A portion of this article was inadvertently omitted from Sunday’s Agenda. Here is the full text.

In 2011 when Paul Buchanan was sent to contest the West Rural St Andrew seat, many believed that the PNP was sending him on a suicide mission and that he would have been a sure loser.

There have been many versions as to what brought about his ‘surprise’ win. Many JLP supporters blame the lackadaisical approach of the then JLP MP, Andrew Gallimore. Some say he deliberately threw away the seat because he wanted to concentrate his energies on his shipping business.

Paul Buchanan tells me that it was simply hard work.

A few months ago, I toured the constituency with the MP and saw first-hand what much of the day-to-day activities of the MP was all about.

We began at Sterling Castle, then went to Red Hills where we spent close to an hour on the site of the soon-to-be-opened school. It is an impressive structure.

It began under the JLP and for some time it was stalled because there were complaints from the then Opposition PNP that the school was being built on a sinkhole. The PNP eventually won and, true to the form of our politics, the sinkhole has magically disappeared.

According to Buchanan, the sinkhole has been completely filled in.

We then travelled to Rock Hall, then to Above Rocks and on to Oberlin High School, where the MP was grilled mercilessly by the teaching staff. I stood beside the MP as he answered many questions on the poor state of some roads, the progress on breakaways caused by floodwaters from hurricanes Nicole and Sandy in 2010 and 2012 respectively, transportation and the problematic water supplies.

We eventually drove through many small, hilly districts, made our way to Temple Hall, then to Stony Hill where the MP feted me royally with a Tastee meat loaf and a soda.

Two Thursdays ago when we met, he told me that big breakaways at Mt Ogle and near to Oberlin High School have been repaired. When I saw them, they were quite dangerous, dropping in some instances to 40 feet and rendering 50 per cent of the roadway useless.

According to the MP, he has had to spend numerous hours at the works ministry negotiating to get road repairs to his constituency.

He ought to know, though, that the soak-away for flood waters at that valley on the Mount Salus Road is still very much in a clogged state. With the hurricane season coming up, it demands attention, as do the horrible roads leading up to, and inside Padmore.

Is Vision 2050 Tech Training more realistic than Vision 2030?

Buchanan is a disciple of the idea that Information Technology is the way forward for Jamaica.

Two weeks ago, I was part of a ‘discussion’ on the Caribbean Online Forum where big ideas and massive egos often come into contention. Professor Winston Davidson posted a view of the Internet that I thought perfectly captured that which we take for granted.

“What is unfolding before our eyes is the Internet, which is the first universal platform and means of production that will freely be accessible to all, whether you own property or not. It is in fact the first socially owned means of production in human history. It represents the most rapid, efficient platform for human production, innovation, research and development, services delivery and doing business in general that the history of mankind has ever documented.

“It is, and heralds, a new revolutionary and epoch-making stage in human history. It represents the first non-exploitative platform of human production in human history if the world continues to allow unencumbered and unfettered universal access to it. It has already begun to change characteristics of the social relations between individuals and the collective forever.”

I have never before seen a description of the Internet in such an illuminating light.

According to Paul Buchanan, in a paper submitted to the Universal Access Fund titled A Proposal to Establish the Vision 2050 Technology Training Centres, “The project seeks to establish the Vision 2050 Software Centres of Excellence (SCE) throughout West Rural St Andrew, whereby youths will be able to leverage cutting-edge technology training. This will not only provide them with sustainable local and global employment but also an opportunity to continually upgrade their skills to be competitive in a changing technology marketplace. The ultimate goal is to train and select the best graduates of the SCEs for further training and to conduct research and development of software products in a natural setting. In a real sense, this initiative signals the start of the long overdue drive to position Jamaica as a centre for unique software products.

“The primary objective of our proposal to the UAF is to obtain funding for the purchase of computers and related accessories, to equip an initial 200 stations in 10 locations across the constituency of West Rural St Andrew.

“The start-up capital is budgeted at $22,000,000. It should also be noted that in addition to fees earned from products and services, Vision 2050 will be availed of support from the MP’s CDF, NGOs, private companies and aid agencies. An affordable and flexible registration/entrance fee will be charged for intermediates (level 2) and programmers (level 3). The beginners (level 1) will be admitted free of charge.”

I am impressed by any MP who has more than the usual myopic five-year election cycle approach. I am looking forward to seeing this project get off the ground and then replicated across all 63 constituencies islandwide.

observemark@gmail.com