With regard to your editorial titled 'Beware of the treadmill, Mr Golding' in The Sunday Gleaner of April 19, I agree that the MOU between the former government and the public-sector unions for wage freezes and salary caps was, as you put it, "mere short-term palliatives". However, I disagree that freezing wages at this time, instead of cutting 22,000 jobs, is a palliative. It is short-term but a prudent move.

The current worldwide recession presents corporations with poor economic prospects and over-extended markets. Particularly in the latter, the corporate strategy of choice is retrenchment with its associated variations of rationalisation, downsizing and redundancies. Government cannot follow suit. Its role, as stated by Dennis Morrison in the article 'A crisis requiring compromise', is "to keep economic activity going as households and businesses are forced to cut back their purchases".

Discretionary income

Effecting wide-scale redundancies at this time would remove discretionary income of those affected from the economy leading to further reduction in the purchasing of consumer goods and services, such as newspapers.

Dennis Morrison also stated that "cutting the public-sector wage bill is no easy task. Teachers, nurses, the security forces and other essential workers make up the vast majority of the establishment" and there are instances of under-staffing in critical areas. So, this would not be a short-term exercise, as your editorial seems to suggest. Although gross wages and salaries of the public-sector account to over 46 per cent of the Budget, their net wages and salaries are less so; and, this is further reduced by GCT, gas cess, property taxes, etc.

I am, however, in agreement with my brother Robert Wynter that the Government needs to cut significantly the 'public-sector employment to deal with the stifling fiscal pressures' it faces. But, not now: when economic prospects are improving and affected persons will not become burdens to the state, their wider families, and exasperate an already bad state of criminality. I close with a quote from the book of Ecclesiastes: To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. The time for cutting the public-sector wage bill is not now.

I am, etc.,

PAUL HAY

Managing Partner

PAUL HAY Capital Projects

THE EDITOR, Sir:

PLEASE ALLOW me to respond to a letter, published on Saturday, October 22, 2005, entitled 'Wasteful designs'. First, the author, Paul Ward, has raised many valid points and is to be commended, along with any other like-minded individuals. The use of natural ventilation and lighting would reduce energy consumed in buildings. Air-conditioning and electric lights use approximately 77 per cent of electricity consumed in large buildings: 56 per cent for cooling and 21 per cent for lighting.

Buildings can still be designed for natural ventilation and lighting. In fact, there are several small offices in Jamaica that are naturally ventilated, including some belonging to architects: one, I am told, uses air-conditioning only when cooling is otherwise impossible. As the lecturer of building services at the Caribbean School of Architecture, University of Technology, I can also inform you that our future architects are first taught to design using natural resources before they are taught about electric lighting and air-conditioning. So, 'the technology of the past' is still very relevant and achievable.

But, natural ventilation is generally impractical in large compact buildings and use of natural light is limited to rooms with windows. Also, large buildings designed to use natural ventilation and lighting are of necessity long: which presents problems regarding earthquake resistance. So, they tend to be more expensive. Those interested in these types of buildings should therefore expect higher construction costs in order to reduce operation costs due to their use of electricity.

I am, etc.,

PAUL HAY

phcadmin@phcjamaica.com

Managing Partner

Paul Hay Consultants

15a Cassia Park Road

Kingston 10