HOW mortifying: the Barbados dollar is the equivalent of two US quarters, while the Jamaican dollar is equal to a tad over one US cent. I single out Barbados because that country has none of our natural resources and a nearly 100 per cent literacy rate. Their government ministers pay for their motor vehicles out of their own pockets – only the prime minister gets a Government car.

A group of benefactors from Food for the Poor recently visited a community in Canaan Heights in Clarendon as they are planning a gala event in Florida to raise funds for the community. “I feel so much for the children,” Cathy Moabery commented. “It’s not their fault. How can you not give them a bed to sleep on? How can you not give them a dry home?”

“Families with small children live crammed together in a space smaller than some people’s closets,” said Robin Knowles, a committee member. “They have no running water, no sanitation, no electricity, leaky roofs, holes in the walls, literally just pieces of tin patched together to make a home.”

We are making a special appeal to our prime minister, using a column written by the late John Maxwell in March 2006. It was published again by the Jamaica Observer a few weeks after the December 2011 PNP victory — it has been getting hundreds of hits on my blog in recent weeks. The title of the column is “Portia faces life”, and in it, John gave an enthusiastic vote of confidence to PM Portia Simpson Miller: “Most people who know me are aware that I have been a partisan of Portia Simpson’s for a very long time. The reason is simple: I believe that she is the only leader in the People’s National Party who really understands what the PNP was founded to achieve and who realises that those original aims and objectives are not only unfulfilled, but in urgent need of fulfilment.”

John Maxwell described her as a “populist” in a positive sense, as he said the word originally suggested a movement “towards a plural society with fair shares for all and no one left out.”

“Portia has said she wants to ‘Make Jamaica Work’ and I understand from this not only that she wants to get people back to gainful employment,” he wrote, “but that she wants Jamaica to begin to function again as a civilised, safe and peaceful community of productive and happy people.”

He continued: “To do this she has proposed that she will work to get the people to plan and design their future themselves, to get them to be wholly invested in the making of the significant decisions which order their lives.”

It is interesting that the title of the late John Maxwell’s column was that of a popular radio soap, Portia Faces Life, because the state of the country as we wait for an IMF deal, watch the dollar slide and the ranks of unemployment swell, is nothing short of high drama. Will the prime minister recall the faith placed in her by the great John Maxwell? Will she moderate spending for herself, her fellow ministers and parliamentarians, signalling to the poor that every spare change in this country is going to be used to better their circumstances? Will she declare “fair shares for all, and no one left out” regardless of their political colour?

This is no melodrama — this is Jamaica’s reality. Tread softly, dear Prime Minister — you tread on John’s dreams.

‘No good deed goes unpunished’

The Electoral Advisory Committee/Electoral Commission of Jamaica (EAC/ECJ), led by Professor Errol Miller, has been the gold standard for productivity and probity. They are meticulous about financial reporting, and have been audited over the years by the Auditor General’s Department. Because of this continuous monitoring from the AGD, they had not commissioned an audit from a private firm. You can imagine their shock at seeing a report suggesting that they had not been keeping proper financial records, and taking issue with various aspects of their operations. 

The ECJ and the Electoral Office of Jamaica can stand up with the best anywhere in the world. In fact, the OAS selected our system as the leader in IT, and our director and deputy director of elections have been assisting Commonwealth states in organising their electoral systems.

As Prof Miller makes his exit from the ECJ after 12 years of legendary leadership, we give thanks that he has taken the unwarranted criticism in good faith, quoting the scriptures: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”

Let us be just in our pronouncements, lest we discourage the best among us to offer themselves in service for the national good.

Two must-have books

Dr Henry Lowe recently launched his autobiography, It Can Be Done, charting his life from a humble home in downtown Kingston to accolades from fellow international scientists for his breakthrough research in cancer treatment and prevention. But Henry Lowe is more than a scientist. He has been academic, permanent secretary, entrepreneur and environmentalist. Find out how he gets it all so well done!

Last Thursday Beverley East launched her book Bat Mitzvah Girl – memories of a Jamaican child. You will read the heartwarming account of the three Jewish sisters who were neighbours of Beverley’s family in England. They became so besotted with little Bev that they were visiting her teachers and defending her rights. What a story!

lowriechin@aim.com

Jean Lowrie-Chin is the author of Souldance, a collection of poetry and commentary.