THERE are too many government boards in Jamaica. We have a Coconut Board, a Banana Board, a Sugar Board, and a Tyre Board. Then, there is the super reliable and useful blackboard, and for sleepers there are plenty head and foot boards. There are boards for this, boards for that and boards for “only God knows what”. The truth is, anything with so many boards is bound to cause problems; no wonder the current fuss over the appointment of certain individuals to some state boards. Hopefully, as they set their derrières down on these boards, “macka” will not “jook dem”, nor will red ants bite them.

But seriously, though, there is no need for all these boards. As I see it, they could well be adding another layer of unnecessary bureaucracy and may well explain the reasons it takes forever to get things done. Perhaps the time has come for a national audit of these ubiquitous boards to ascertain their mandate, relevance and purpose. It is unacceptable, too, to justify their existence by saying board members are either lowly compensated or work for free. While that may be true, board members are invited to almost every state event and that’s when some of them live “high on the hog”. Some board chairmen carry the evidence in their guts – dem have some everlasting bellies, yuh see.

Yet, not all boards are bad, and not all board chairmen live for the gastronomic opportunities. There are board members who volunteer just to make their contribution to nation building; we applaud and celebrate their patriotism and contribution. However there are some whose appointments are mere political rewards. Of all the board appointments so far, four of them got my attention: The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), Clarendon Alumina Production Company Limited (CAP) and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA). Dennis Morrison heads the JTB board while Dr Vincent Lawrence heads the CAP board. Both served during the PJ Patterson administration and are well qualified.

However, are they the only suitable candidates to head these boards? What explains the inevitability of recycling them? How does the prime minister reconcile these appointments with her wellreasoned and admirable “succession planning” model for leadership development? Don’t get me wrong, Dr Lawrence and Dennis Morrison have made tremendous contribution to national development and both have vast experience and human capital that Jamaica should continue to exploit. Nevertheless, there are capable, young, bright people who could bring tremendous value-added, energy and potential to these positions.

In the case of the NSWMA, where Jennifer Edwards has been appointed executive director, and the JUTC, where Garnett Roper has been appointed chairman and former Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin has been appointed managing director, the appointments are as interesting as they could be potentially promising. Edwards is a former mayor of Spanish Town and member of parliament. There are no doubts about her political skills and bona fides, but her appointment to head the NSWMA is dissimilar to her political work.

In fairness to Ms Edwards, while she served as mayor of Spanish Town she would have had mayoral supervision over the council’s annual budget; which I gather was no “chicken-feed”. I cannot speak to her effectiveness as mayor or as member of parliament because I lived abroad during her tenure. And, as far as Rear Admiral Lewin’s appointment is concerned, a juxtapositioning of his tenure and accomplishments as police commissioner with the crime and murder rates will settle the score on what to expect from him as head of the JUTC.

One thing is certain; his stint as head of the Jamaica Defence Force and then as police commissioner were interesting – especially when one remembers his 2005 “Tivoli is the mother of all garrisons” declaration. Lewin and Edwards have their work cut out for them. Jamaicans are most likely to use their combined performance to judge that of the government, because solid waste management and public transportation are Achilles heels that, if poorly managed, will cause political backlash – talk about “dead board”.

That aside, though, it is not only in the appointment of government boards that government should exercise diligence, it should also extend it to Cabinet appointments. Similar to the private sector, management of the political economy requires the recruitment and deployment of the best qualified and suitable individuals to key positions, without regard to political orientation; except in circumstances where appointees could vindictively sabotage the functioning of the state.

And while managing the political economy is vastly different from managing private businesses, if the state is to operate optimally, then those who lead must be acutely aware of the importance of strategic human resource management in national development and advancement. Undoubtedly, some positions and functions are inevitably going to be filled by political operatives, but the political directorate should not forget that their first obligation is to the citizens of the country – not party hacks. In fairness to the Simpson Miller-led administration, it has so far retained some key people who were appointed by the previous JLP government; BOJ Governor Brian Wynter and PIOJ Director General Dr Gladstone Hutchinson come readily to mind.

In the final analysis, though, it matters greatly that public bodies are managed properly and that the people who lead them inspire confidence and bring the requisite competence and reliability to the table. To achieve this, those who hire board members must subscribe to the fundamental principles of fairness and probity. Decisions on hiring must be sufficiently informed based on responses to the following questions: Is this the right person for the job? What value-added and scarce talent does this person bring? Is the talent he or she possesses relevant to the job? And, if this was my personal business, would I hire this individual? When all is said and done, these board appointments must reflect the best of Jamaica.

Burnscg@aol.com