Dear Editor,

I profoundly disagree with Mr Ken Chaplin’s commentary published in the Observer on December 29 naming Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett as his Man of the Year.

Minister Bartlett has made a number of major mistakes since being appointed to that senior Cabinet post. His ministry in year 2008 rented an entire building called the Praise Building, located in Montego Bay, and spent over $38 million in rental costs when during that entire period the building was not occupied at all by the ministry, which was a huge indictment on Bartlett. This was highlighted in the media last year and was a profound national disgrace. The tourism ministry finally took up occupancy of said building some time last year, after the ministry had wasted taxpayer’s monies (millions of dollars) in 2008.

Last year also, Minister Bartlett spent some $8 million to refurbish the entire tourism ministry when that renovation was not needed. According to the Opposition PNP, the former tourism minister left the tourism ministry offices in an excellent condition and there was absolutely no need for Minister Bartlett to spend such vast sums to renovate and equip the entire ministry offices.

One media report reported that he spent almost $80,000 to purchase an executive chair for his office, which was a national disgrace. Given the serious and severe economic crisis that this country is in, it is reprehensible, scandalous and damning that Minister Bartlett spent such huge sums of money to renovate his ministry offices. This vulgar, unnecessary and atrocious spending of taxpayer’s money vividly demonstrates that he is a highly irresponsible, careless and unprofessional minister who should have been immediately dismissed from his post by the prime minister. He clearly has no respect for the Jamaican people.

No form of accountability and transparency is taking place with regard to the Tourism Enhancement Fund. The hard-working Opposition spokesman on tourism, Dr Wykeham McNeil, has repeatedly called on Bartlett to give a full expenditure in Parliament of the details of the accounts of the fund, which is urgently needed at this time.

Minister Bartlett, who is the member of parliament for East Central St James, has grossly neglected his constituency as recently pointed out in a letter to the editor which was published in the Observer on December 31, 2009, and superbly written by Mr George McKenzie. Mr McKenzie rightly pointed out the many roads in the constituency that are in a deplorable condition and other areas that have been shamefully neglected by the irascible Edmund Bartlett. To put it bluntly, his constituency is in a scandalous, disgusting and appalling state.

I recently visited the area and was shocked to see the disastrous state of the roads and the gross underdevelopment of the area, while the unemployment rate remains high. This is a gargantuan indictment on the poor and inept leadership of Minister Bartlett. He should be ashamed of himself for abandoning the constituents of East Central St James.

His performance as tourism minister has been dismal, to say the least. Tourism arrivals into the island have not really increased substantially, despite all the fancy tourism talk that has been emanating from the minister. While the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association President Mr Wayne Cummings is presenting one set of tourism arrival figures, Minister Bartlett is presenting another set of figures. Bartlett needs to expeditiously clear up this discrepancy.

Within this context, I cannot see how Ken Chaplin could have named Minister Bartlett as the Man of the Year for 2009. The facts do not support such an evaluation of Edmund Bartlett. He is a huge ministerial loser of 2009.

Robert Dalley

Reading PO

St James