In this section I will deal with certain issues related to truth, honesty and ethics. Both the Opposition Spokesman on Finance as well as the former Opposition Spokesman on Finance, who no longer is in this House, made reference to these points in their presentations. The Leader of the Opposition himself spoke about the way in which I have dealt with the matter of ethics of the business community. I feel it necessary that I should respond to these charges.

Mr Golding said in the introduction to his presentation:

"The Minister had a duty not only to acknowledge with absolute honesty and frankness the true state of affairs in the economy, but to explain how he got into this mess and what his Government intends to do to get us out of this ... Minister Davies did none of these things".

Mr Shaw at various points in his contribution demanded that I tell the truth to the people.

First Mr Golding in his analysis, argues that we must not seek to attribute our failures to forces beyond our control. In the 1970's we were told to blame imperialism, western capitalism, the IMF and the CIA. Today we are told that our difficulties are a result of globalization ... ?

Since Mr Golding is the one to have raised the issue of absolute honesty and frankness, is it that his memory is so selective that he would choose to look at the 1970s and the present day but not speak of the 1980s when we doubled our external debt with nothing to show in return. Is it that he is supportive of the policies pursued in thel980s? Is it that he still supports the off budget transactions that understated our external indebtedness? Is it that his memory remains so selective, despite his public claim that he has turned over a new leap

The Leader of the Opposition was bold enough to raise the issue of the burden of servicing the national debt. He states "by any measure, the size and impact of the national debt is now a crisis which is emerging at the top of our agenda of many crises." I am truly amazed by his boldness. Look who is talking about debt! Under his tenure, Jamaica was known internationally as a basket case in terms of its ability to service its debt. What else could one say about a country with an NIR of minus US$860 million.

But as I have indicated in this House, before the official debt figures as bad as they were, understated the real problem, in that we had borrowed additional sums off the books and we owed the private sector in terms of funds which had been committed to them in the auction. As to the auction, it was a fictitious invention as the two major companies needing foreign exchange had been taken out of the system and were settled off the books. Look who is talking about debt!

That's not all. We had sold overseas telephone earnings in advance to be repaid in the future. We had sold sugar in advance, we had also sold bauxite and alumina in advance. Look who is talking about debt! We owed AMEX, Marc Rich, Kaiser, Reynolds, Alcoa, Alcan and these sums were not recorded in the official debt tables.

Will Mr Golding claim that he knew nothing of these things and that the then Prime Minister and Minister of Finance kept him and the rest of the Cabinet out of the loop on the basis that these were complex matters?

In terms of the Opposition Spokesman on Finance, I am amazed that he could stand there and speak about truth and honesty. Is it that he has selective standards? How can he be a leading member of a party whose leader, time after time, has misled the country, concocting tales of imminent economic doom with no supporting documentation. Just a few months ago he proclaimed that the Government was about to enter into a new agreement with the IMF with all negotiations completed. I denied his assertion and asked that he put up or shut up. That story died.

In his presentation he claimed and here I quote:

"Government, decided at the last minute, based on information of an expected mass demonstration, to void a large tax package of an increase in GCT to 20%, increase in property tax and a $1.50 increase in the petroleum tax to help reduce the deficit. Instead, it opted to forego the GCT and property tax increases but doubled the petroleum tax increase to $3.00."

Even whilst he was speaking I challenged him, and rather than admit that he was wrong, he went further and asserted, on public radio and TV, that there was a meeting on the ni ht of Wednesday the 15th attended by the Prime Minister, the Commissioner of Income Tax and GCT and myself to bring about the changes. These claims amount to nothing but a fabrication. The country should expect better from someone who held the position of Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. It is time we stop playing games with the truth. I can prove that these assertions are not true and I hereby challenge the Leader of the Opposition. If he can produce one thread of evidence in support of his charges, my resignation as Minister of Finance will be submitted immediately, to the Prime Minister. If we hear nothing more from him, and I know we won't, the public can judge who speaks the truth.

I am aware that there is a deliberate attempt to demonize me as an enemy of the private sector, as someone who has personal vendettas to pursue. The extent to which such a position is distant from the truth is well known even with those against whom I have had to take action in my capacity as Minister of Finance. In fact, if I were guilty of anything, it would be of the charge made by some that I delayed too long in taking action and that I am afraid to speak about those acts of corruption which we have uncovered.

The Leader of the Opposition said "It is time to cut out the arrogance". Look who is talking about arrogance!! It must be that he could not understand the irony of him making such a statement. At the worst of times, no one can accuse me as saying "it is my way or the highway". Even at the worst of times, I have not demanded that anyone should "light a candle and sing a sanky ". Look who is talking about arrogance!

For those who believe that by attacking me personally the pursuit of wrongdoers, whoever they may be, will cease, are wrong. This is not a personal position, this is a position of the Administration. Furthermore, I would like to tell all those who attempt to carry this line, wherever they exist, that the vast majority of honest, hardworking people out there will not judge us lightly if they sense that we were trying to cover up acts of corruption. It is all too easy to speak in a vacuum about justice and equity but justice is not simply a hypothetical issue and it cannot be reserved only for the poor and the crimes they commit. We must pursue and punish wrongdoing, theft and corruption wherever it is seen. That is the basis on which a justice system will not only be proclaimed as fair but be seen to be fair.

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