She is minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sports and she is loved and constantly endorsed by the Jamaican people, to the point where her support is even to be found in the Opposition JLP.

Unlike her other colleagues vying for the top post in the PNP, she has a first degree, gained relatively recently, while Omar Davies and Peter Phillips have PhDs attached to their names, after being bright boys in high school, after A-levels, first degrees and Master's degrees.

The letters PhD indicate that in their respective fields of study, they not only rose to the top, but created 'waves' in whatever the research was which led to their theses and oral presentations.

Karl Blythe studied medicine in Cuba, which probably makes him more qualified in his field than a lot of others who took their medical degrees in North America. It is therefore seen that when the formal education roster is read, Portia comes dead last and may not even feature when the 'lettered list' is announced.

What all have in common is that they have been a part of the present administration which, had it not been for the informal economy, this country would have long ago plunged into the abyss of economic and social hell.

Years ago, in the mid-1990s, I conducted a survey in some of our toughest inner-city communities. One of the questions sought information on income, while the other probed expenditure. The vast majority of those who had jobs provided us with the meagre income from those jobs, while those who were unemployed (the majority) told us they had no income.

When expenditure on food and groceries, recreation, clothing, children and housing were tabulated, it outstripped the income by an average of 40 per cent. What I immediately sensed was that the informal economy was at work. If a respondent was receiving four remittances per year, it was not seen as 'income'.

Portia Simpson Miller is surrounded by supporters as she arrives for the official launch of her campaign for the PNP presidency last Sunday at the national indoors sports centre

If a young woman who worked in a store 'did hair' after working hours and earned more than what her 'job' paid her, it was not seen as income. If a young man bought two pounds' weight of ganja, packaged it into little plastic wrapped balls and sold them for $10 each, that was not seen as income.

As the government retreats from dealing head-on with many of our most pressing socio-economic problems, the population is forced to look to its own sleight of hand or develop other talents. The income from these ventures finds its way into the formal economy but little of it is taxed at source.

By its own omissions of policy the PNP government has forced this nation into scuffling and shunning nine-to-five. But that has in turn empowered the PNP to win elections as voter apathy, coupled with the forced inventiveness, have allowed a significant percentage of our people to survive economically without seeing the PNP as the culprit that sent them into 'hustling'.

All contenders for the presidency of the PNP have been there in the time when the wimpish leadership of PJ Patterson was in full swing. All sat by in their collective docility and rubber-stamped the policies and the poor delivery of services to the voters and non-voters.

In the present dispensation, all have now found reason to believe that they can do better than what went down before, even though they were there when what they do not like now (conveniently) was happening. How can we trust them?

Peter Phillips, it is said, gets things done. After his 'successes' in the transport ministry he was seen as a sort of 'fix it' man, ready to don his gloves and helmet and troubleshoot and fix what could not be handled by others.

When Blythe was Minister of Water and Housing, so in a rush was he to deal with the prime minister's mandate that he went full steam ahead in Operation Pride that the poor paperwork, in instances, had to follow later.

Omar Davies has been the nation's super technician, poring over numbers and ensuring that they fall within a certain range, while being called derogatory names like 'Dr Clueless'.

Still, he stuck it out and now, although he has had his problems, there are many in the business elite in Jamaica, and on the world stage, who speak of him in tones that are so glowing that it makes me wonder if he has a twin brother.

Of all the contenders, Portia Simpson Miller is the only one who has no strong areas of success in her multiple ministries. Sure, sports has been a feather in her cap, and as long as funding can be found and the many excellent organisers and managers remain in place, the administration of sports from high school to the national level will continue to unearth talent and bring it to the world stage.

I would have liked to have said in this column that Local Government and Community Development were doing well. The fact is, the 'secret' to this country's successful passage into the 21st century lies in local government reform.

If the minister has any plans to overhaul the decrepit state of local government in this country, with a view to making delivery of services to the people of this country as efficient as I know it can be, then the minister is not talking. Maybe she has these plans in place, but is merely waiting on 'the right time,' whenever that may be.

While I will be giving a fuller assessment of the contenders once PJ Patterson makes his other announcement, it does seem to me that Omar Davies is the most qualified of the contenders when hard technical ability is the yardstick being measured. As to whether this can make him into a leader is left to be seen.

I would have liked to have seen in the past, Portia forcing her way into the confines of other ministries and bullying the respective ministers into giving her what she demanded. I would have liked her to have called up the prime minister and charmed him into initiating development in her constituency, in the manner that Omar Davies got big private sector players to assist in his constituency.

I would have liked to have seen much more from Team Portia rather than me, who loves her, to be fighting to place in this column some tangibles attached to dear Portia and her respective ministries.

It is still my belief that leadership goes way beyond technical ability. Leadership speaks to the ability of the person who would be leader to get others to follow. At this time I cannot see the nation lining up behind Peter Phillips and moving in synch with him.

As qualified as he is, I still need to see a little more of what Davies has planned for this country to be convinced that he is the one (with the message of hope) who can deliver that message. Too little is known of Blythe (outside of his naivety overdose) for me to make a judgment of him.

Portia Simpson Miller still has my vote in terms of her ability to engage this nation. I wish she would preach less and speak more. She needs to be convinced that she is the only person among the contenders who can make a presentation about tangibles without boring her audience. But why should I be the one to tell her that? If she doesn't know that now, when will she learn?

All she has to do is look at her prime minister, listen to him, then, when she is about to speak, do the exact opposite that PJ would do, without the preaching.

The main problem I have with Team Portia is . the team. Richard Azan is a good politician but he is young to the game and very naïve. How come he is her campaign manager? Against the likes of Paul Robertson and Maxine Henry-Wilson and the high-powered, high-tech team surrounding Omar Davies.

Minister Phillip Paulwell has attached himself to her team even though NetServ is still fresh in the minds of uptown Jamaica and influential businesspersons. In his early days Minister Paulwell came onto the radar screen of this nation and became the pretty boy of the media. In 1998 when he took on bright 13 year-old Makonnen Blake as his 'techie' ambassador, the star of Paulwell rose to dizzying heights. Even Bill Gates wanted to meet the young Blake.

Let me ask the minister this. Where is the youngster now? What has become of his association with the ministry? The nation would not believe it if it were put in print.

It appears to me, therefore, that Team Portia may need to do some overhauling before the real crunch time arrives. Too much deadwood is attached to the team.

Why special treatment of Caribbean Cement Company?

In a recent newspaper advertisement Caribbean Cement company has explained that the present shortage of cement has been due to heavy rainfall which hindered the company from getting raw materials for its manufacturing plant. To me, there is more, much more.

Over many years the market for cement has grown way beyond the ability of the company to supply the much-needed building material. Jamaicans have always had a fascination with blocks, cement and steel.

Many of them, especially in the rural areas, built their little houses one room at a time, using the neighbourhood mason and carpenter and their own, physical input until years later, a three-bedroom house with kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom and a little verandah was in place.

Most hardware stores sell as the first item cement, not because the profit on cement is high (it is not) but because cement 'sells' other items. Nails, zinc sheeting, wheelbarrows etc.

Not so long ago when the demand for cement forced the government into action, an import regime was born and a duty of 15 per cent was in place to allow in the material to meet the demands of the constantly building public. During this time, one large importer was even into the process of planning the building of another plant in Jamaica.

Then came the utter stupidity of the government's imposition of a 40.5 per cent duty on imported cement. That effectively wiped out the import market which, to me, was the main objective of the government.
The idea of protecting our native industries is a phenomenon which went out with the new push in globalisation in recent years.

The question is, why should consumers pay more for cement when, if there was an imposition of 15 per cent duty on imports, not only would the demand be met but competition would force importers into a pricing strategy which would definitely benefit the Jamaican consumer?

The stranglehold which Cable and Wireless had on the telecoms market ended when government woke up, saw the light of the real world and opened the market for Digicel. Others followed and now the telecoms market is wide open.

Why the selective treatment of Caribbean Cement Company?
Competition reduces prices to the consumer (watch the C&W/Digicel war), ensures a reliable supply and ends the archaic behaviour of monopoly companies.

The government has pursued policies of dismantling of monopolies in other sectors, so what is the problem in doing the same with the CCC? Is there something that we must know which the government is failing to tell us?

There are large and mega projects coming on stream, such as Greenfield, Harmony Cove, the Pinero Hotels and large Operation Pride projects, such as the one in Negril. Home owners will be demanding bags upon bags of cement. In recent months, the CCC raised its price to the consumer by 10 per cent, and we all had to love it or leave it. Why?

Because it is a monopoly that answers to nothing or no one. Not even market demand. The stupidity of the government in allowing CCC to continue on its path, knowing that it is protected, will not in the long-run assist the company simply because its monopoly run must end soon, as the reality of market forces presses it against a hard concrete wall.
At present, trucks are piling up at loading docks, and hardware merchants have been complaining to me that it is affecting their businesses with customers cussing them for poor services.

Is minister Omar Davies awake? To whom does he owe allegiance? The Caribbean Company? Or is it the people of this country?
Why should we be paying more for cement, when we can get it, just because it is government policy to allow one large company its continued success and freedom to define when we get cement, how much we get and at what price we should pay for it?

This stupidity must stop now. The market for cement has grown by leaps and bounds and it is obvious that the Carribean Cement Company cannot supply the nation's needs.
Minister Davies, a rethink on this policy is needed now!

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