History of previous development planning in Jamaica

Jamaica has embarked upon the preparation of a 25-year National Development Plan - Vision 2030 Jamaica, which is expected to put the country on a path to achieve developed country status by the year 2030.

The Plan is based on a comprehensive vision to ‘make Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business;’ and on Guiding Principles which put ‘people’ at the centre of Jamaica’s transformation. Several Strategic Priorities have been identified as critical elements in fulfilling the objectives of the plan.

An innovative and dynamic planning model, Threshold 21 (T21) – Jamaica, which is built on the System Dynamics methodology, has been customized by the Millennium Institute and the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), as the quantitative tool to guide the preparation of Vision 2030 Jamaica.

Among its many positive attributes the model brings a more coherent, collaborative, efficient and transparent approach to the process of national development planning. As a quantitative planning tool it supports the integration of economic, environmental and social elements of the society; and provides scenarios of future long term outcomes and project consequences of different strategies across a range of indicators. In addition, it will enable planners to trace causes of changes in any variable or indicator back to the assumptions.

Against this background, the Plan will:

• be comprehensive and cohesive;
• involve participation of key stakeholders;
• build on previous achievements: and
• incorporate lessons learned from previous initiatives.

The Plan is being developed with broad-based support across every strata of the society. The PIOJ, in its role as the main planning agency in Jamaica, is leading and facilitating this collaborative process, incorporating the support from private sector groups, civil society and in the Diaspora. Initially, a number of Task Forces, each comprising experts in the respective fields, charged with the development of sector strategic plans, and a Plan Advisory Group (PAG) consisting of industry leaders, academia, as well as leaders from various sectors will support the work of the PIOJ.

The draft plan will be tabled in the House of Parliament in April 2008, following which there will be further island wide consultations, prior to its finalisation.

History of previous development planning in Jamaica

Since 1955, Jamaica has had a series of Five-Year Development Plans, the last one undertaken being for the period 1990 – 1995. Subsequently, priority policies of Government have been embodied in the National Industrial Policy and in a series of 3-year roll-over Medium Term Policy Framework (MTF) which articulated the Government’s socio-economic policies, anchored in the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).

With the emergence of a focus on sustainable development, policy making has, in recent years, adopted a more integrated and participatory approach. Since the preparation of the last Five-Year Plan (1990-1995), the impact of the reform efforts of the 1990s, as well as the rapid process of globalization, resulted in far reaching changes in the structure of the Jamaican economy. With these changes, the existing planning and economic models became increasingly limited in scope as they could not adequately reflect the new structural reality.

Major weaknesses of previous development plans:

• Short term in horizon, and thus not strategically focused for long term development
• Weak synergies existed between targets, indicators, and budget
• Lack of timely and adequate resources to support implementation
• Ineffective implementation & monitoring framework
• Limited buy-in and ownership by the society
• There was limited involvement by non-state actors resulting in their non ownership of the process

Vision 2030 Jamaica will incorporate the positives of the past by adopting the monitoring and implementation framework which established indicators and targets, with the 2004-2007 MTF.

THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Vision 2030 Jamaica is based on the Guiding Principles listed below.

• Jamaica’s transformation must have PEOPLE at the centre of its development.
• Transformation should be directed by an over-arching VISION for the society, buttressed by strong, extra-ordinary LEADERSHIP and guided by a cohesive and comprehensive development PLAN.
• Sustainability – integrating economic, social and environmental issues
• Fostering balanced development in rural, urban and regional areas
• Equity – ensuring that the Plan facilitates equality of opportunity and equal rights
• Social cohesion and partnerships

These Guiding Principles prioritize the elements which are absolutely critical for enhancing the quality of life of all Jamaicans and for the country’s achievement of world class standards in specific or predetermined areas.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
In order to achieve developed country status, Vision 2030 Jamaica will give priority attention to the following key areas of national development:

• Developing Human Resources
• Effective Governance
• Environmental Sustainability
• Gender, Culture & Values
• Health
• Infrastructure
• International Competitiveness
• Law & Order
• Population
• Regional Development
• Science, Technology & Innovation
• Social Protection

THE PLANNING PROCESS...
The approach to national planning for Vision 2030 Jamaica is three-pronged:

1. A Planning Model which is responsive to the structure of the economy and facilitates assessment of a multiplicity of policy options
2. Preparation of a long term National Development Plan for which the Model would be the quantitative tool
3. A more structured approach to collaboration

How will the model and the plan be integrated?

The diagram below indicates the integration of T21 Jamaica and the National Plan:

Having decided on a vision and the Key goals, this model can generate scenarios of future consequences of the different strategies that may be pursued to achieve our vision.

THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

The PIOJ

The PIOJ is solely responsible for the timely preparation, articulation and monitoring of the National Plan. This will be undertaken by:

1. A Plan Development Unit (PDU) established within the office of the Director General to ensure the development of the model and the preparation of the National Plan
2. The officers of the PIOJ will undertake the role of technical secretaries to the task forces by providing technical, administrative and logistical support

Plan Advisory Group(PAG):
A Plan Advisory Group (PAG) has been established to provide strategic guidance, national perspective in the formulation of the Plan, and to champion support for the process among the private sector and civil society groups. The PAG is chaired by a private sector leader and its membership is drawn from private-public sector and civil society having a range of professional disciplines.

Task Forces:
Thirty (30) predetermined task forces covering all major sectors of the economy have been established.

1. Representatives on these have been drawn from sector ministries, other relevant public sector bodies, the private sector, civil society and International Development Partners (IDPs); each task force is being co-Chaired by Public/Private sector representatives.

The Task Forces will:

1. Support the Plan Advisory Group
2. Develop sector plans which will be integrated within the overall plan
3. Initiate dialogue and consultation at all levels of the society

The proposed Organizational Chart for the Plan Development Process is elaborated in the figure below.

PROPOSED ORGANISATIONAL CHART FOR PLAN PREPARATION

NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS

• Public consultations will take place right across the society, during development and once the draft plan is completed
• Supporting this process will be a launch, website for information dissemination and feedback both nationally and in the Diaspora, meetings and discussions at the community levels and with special interest groups
• Public consultations will also draw upon Ministries and sector agencies with portfolio responsibility to articulate and clarify the sector plans

TIMEFRAME

• The draft Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan is expected to be prepared over a 1-year period (January 2007 – March 2008).
• This draft Plan will be tabled in the House of Parliament in April 2008.
• The final Plan will be completed after island wide consultations on the draft.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION
A dedicated multi-sectoral core group of technical experts from a wide cross section of the country will be engaged in:

• ensuring the execution of the plan
• ensuring the effective alignment of resources to achieve the desired results
• reviewing indicators for tracking performance
• recommending adjustments as justified by national and external imperatives
• scheduled reporting to Cabinet/Parliament