The Challenges of Change

P.J. Patterson Budget Presentations 1992-2002

Edited by Delano Franklyn
Published: 2003

Percival Patterson has been the Prime Minister of Jamaica since March 20, 1992.

This book brings together all of Patterson’s annual budget presentations from 1992 to 2002. They contain the thoughts, views, projections and expectations of Patterson, from constitutional reform to the Party’s ideological moorings, to health, education, infrastructural undertakings to regional and international developments, and most importantly, the vision and type of society which he would like to create. They also represent the programmes and the policies of the Government and the agenda which guided the Government through the budget year.

These budget presentations should be understood not just simply as the pragmatic exercise that they are, but also as a demonstrable method of communicating with the Jamaican people. They are essential reading for those involved in the area of public policy as well as for anyone interested in the national development of Jamaica.

“These speeches betray a fixity of purpose, a continuity of effort and a genuine capacity to respond pragmatically to the challenge of change.”

Professor the Hon. Rex Nettleford

Vice Chancellor, The University of the West Indies