I wrote this column while on the way home from a few days in Trinidad where I attended a strategic planning meeting of Caricom. My last trip to the twin-island republic was two weeks before their Carnival, and at the time their newspapers were full of articles and advertisements for their “greatest show on Earth”. Also at the time, the opinion columns and letters to editors no longer contained the usual vitriol about the Carnival Commission, the road arrangements, and the preparation of venues. That is an annual practice that covers news from September to the end of January. I was happy to miss that particular tradition.

I was able to enjoy the frantic rehearsals taking place in the pan yards and the strict discipline which was evident, as the pan virtuosos presided over hundreds of women and men who had been rehearsing for months. The action in the pan yards was certainly one of the main attractions for Douglas Orane and me. If I could play the pan and had six months to pass, I would certainly be a pan man. Young and old practised together with discipline, which is only the norm for world-famous classical orchestras.

The Calypsonians were having a field day caricaturing the various antics of the politicians, police and other persons caught in the public glare of questionable or unpopular actions. As is their tradition, they are able to vent some of their anger through lyrics and composition. By comparison, our expression is controlled by threats of violence, fear and intimidation. I doubt that our politicians would countenance that kind of criticism in the public arena and be able to laugh at themselves. The only exception would be Mike Henry, who went up on the stage at a jazz and blues festival and displayed some serious dance moves. The performer found it hard to believe that he was a Jamaican (probably a preconceived notion which was not informed by our national motto). She asked Henry what his race was, and without batting an eyelid he replied in his usual style, “the 200 metres”. We need a little more of that.

But back to my trip. Last weekend, PM Patrick Manning instructed his party’s constituency leaders to hurry up with the selection of candidates. Needless to say, carnival is gone, Haiti is gone, new natural gas trains are gone, and political speculation runs the news. There is no room for anything else, and all gloves are off. Former UNC leader Basdeo Panday said that Manning’s words were just a distraction. Meanwhile, the new Opposition leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, has taken the situation more seriously and has started her own preparations. Needless to say, letters to the editor of the Express archaeologically characterise Manning and Panday as dinosaurs. This will occupy the minds of the people of Trinidad and Tobago for some months to come, and will dominate the news until Carnival starts again. The bacchanal continues!

Onwards to “Bimshire” (Barbados), where there is only a stunned silence. The reluctance to heed the advice of the major listed companies of Caricom has seemingly shocked the stock exchanges of both Barbados and the OECS. The announcement of GraceKennedy that it will delist from both should not be seen as a sudden move. The listed companies told the countries and the exchanges that a single exchange was necessary from as early as 2002. Nothing has happened since then except for the normal “sovereignty” delays, and so no one should have been surprised. What will surely come as a shock is when the news of many more delistings comes to the public. The fact is that our respective governments do not heed the advice of the private sector with regard to equity capital, and are mired in the borrowing mentality which lends no future focus to sustainable development.

I kept my eyes closed in Antigua, as a judge of the Supreme Court has declared three seats to have contravened electoral regulations. The three include the prime minister and two ministers. It seems that after the ruling was handed down the judge left the island, for whatever reasons. What a “bam bam”! It seems that both sides now have seven seats each, and either by-elections or a general election will have to be called. On top of the arrest of Allen Stanford and the huge scandal it has created, Baldwin Spencer and Lester Bird will face off again. If this was a Trini calypso we would have a fine time singing a calypso: “Bald pate in a bird season.” We do need to be concerned as many of our fellow Jamaicans have good jobs in their hospitality industry, and Antigua needs to protect its reputation in this area as gaming does not seem to have the same potential.

Landing in Jamrock, my thoughts turned to our own current reality series, the “Brady Bunch”. The website of the US government clearly shows two signatures on the same page, one being as the principal of the law firm Brady and company, and the other attesting to be the representative of the Jamaican government. All this can be seen on the US Dept of Justice website under the foreign agent declaration section FARA. The US law firm has a legal duty to file documents when lobbying/representing foreign interests, including declaring what those services entail. This is a legal requirement for all lobbyists, and several hundred of those filings can be accessed through this public website.

This viewable evidence and the dates of original filing and any subsequent amendments leave a lot of questions unanswered:

* Has the US law firm visited Jamaica in connection with their contract?

* Who did they meet with in Jamaica?

* Has the US law firm been paid any money?

* If yes, who paid them the money?

* If paid, was it via cash, cheques, draft or bank transfer?

* If it was paid through a bank, which bank, and whose account?

* Has that been properly disclosed to the relevant authorities in the USA?

* If any of these things are so, is their law firm in “deep doo doo”?

Our own story continues, but not in a laughable way. Possibilities of real corruption and cover-up face us. We cannot laugh at this sequence. We may not have by-elections, although cases are in court. We will have a general election in the prescribed term. How will our politicians’ behaviour influence the voters in any positive way?

In the meanwhile, it has been said that several popular dancehall artistes have also encountered visa problems. The names probably account for 40 per cent of industry earnings of artistes operating out of Jamaica’s home base. If this continues they will have to request asylum like Cuban dissidents, and leave by boat under some type of “wet foot” regime, or starve.

Notwithstanding, it is Easter and the belief in the Christian Resurrection and the atonement for sin are paramount. So let us be generous and pray for a conversion for the pirates of Caricom.

Peace and love to all Jamaica at this time.