IN THE SAME LOCATION. BUT THEY WONT BE READY BEFORE THE NEST 3 MONTHS… WHICH SHOULD BE THE MAX.. TO HOLD UP A PROJECT….

THERE MUST BE A CERTAIN GUARANTEE GIVEN TO THE GOVERNMENT BY ALL CONTRACTORS WHEN THEY SIGNED A CONTRACT TO WORK ON WHATEVER THE CONTRACT SAID.. THAT MEAN NO” MORE SHOULD THE TAX PAYERS BE PAYING FOR SOMETHING THEY ALREADY PAID FOR … THE BUREAU OF STANDARD SHOULD BE GIVEN THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE SURE IT SUPERVISED AND INSPECT THE WORK AND PASS THEM .. BEFORE THE FINAL CHECK IS WRITTEN TO THE CONTRACTORS… THE BUREAU MUST CHECK AND APPROVED THE QUALITY OF MATERIAL AND WORKMANSHIP TOO…
nakeisha says:

December 19, 2009 at 3:29 pm

It’s the first I’m seem this blog, but some of your suggestions are exactly what I have in mind, especially about the expensive rents that the government is paying uptown while their office spaces downtown are empty. There are a myriad of ways that the country can be taken out of this hole, without hanging people with this high taxation. But we need a way for the powers that be to listen to us, because nobody seems to be listening. And things are getting more out of control!
High Yield Savings Account says:

December 21, 2009 at 7:13 pm

Not sure if I agree but I need to do some research on my own. Well written article for sure though.