Most of us remember him for his presentation in the House, expounding on what was then seen as the sins of the Cuban energy-saving light bulb project while a young Kern Spencer, eager to talk, crying like a baby, was being urged by veteran politician, the PNP's Bobby Pickersgill: 'Sit down Kern, sit down Kern.'

The JLP Government was still in its newness phase and at that time many of us were willing to give the JLP all the rope needed to tie up and tie down the 'duppies' of the previous PNP. Well, those said to be involved are set to have their day in court, but we are still stuck with Minister Mullings even as a part of his previous portfolio - mining - was taken away from him and we are being asked to view that not as a demotion.

I noticed a few changes in Clive Mullings when he was in charge of mining; an imperious distancing of himself from others, which in itself is no major management transgression if one is bright, able to spot competent second-tier staff and has transmitted one's expectation of workload to them.

Minister Mullings is a criminal lawyer by profession, and by virtue of his and our own existence in the small island state of Jamaica, he is not counted among those elite criminal lawyers who could be considered the best and most able. I am certain that the minister has his strong points even if they are not 'up front' ones, and we were hoping that he could make his mark in the Energy ministry, and have youngsters say, 'Look Mommy, I want to be like that man when I grow up.'

Weeks ago one JLP Cabinet minister said to me, "Mullings has gone to sleep in Energy and so has MacMillan in Security." I took this to mean that the expectations, at the very least by the minister who made the judgement of Mullings, had fallen far short of where the trajectory was plotted one year ago.

MULLINGS... minister of energy

With the world struggling and concerned with energy costs and the cleanness of emissions, Minister Mullings is aware like most of us that trying to meet an energy bill of US$1 billion per year, with local demand growing at four per cent per year, would always be the acid test facing all administrations. As seen recently, oil prices are not set in stone and whenever an increase takes place, small economies like ours suffer immensely even as our people go on about their business as if all is well.

WHY WAS IAN MOORE FIRED?

It has always been a sore point, the composition of boards of public sector agencies. In the PNP's run, it did what it did best during its over 18 years in power - it packed these boards mostly with people loyal to the party. I am making no claim that these people were incompetent, although some were.

In recent months we have seen the JLP administration fire the entire board of the UDC, a position I agreed with because as far as I was concerned, I could not see what noteworthy attribute, what special quality Louis Williams as chairman could have brought to the UDC chairmanship. And of course, it was public knowledge that Mr Williams was a fixture in the JLP camp.

Revamping the board and naming Wayne Chen as chairman appeared on the face of it to be a good move. Mr Chen is a highly competent man and a super achiever. The question is, how can an entity like the UDC have a board without, at the very least, an urban planner or an experienced civil engineer in its board? I admit puzzlement, especially knowing that Chen and the prime minister were allies when they were both in the NDM in the late 1990s.

For about a year Ian Moore, an engineer by profession and another super achiever, held the post of chairman of the board of PCJ. Then about two weeks ago he was summarily fired by Minister Mullings. Ian Moore as an engineer had started and built up his own business abroad and had it turning over US$100 million per year. Later on he sold the business for US$300 million.

Moore is one of those black Jamaicans whose business accomplishments should be celebrated, not disparaged. His success story is as vast as his private art collection and when he was named PCJ chairman a year ago, I concluded that Mullings was on to something positive.

Recently when I spoke to Mr Moore he had to drag me away from viewing his extensive art collection. It is not usual that I get to meet successful 'techies' who are into fine art. The gentleman was, however, more interested in talking to me about Jamaica's energy problem and our energy bill.

"There is no shortage of oil internationally. What the world is experiencing is not an oil capacity problem, it is a refinery capacity problem," he said. Then he went on with what appears to be his pet subject - cutting Jamaica's reliance on foreign-based energy fuels by 50% by the year 2020.

Moore sat with me for about two hours, concerning himself little about Minister Mullings or his firing. "Actually, the impression is being given that I was salaried. Outside of $10,000 per month for expenses, I was not being paid anything and I did not request to be paid," he said as we sat in the opulence of his living room at his upper Barbican, gated community home.

"A year ago we were charged with reducing the dependence on foreign-based energy or on cutting our fuel bill by 50%." Then he drew a chart and line by line, he mentioned items like wind generation, LNG, Hydro, bagasse. Then he plotted the years and the percentage of the oil bill which would be chopped, taking into consideration the increasing demand of a growing population and business space.

"As you can see, by 2015, five years before, we would have cut our bill by 54%," he said. Then of course I wanted to know why he was fired. "That question would be better answered by the minister."

It seems to me that Minister Mullings' personality is probably more at play in this issue than anything else. But this is not the first instance, and it appears that it will not be the last, that controversial dismissals of competent persons will appear on the radar screen under ministries whose agendas are not fully aired to the public.

In the last few weeks, I have detected that Minister Mullings has been giving the impression that he is not much of a team player, and in certain circles in the JLP administration it has been cause for concern. As Minister Mullings drives around in his shiny new Mercedes Benz, we are left to wonder, what has happened to the man who made Kern Spencer cry?

Is the minister up to the broader objectives set by the prime minister or has he gone 'rogue'? Another minister who did not want to be named said, "Mullings is from PNP stock. Does that answer your questions? I can tell you, if it was Seaga in charge Mullings would have been fired."

An MP, not a minister, suggested that the JLP's slim majority was preventing the prime minister from making changes in his Cabinet. No one is saying that Minister Mullings has no competencies, but at the same time I have not met any of the present crop of JLP ministers who are willing to give me an indication of his strengths.

It is my view that not only was Mr Ian Moore wrongfully dismissed but I am of the impression that Minister Mullings is out of his depth in his present posting. This, I believe, calls for strong and decisive leadership from the prime minister.

So what if Minister Mullings should cross the floor as some believe he may do? One junior minister was of the view that Mullings was acting like a team of one because he knows of the prime minister's concerns over the small majority. "Mullings does not have to say anything, so he goes about his business like a team of one when in the last few months the various ministries have been trying their best to bring coordination to the total work of the government. Mullings is the odd man out," he said.

Were I the prime minister, I would give my ministers grades. Then I would set up two detention centres like they had at KC back in the 1960s. There would be one for 'conduct' and another for 'work'. Under that system, if the judgement of Minister Mullings' peers is accurate, he would have to spend his time in both centres.

Congrats to Carolyn Gomes

Today I turn 58 and my first duty, apart from the unseen ones, is to warmly congratulate Dr Carolyn Gomes for having won a UN Human Rights award. She deserves it.

In the late 1990s when I first saw her and others demonstrating in the tough inner-city enclave of Grants Pen, I walked up to her and said, "What's a nice brown-skinned, middle-class lady like you doing in Grants Pen?"

She smiled almost shyly then went on to give me chapter and verse on the human rights of the poor. Since that time, Gomes has fought relentlessly to right the wrongs of a heavy-handed state apparatus that is often misunderstood by armchair commentators in Jamaica.

In 'normal' societies, a Carolyn Gomes would have her place without the rancour and the suspicions of hidden agendas. Jamaica is anything but a normal society. As head of Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) Gomes was at most times a misunderstood person.

At the formation of JFJ, I was of the view that it was a splinter group of the NDM and the JLP. At another time I looked upon the JFJ as a group of uptown, brown-skinned, white-skinned professionals who were on a great conscience trip; trying to give back a little after doing so well in a country that protected the brown minority class but battered the majority black-skinned class. For a while, I dismissed the JFJ as a group of persons socially and economically well off who came together to have a demonstrable guilt trip.

But Gomes and the JFJ would not go away. They were like little uptown poodles constantly yapping at the heels of government. The fact is, JFJ is ahead of its time in terms of the ability of our citizens to recognise that all views and positions must contend. Too often it appears that JFJ is anti-police. The other fact is, the closer one understands our police force, the clearer it becomes that too much of the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) has elements of state thuggery attached to it.

The JFJ has never singled out justice and placed it aside only for one set of people. But it appears that way. This is so because JFJ and Gomes believe that it is the 'little man' who must be protected. Many of our armchair commentators have deliberately avoided criticisms of the JCF for obvious reasons. The JCF has awesome power so it is better to hurl barbs at 'suspects,' too many of whom are executed by the police.

Keep on doing what you have been doing, Carolyn. I may even criticise you in the future but, guess what, you have been there before, and in the first place you didn't have to do it. It may be controversial to say this, but a group of black Jamaicans as bright as those making up JFJ would not be anywhere near as successful as the initial group formed by Gomes.

Why? Because in our society, our police force finds it easier to crack black skulls than even talk hard to uptown, brown-skinned professionals.

Why? Because that's the way Jamaica is.

Feeding the multitude

DANGEROUS PETS

Pepper Pot