WHILE Dr Peter Phillips, minister of finance, was triumphantly trumpeting the Government’s economic achievements in Parliament, the Riverton dump was once again in open conflagration. This annual ritual this time around has come at great expense to people’s health and the economy.

As I write it has been contained, but it continues to smolder in areas, and the important Grade Six Achievement Achievement, which puts our young students, their parents and teachers under psychological torture, has been postponed. This latest conflagration at the dump has not only brought into sharp relief the ineptitude of those who manage it, but is a clear manifestation of a greater malady that afflicts Jamaica.

This has to do with political corruption, a lack of respect for the welfare of the governed, and a lack of self-respect by the people to demand better. Indeed, both political parties that have had alternate turns at the wicket of governance must be held responsible for this tragic state of affairs.

But the greatest blame has to be reserved for the People’s National Party who, over the last 25 years of governance, has had a longer stint than the beleaguered and limping Jamaica Labour Party.

For many Jamaicans, political corruption is an essential feature of our political culture and the management of the city’s dump by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) has solidified this in the minds of many.

The head of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Errol Mowatt, has now confirmed what many people believed — that the fire was not the result of spontaneous combustion but the work of arsonists.

Obviously there are those who believe that the best way to “eat a food” is to set the dump ablaze. It is not to be believed that this is simply the work of a few poor people living around the dump, but goes further than one would imagine.

This would support the unstated narrative of succeeding governments that since poor people depend on the dump for a living, any attempt at cleaning it up will deprive them of a livelihood. In a shrinking voting population, that cannot be allowed to happen, for every vote is essential.

The message cannot be sent that poor people are being prevented from making something of their lives. Apart from this, the greater problem is the politicisation of the dump by successive governments. It would be inconceivable — if not wicked — for anyone other than a loyal supporter of the ruling party to be made executive director of the NSWMA.

Poor, Jennifer Edwards is at her wits’ end as to how to deal with this latest fire, which is the second that has erupted under her watch. In her press conference to address the matter you could see the strain on her face, and you were left with the impression that she was out of her depths in dealing with the matter.

I would not call her incompetent, and neither would I call for her resignation, but I can guarantee you that there are more skilled and competent people in Jamaica who could do a better job than she has done, or that of her predecessor — although Joan Gordon- Webley seemed to have been more handson in her management of the portfolio.

Part of the corruption that bedevils agencies like the NSWMA is that they have to function as feeding troughs for the party faithful.

So, even if fires are set, “a nuh nutten”, as the connected can be called up to bring their equipment to get it under control. You can rest assured that no known member of the other major political party will be called. Neither will anyone who has dared to be critical of the Government. This is how business is done in Jamaica.

It is a problem that does not only bedevil the NSWMA, but all government agencies, the Jamaican Urban Transit Company being one of the more prominent that comes readily to mind. Even if there is an attempt at change this, it will be at best cosmetic, and is made subservient to the larger interest of what best serves the party in power. In the end, change will not come until the people really demand change.

I emphasise “demand” to underscore the fact that people must become robustly engaged in ensuring that change happens. If the politicians have no self-respect, we should not allow them to define us in this regard.

For too long this has been the case. People have suffered the disadvantages that emanate from the dump each time fire erupts there, but apart from the bleating of a few environmentalists, or the few who have the courage to sue the Government, nothing is done.

The politicians are aware of the efficacy of the nine-day wonder in the Jamaican psyche, and know that, like the smoke, this too shall pass.

They will not be called upon to account. The ministers under whose watch the latest tragedy has played out will retain their jobs for the people will not have the intestinal fortitude to demand otherwise. Robert Pickersgill, the environment minister, will issue his usual platitudes, but there will be no genuine remorse, because deep down he knows that the people are not selfrespecting enough to expect any.

It is just the articulate minority who may expect something, but they have long joined company with John the Baptist in the wilderness. To a large extent, the recurring fires at Riverton are a shame that must be borne not only by Government, but by a quiescent citizenry.

For too long we have sat by and allowed politicians to run roughshod over our dignity, put our lives in danger, and visit extortionate tax policies on us, while they live in luxury at our expense. We have alternated between ruling elites in both parties who seem to believe that they have a divine right to rule over the rest of us.

They know what is best for us. Yet their vaunted knowledge has only resulted in grinding poverty for the majority of our people and diminished prospects for our young — many of whom would flee Jamaica if there should be a second Mariel boat lift, Jamaican style. It is time that we draw an Obama red line in the sand.

What is needed is a robust civil society group to emerge out of the swelling ranks of non-voters to advocate peacefully for sustained change in the way we do business.

This group must develop a programmatic platform of doables and demand that those who we elect carry them out. With the efficacy of social media, this should not be too difficult to achieve.

At the top of the list of doables must be placed constitutional reform and an integrated solid waste management programme that will ensure that the people of Jamaica would never again suffer the discomfort of another blaze at Riverton. Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest and social commentator. Comments: stead6655@aol.com.