Jamaica is seen by many as a land of samples. We cannot maintain a good product consistently and over a long time. That is a view that some have of us. Another negative view of us is that we are a people who love to applaud announcements rather than await the end product. As I listened to this year's Budget Debate and heard the many announcements, my mind flashed back to several announcements made in previous years.

I was forced to ask myself: What has become of these announcements? Why have there been no reports on them this year? Is it that our leaders believe that we have short memories and are incapable of even remembering a few of them?

Our leaders who share such beliefs are correct. They have assessed that the Jamaican media and commentators are unlikely to do the research and raise questions about the failure of our political leaders to be true to their word. Where the American media will dig up and present the prior statements, promises and comments of their politicians, our media do not appear to have the stomach for such exposé.

give us an update

Last year, in his Budget speech, the prime minister told the nation that "7,000 new rooms would be built over the next two years, with total expenditure for this year of US$157 million". Not a word was said in this year's Budget Debate as to whether any of these rooms had been built. We were also told of agreements secured for another 6,000 rooms to be built in connection with the granting of casino licences. The Government owes it to the nation to give us an update, since we were so happily applauding these announcements when made.

Last year, the prime minister spoke on April 22. One week before he spoke, former minister of finance, Omar Davies, in his contribution to the Budget Debate, said the following: "Whatever the case may be, the fact is that the US economy is in trouble and our plans for growth and economic expansion must formally take this into consideration." These comments got no applause. They were seen as sour grapes and very little, if any, attention was paid to them then. In fact, the ministers of finance and tourism assured the nation that Jamaica could very well benefit from the global recession. The prime minister indicated that he did not expect remittances to be affected either. Today, remittances are down by 16 per cent. The players in the financial market knew it would have happened. Naïvety and stupidity are not qualities accepted by the market. Devaluation of the dollar accelerated, and interest rates soared to over 20 per cent. That was the market's response.

In this year's Budget, the Government has to find an extra $35 billion to pay the cost for the high interest rates because the Government did not take Davies' words of wisdom seriously. Today, we are paying for this additional interest-rate cost by way of the Government's large tax package.

There are those who now celebrate and applaud the $24 billion tax measures as equitable. I beg to disagree with them. I prefer to applaud the following comments made by Prime Minister Bruce Golding in 2006 when he was opposition leader. Then, he said: "Last year, we made clear that we would oppose a gas-tax increase as part of an energy policy. If higher gas prices were capable of reducing consumption, the increased cost of oil over the last two years would have done that. It did not. I know of no country where increased gas tax is used as a tool to stimulate economic development." If in 2006 the economy could not be stimulated by a gas tax, what will make that gas tax do the trick in 2009 when stimulation is surely needed?

Another announcement that has been applauded by some is the wage freeze against public-sector workers. The Government chose to change the rules in the middle of the game against workers. However, they will not do the same against those who invest in government papers. In 2006, speaking in the Budget Debate, Golding said the following: "The workers cannot be made the perennial burden bearers. If sacrifices are to be made, they have to be shared. If workers are to compress their wage demand, management must also compress their earnings."

between a rock and a hard place

Thanks to the computers, we can recall past words of our leaders much more easily. In 2006, speaking in the Budget Debate, Golding, in pursuit of power, spoke about the public-sector workers' salary. He said then: "... No one must discount or undervalue the sacrifices made by the workers. The MOU left them 30-40 per cent poorer than in 2000! How much poorer must they be called upon to become?" Then, he added: "The Government must be warned. The leadership of the trade unions has been placed between a rock and a hard place. It is their leadership, sometimes swimming against the current of the rank and file they represent, that made the first MOU possible.

"Do not take them for granted because they dare not take their membership for granted. It is evident that the consensus among the bargaining units which led to the first MOU is under stress and has begun to unravel. The prime minister needs to intervene now or else not even she will be able to put it back together."

Indeed, these are words worthy of applause. Missing are the deeds to make them real.

Now, Prime Minister Golding needs to applaud his own announcements - those he made in 2006.

Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers' Union and may be contacted at labpoyh@yahoo.com or columns@gleaner.com.