Foreword
Our nation-state was born out of the struggle of our people against British colonialism. A fight waged by Nanny, the world’s only female guerrilla fighter that defeated the British empire; the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Paul Bogle,Sam Sharpe,George William Gordon and continued with the brilliant lawyer and statesman, the Honorable Norman Manley, who is also responsible for the independence ...
PREAMBLE
The mission of the Jamaica Patriotic Movement (JPM) is to play a prominent role in the political discourse of Jamaica’s political life with the objective of creating a paradigm shift that will transform its economic and political sectors, and deepen democracy to benefit all citizens of Jamaica.
RATIONALE
The rationale for this movement is evident with the continuing deterioration of our cultural, economic and political life. The adoption of the neo-liberal model of development has only aggravated our small and semi-feudal society. We have over a half million of our citizens living as squatters. We are one of the most indebted countries in the world along with a spiraling murder rate, with no end ...
POLICY PRIORITIES
Principle 1 Renationalization of important economic sectors
Principle 2 Growing the economy
Principle 3 Self-sufficiency in food production
Principle 4 Affordable housing for ALL citizens
Principle 5 Manufacturing as a priority
Principle 6 Creation of more local tourism activities and opportunities
Principle 7 Training and employment of the youth
Principle 8 Health care for all
Principle ...
REVITALIZATION OF OUR ECONOMY
The economy is in desperate need of revitalization because our country’s economic decisions are charted not by our elected government, but by the powerful private sector with the IMF as the overseer. The IMF is the financial arm of the United States foreign policy, designed to assist with loans when countries are facing a financial crisis. The financial crisis usually is the result of the same ...
AGRICULTURE,A ENGINE OF GROWTH AND SELF SUFFICIENCY.
Agriculture is one of the main drivers in Jamaica’s economic growth. However, due to the underutilization and mismanagement of our natural resources and the lack of food security, we import over two billion U.S. dollars in food supplies, which constitutes a large part of our country’s expenditure. As a country with very lush, vegetated agricultural land surrounded by water, we must do a ...
HOME OWNERSHIP,A RIGHT FOR EVERY JAMAICAN.
Along with Agriculture, the other important economic and employment driver is Housing - construction of suitable housing for all citizens. However, there has always been a housing crisis in our country, with the population expanding and not enough homes being built to meet the increasing demands. Another reason for the housing crisis is private ownership of land. Prior to the enforcement of ...
MANUFACTURING
Our country’s manufacturing potential has been on a steady decline and much of its operation has been left in the hands of the private sector. Today, manufacturing plays second fiddle to tourism, thus creating an imbalance in trade which also negatively impacts other sectors of the economy. The lack of manufacturing impacts our foreign exchange earnings due to the constant devaluation of the ...
TOURISM
Tourism has in the past been a national priority and one of the sectors of the Jamaican economy that has flourished, leading to somewhat of an economic imbalance. Last year alone our country had an increase of approximately 6% in tourist visiting and revenue increased a whopping 12.1%. This is equivalent to about US$3 billion which is a large increase from the year before. With all that money ...
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Since the founding of our nation, Parliament has conducted its affairs with the use of a colonial constitution, which was formulated under the British colonial law. The constitution then became the premise of our judicial processes and administration. Our two major political parties have done nothing to amend the constitution to represent our national objectives, the majority of the afro- centric ...
THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF JAMAICA
The following will apply:
This body must be given the power to conduct elections without the interference of any political party.
It must be given a sufficient budget to operate with, which will include the employment of security personnel to ensure the free and fair conduct of peaceful elections throughout the Island.
A permanently fixed date must be set for both the General Elections and ...
THE JUDICIARY.
Our judicial system is a replica of our colonial master's design at the time to keep us within the commonwealth. Our independence gave us the right to govern ourselves using their legal construct as the basis. The tribal system was emanated from their legal structures to preserve the interest of the elites and their neo-colonial minded politicians. Our branches of governance are not independent ...
EDUCATION REFORMATION
We are advocating for a 21st-century education system that reflects the changing technological advancement and global education. The British system was and is still geared towards elitism - the education of a select few and the majority with substandard education, to satisfy the low wage pool. It has created an unfair division within our country and not focused on putting children first. ...
HEALTHCARE IS A HUMAN RIGHT
Our healthcare system is in dire straits and in its own state of emergency. There needs to be rapid reform in order to meet the needs of our people. The government must take the lead to ensure that our citizens’ medical care remains a top priority. The JPM’s emphasis will be on preventative care, beginning at the community level. All our citizens must have access to health care at a minimal ...
CRIME AND VIOLENCE
Crime and violence will be met with an ‘iron fist’ approach and all our police personnel must be equipped with the necessary tools to fight crime. Social intervention must be at the forefront. JPM supports the work of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI). The PMI is a community-based approach to conflict resolution. It has been working at the grassroots level to reduce violence and bring ...
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND PROTECTION
Our women traditionally have been assigned the role of housewives, baby mothers, and single parents with little assistance from the State. Michael Manley initiated an awareness when he challenged the status quo to pay more attention to women, especially our black mothers. He called for the removal of barriers to women’s plight and advocated for maternity leave with pay. This empowered our women ...
INDECOM
The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) is a civilian staffed state agency, tasked to undertake investigations concerning actions by members of the Security Forces and other Agents of the State, that result in death or injury to persons or the abuse of the rights of persons. JPM supports INDECOM and will promote its proper operation. We support this agency as a tool to stem the ...
FOREIGN POLICY
Our country currently lacks a national foreign policy. Our current government’s foreign policy is aligning itself with the policies of the Trump Administration, which goes against the grain of the United Nation’s Charter of non-intervention in sovereign countries; promotion of dialogue to resolve potential conflict and the support of a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue. Our policy ...
FINAL WORDS
Our manifesto is the result of experiences gained from past leaders and world experiences in addressing the needs of nations trying to achieve their maximum potential in an equitable fashion. We are standing on the shoulders of great men that left us directions and policies to work with.
Any realistic vision of changes must be based on the notion of the empowerment of our people Democracy means ...
