Jamaica: land of myth and misunderstanding

JAMES MOSS-SOLOMON

Sunday, June 26, 2011

WE pride ourselves as the land of wood and water, a myth that simply does not become a reality as we have few viable forest industries, and we face water lock-offs or even no water on a regular basis.

An aerial view shows a proliferation of plastic tanks over our landscape, and hillsides so denuded as to encourage raging fires that spread soot and cause respiratory problems. Perhaps the only international benefit from water is that cruise shipping has to stop here as other nearby destinations have no water for their usage.

We are quite willing to ignore some facts in the face of rumours, and a prime example of this has been the willingness to chat about the "Rapture" which, following a major stroke suffered by the "Prophet", seemed to be only an omen of his own impending departure.

In the meantime, the bombardment of this planet Earth by the explosion in a Dark Hole millions of light years away that happened earlier this year generally escaped our notice. Without the protection of our atmosphere the effect of this cosmic event could have been quite devastating.

I reminded you in an article last year that the terms of the Manatt Commission of Enquiry were not going to be able to allow for any indictment or meaningful findings. This was, in my mind, a simple deduction after reading the TOR document, and still remains a very possible conspiracy between the two major political parties, a simple continuance of the sham of political democracy that has been the hallmark of their lack of serious intent.

Simply put, the sham was designed to have no consequences on the governing party and the prime minister, and this should have been obvious as soon as Harold Brady refused to testify and the only consequence could be a $500 fine. Also, the great lawyers of the PNP should have objected to the terms as their "great legal minds" and QC encomiums should have understood the futility of the exercise.

In the end, it would seem that the trade-off foisted on the people was simply a "no conviction" for the JLP in exchange for a "major media moment" for the PNP, and a very expensive deception of the taxpayers once again. The JLP is happy for the reprieve as well as the opportunity to allow Peter and KD back into the leadership arena, weakening the PNP leader's popularity, and giving Patrick a chance to run in and divide a constituency. This is a win for the JLP by a very clever sleight of hand. Who will have the last laugh?

I still maintain that of the many commissions of enquiry in my lifetime none have produced any meaningful results, and certainly no politicians have been disqualified. The huge cost means that they, the politicians, are safe, and also means that we the people have to foot the bill in an involuntary campaign-funding programme.

The next excitement is the trip to "Spanish bird bush" and speculation as to who has paid for the trip, and who is a supporter of which party. Well, our land of wood and water is not a sufficient sanctuary to produce enough birds for an extended shooting season, or perhaps we have too many "hunting boolets" left over from the former Cuban experience for the local bird population. Interestingly, the prime minister still loves the sport, even after being shot and suffering some eye injuries many years ago, but there is nothing wrong with that as athletes still return to the track after their pulled muscles have healed.

The real story here is very simple. Firstly, has the YP Seaton company acted in any way that compromises the decision-making process of contract awards? Secondly, has any contract awarded to that company been overpriced or subject to unjustifiable cost overruns? Thirdly, has any work paid for by Government contract been found to be below the required quality standards and yet been approved for final payment? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then arrest those responsible, if not, then shut up and watch birds fly.

Another stark reality of the shooting trip is that of the direction of travel that had to be taken in order to reach the South American destination. The use of an American port such as Miami is necessary as I remarked in last week's column, and that should be a major issue, as we allow ourselves to be trapped. If we didn't want the party to go bird shooting then all we had to do was ensure that we recommended the withdrawal of their visas, and they would have had to wait like the rest of us for our short season! Or maybe REDJet would have been a cheaper alternative to a visa.

Finally, those of us in the private sector seem to have adopted a very warped interpretation of the term incentive. To those in the developed world it speaks to an across-the-board measure designed to benefit a particular industry as a whole, but to us it means an unfair advantage given to me that no other competitor can access. For example, it means a waiver granted to one company that a competitor cannot have.

Right across the spectrum of industries we have denigrated incentives to become a corrupt system which we accept if it helps us, or reject if it is across-the-board or does not disable our competition. In any case, we enjoin ourselves to the practice of favouritism and kickbacks that keep the government mired, or subject to some caustic remarks by the Contractor General. We therefore allow ourselves to be used as pawns to sustain systems that we say are riddled with serious defects.

We are becoming our own worst enemy. Why we choose that route is indeed a mystery and one that we will have to change before we can move on.

Please remember to register to vote.

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Jamaica: land of myth and misunderstanding