General Articles

General Articles

Land
– The lands of Jamaica are limited and must be optimally utilized.
– All land shall be codified for use as residential, commercial, agricultural or 
   forest, and gazetted. Any change in use of agricultural land shall require a 2/3
   vote of the Parliament
– All un-titled land shall be property of the Government of Jamaica
– Unclaimed land shall become the property of the Government of Jamaica after
   10 years

Unclaimed Assets
-All unclaimed assets shall become property of the Government of Jamaica after
   10 years

Community
– A community of 1,000 – 2,500 individuals that is not part of a Municipality shall
   be called a village and shall be defined by specified geographic boundaries
– A village shall elect a Community Council Executive (President, vice-president,
   secretary and treasurer) every 4 years.
– The name of the community and its Executive shall be gazetted in the Jamaica
   Gazette.
The Community Council Executive shall be responsible for the good governance of the community, ensure the welfare of every member of the community consistent with the laws of Jamaica, establish community-based organizations that are known to enhance the welfare and optimal development of community members. These include sports clubs, music clubs, agricultural societies…. (See Institutions Necessary for the Welfare and Optimal Development of the Jamaican person – Roles and Responsibilities.)

– The Government of Jamaica shall ensure the establishment of basic and
   primary schools within each village, and provide access to secondary schools,
   skills training facilities, and at least one community college within 4
   contiguous villages.
– The Government of Jamaica shall establish community institutions in each
   village, or provide easy access within 4 contiguous villages to health clinic,
   library, welfare office, cooperative agriculture office, diaspora relations office.
– The Government of Jamaica shall provide budgetary support for the
   institutions and community-based organizations in each village.
– Every village shall have access to agricultural land at a distribution of 5
   assigned acres per household for the purpose of cooperative farming of
   designated crops.

Agriculture

– The Government of Jamaica shall ensure the establishment of a system of
   village farming cooperatives, incorporated under the laws of Jamaica, with the
   principals as owners of property.
– The Government of Jamaica shall facilitate the establishment of infrastructure
   such as roads, irrigation systems, and crop-specific machinery and equipment
– The Government of Jamaica, in consultation with agriculturists, shall facilitate 
   the establishment of a system of crop selection, crop rotation to optimize land use and yield, distribution of farming supplies and resources, reaping, collection and storage
– The Government of Jamaica shall facilitate the establishment of local and
   international markets on an ongoing basis to ensure optimal consumption of
   agricultural produce
– The Government of Jamaica shall facilitate the establishment of entities to
   create value-added products from agricultural produce, and to facilitate their
   marketing and distribution.

Housing
– Every Jamaican is entitled to adequate housing. No Jamaican shall be un-
   domiciled. The Government of Jamaica shall ensure the establishment of
   agencies, public and private, to provide financial and material assistance in the
   establishment of housing for established families, at the rate of not more than
   3 persons per bedroom, on land codified as residential and prepared with the
   essential infrastructural necessities of adequate water systems, roads and
   centralized energy source for a community of not less than 1000 persons.

Education

– Every Jamaican citizen shall receive early childhood, primary, secondary and
   post-secondary education with certification in skills training and business
   studies and entrepreneurship in 3 marketable technical skills, a college or a
   university certificate or degree.
– Every Jamaican shall receive education in reading, writing and speaking of the
   English language as part of the education curriculum, commencing in early
   childhood.

– Every Jamaican must, by adulthood (age 18 years), receive knowledge, training
   and education necessary to

o compute numbers, fractions, mathematical symbols, operations and
   accounting required to operate a business enterprise
o perform a minimum of 2 trades proficiently.
o stimulate creative expressions – audible, visual, tactile, olfactory or gustatory –
   for beneficial modifications or enhancements of the lived environment
o exhibit norms of citizenship (behaviours) necessary for harmonious operation
   of a modern, civilized society

– The Government of Jamaica shall ensure the establishment of sufficient
   numbers of institutions necessary for the training of teachers, healthcare
   professionals, police officers, agricultural officers and other professionals
   essential for optimal functioning of Government institutions and essential
   services agencies.

 Wages

– The employees of Government of Jamaica shall be salaried above the 75th
   percentile of salaries in Jamaica.

Minimum Wage
– A Minimum Wage at or above which all citizens shall receive pay shall be
   established by majority vote of the Parliament of Jamaica every 2 years.

Taxes
– All citizens who earn a living wage equal to or greater than the Minimum Wage
   shall pay a minimum of 25% and not greater than 35% of said wages to the Tax
   Administration of Jamaica for the purpose of managing the operations of the
   Government of Jamaica
– Corporations shall pay a minimum of 25% and not greater than 35% of gross
   income to the Tax Administration of Jamaica for the purpose of managing the
   operations of the Government of Jamaica
– Verifiable notification of all citizens and corporations shall precede all
   enforcement and collection actions by the Government of Jamaica.

Environment
– The Government of Jamaica shall ensure maintenance of the environment,
   land, water, air and sea, their ecosystems and biodiversity, establish and
   maintain a system with regular updates of criteria that govern intended human
   activities, and maintain a registry of assessment of the environmental impact
   of all human activities

Health

– The Government of Jamaica shall establish a system of well-equipped primary,
   secondary and tertiary health care facilities with emergency services that
   provide access to emergency care within 15 minutes of notification, healthcare
   maintenance and disease prevention services for all Jamaicans.
– The Government of Jamaica shall facilitate the establishment and maintenance
   of convalescent and long-term care facilities within 4 contiguous villages.

Political Parties
– Registration with Electoral Commission
– Organizational hierarchy to include President, Vice-President, secretary,
   treasurer, and a membership of not less than 100 citizens of adult suffrage
– Full financial disclosure, at registration and annually.

Elections
– National General Elections to elect the President, Vice-President and Members
   of Parliament of Jamaica shall be held on the 28th day of February every 5
   years. The national elections for Parish Council Representatives (Local
   Government Elections) shall be held on the 28th day of February every 4 years.
– The results of all elections shall be made public by the Electoral Commission
   within 1 week of the close of the elections.
– Transition of powers of all elected officials shall commence within 2 days of
   the formal public announcement of election results, and shall be completed in
   60 days.
– By- elections shall be held within 90 days of vacancy of all elected positions of
   the Government of Jamaica

Term Limits
– All elected members of the Government of Jamaica shall serve a maximum of 3
   terms, of no more than 5 years each.
– All appointees to Government service shall serve for no more than 7 years, but
   may be re-appointed for no more than 7 years upon re-application.

Recall
– All Members of Parliament and Parish Councillors shall be subject to a recall
   vote within the respective constituency/jurisdiction, upon the delivery of
   20,000 signatures from a canvas of registered voters of the
   constituency/jurisdiction to the Secretary of the respective bodies.

Constituencies
– 2 contiguous regions of each parish from which citizens elect a representative
   to the Parliament every 5 years.

National Security Architecture
– Permanent police posts of not less than 2 officers shall be established in
   communities of 1000 or more persons – Police officers will reside in each
   community for a period of not less than 2 years
– A distribution of not less than 1 active duty police officer per 400 population
   shall be maintained.
– An integrated information system involving all police posts with real time access by all police officers for the input and retrieval of data shall be maintained.

Emergency Powers – (See existing)

Zones of Commerce

– Targeted development of regions of Jamaica with planned infrastructure,
   housing (full communities) and commercial development based upon best use
   of available land, topography and current commercial activity.

Diaspora

– All Jamaican diaspora are eligible to vote electronically or otherwise for
   Presidential elections/candidates only, not local candidates/elections.
– A Data Bank of all Jamaican diaspora shall be maintained by the Government,
   to include up-to-date contact info, qualifications, skills certifications,
   professional certifications, attitude to a period of fully compensated service
   locally
– A 20-year Building and Construction Bond shall be established by the 
   Government of Jamaica for participation by all Jamaican diaspora.

Oversight Committees
– Oversight Committees comprising Jamaican citizens of high repute shall be established by the Government of Jamaica to ensure execution of long-term policies mandated by this constitution.