The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. — Vince Lombardi

“The culture of any organisation (or government) is shaped by the worst behaviour the leader is willing to tolerate.” A few days ago I saw the above poignant post by former contractor general of Jamaica, Greg Christie, on Twitter. To me it encapsulates the roots, trunk and branches of the cancer on this People’s National Party (PNP) Administration. We have a prime minister who has spent all her political capital, squandered the confidence and trust of the masses and, for all intents and purposes, is a veritable political sitting duck.

Three years and six months ago Portia Simpson Miller gave this country a solemn promise: “The mandate is a cry for us to restore hope. The mandate calls on us to protect the good name of Jamaica, at home, and in the eyes of the international community. Jamaica must remain, for all, a ‘quality brand’, which gives citizens from all walks of life the opportunity to achieve their goals.

“The Jamaican people have sent a clear message. They want a more accountable and transparent government which consults them; and they should expect nothing less.

“On my watch, I pledge that the rule of law will be paramount and we will serve with humility.

“On my watch, I pledge that we will honour the faith and trust of the Jamaican people.

“On my watch, I pledge that we will reject governmental extravagance and be vigilant in eliminating corruption.” (Extract from Simpson Miller’s inaugural speech, January 5, 2012)

Country people have an adage: A promise is comfort to a fool. They are right.

Her words now ring hollow. The Government is a wrecking ball team of incompetents, led by a sunshine leader. I am not surprised since many in the Administration did not succeed at anything prior to entering party politics. The more they wreck the economy — and consequently the hopes and dreams of the people — the tighter they huddle in their thatched empires.

Last week, the minister of announcement and template for political disappoinment, Phillip Paulwell, told the country for the fifth time in just over three years that number portability would not be achieved. The fact that Paulwell is still a minister of government is testimony to the abysmally low standards in our politics. In a self-respecting country, he would have been axed, tarred and feathered at the political stake long ago. It is noised in political circles that Paulwell, like Bunting, has his eyes firmly fixed on the prize of president for the PNP as soon as Portia — soon to be a septuagenarian — walks into the sunset.

It is not far-fetched that either might achieve his objective. They are qualified by virtue of rank political incompetence. These political ‘tweedledee duo’ are far ahead of the game of other PNP president aspirants, except maybe for Anthony Hylton — Jamaica’s political Don Quixote.

“There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,

There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, mend it.”

— Excerpts from a song Harry Belafonte recorded with Odetta in 1960

The numbers game

Three years ago on Sunday, June 17, 2012 the Observer carried a piece headlined: ‘Paulwell promises number portability by December’. The story read, inter alia:

“Amidst the intensification of the rivalry between the country’s two providers of mobile phone service, Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell is indicating that number portability will be a reality in Jamaica by December.

“Number portability allows the owner of a mobile phone to switch from one service provider to another, while keeping the same phone number.

“Paulwell’s disclosure came shortly after service provider LIME slashed its mobile telephone rates by as much as two-thirds in a bid to woo customers and shore up its performance.

“Speaking with the Jamaica Observer, Paulwell described LIME’s rate reductions as good news for consumers and suggested that Jamaicans should brace for even greater benefits as the battle for space heats up. ‘It means you can anticipate a period of very hectic and fierce competition,’ Paulwell said.

“Regarding number portability, Paulwell said discussions are underway to determine the best mechanism to manage the process.

“‘The law that we passed recently allows now for number portability to be effected, and we intend to have that done during the course of this calendar year, and it gives me, the minister, powers to effect it, and right now I am working with a team to make sure that we have the right systems in place,’ he said.

“‘There has to be an infrastructure that would allow for the customer to seamlessly move from one network to another,’ he added.

“The minister explained that there will be some costs associated with creating and monitoring the system, but said those costs will have to be shared by the service providers.”

“With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a straw.

The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,

The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.”

This is the same Phillip Paulwell who a few years ago derailed the PNP’s public relations scheme — laughably called the ‘Production Train’ . The same man who may well have cost the country $220 million; in the botched Netserv nightmare, the very minister who embarrassed the country and damaged its reputation in the Energy World International 381-megawatt electricity debacle.

The December date came and went. Paulwell simply drank another goblet of announcement concoction. He kept his job on account, doubtless of what former Prime Minister P J Patterson dubbed “youthful exuberance”.

On Tuesday, October 14, 2014 in a story carried by the Observer, entitled ‘Paulwell reaffirms number portability for May’, the country was told the following:

“Minister of Science, Technology, Energy, and Mining Phillip Paulwell says that the long-awaited telephone number portability should be in place by May of next year.

Paulwell was speaking at the relaunch of the upgraded Liguanea Post Office Internet Café, in Kingston, on October 9.

“The implementation of number portability, after an initial announcement by Paulwell, has already been delayed for close to two years.

“The minister had earlier promised that the service would become effective by December 2012, then revised it to the end of 2013, and then the end of May 2014, before setting the 2015 deadline.

“Junior minister, Julian Robinson, early June, admitted that the ministry would still have a challenge meeting next May’s deadline, as one of the providers, LIME, has indicated that they would only be ready with mobile portability by that time, while the others — Digicel and Flow — are insisting that they will not go ahead unless it is full mobility.

” ‘Yes, we had a projected time frame of May this year, which clearly will not be met,’ Robinson told Parliament then during his contribution to the annual sectoral debate.”

“Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it.

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what?”

Where else in the world does a government demonstrate such unrivalled ineptitude and suffer no consequence? Mediocrity is a premium in our politics and a staple in our public affairs. Those who insist on high standards are routinely vilified, then crucified. Paulwell, and those like him, capitalises on large-scale ignorance by selling political trinkets. In this arena political fresh air is squeezed out and performance made a rarity.

On May, 14, 2015 an Observer headline read, ‘All in place for roll-out of number portability’.

“Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell says all is in place to facilitate number portability in Jamaica by the end of this month.

“Minister Paulwell, who was addressing a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday, said all the required infrastructure is in place and there is agreement by all service providers to facilitate the platform.

“He said that licences have been granted and the regulator, the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), is fully up to speed on executing its monitoring role.

“Number portability will allow Jamaicans to move from one service provider to another while retaining their telephone number.

“‘With the new system… that number is yours. It allows the consumer to be in control of the number and gives the consumer power over the provider,’ Paulwell noted.

“He said that persons wishing to change their service provider can do so at no charge.

“‘In fact, the law now prohibits a charge by the donor provider to the customer apart from those that govern the service prior to the porting (switching from one provider to another),’ he explained.

“‘The incoming provider has the option, but I suspect it might prove foolhardy on their part to impart charges on new clients,’ he argued.

“According to Paulwell, number portability should lead to greater competition and the lowering of prices to consumers.

“Initially, number portability will only be facilitated from mobile to mobile and fixed line to fixed line. ‘Eventually, porting will be facilitated across service technologies, but we’re not there as yet,’ Minister Paulwell said.

“He told JIS News that the porting facility being established will be reserved for operation within the country’s borders and by Jamaican service providers.”

“With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, with an knife.

The knife is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,

The knife is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.”

May came and went, and still there was no number portability. Paulwell is still a minister of government. The lowest common denominator is king.

‘Delayed again!’ read the banner headline in the Observer of May 31, 2015.

“Jamaica will have to wait another 22 days to begin switching from one mobile carrier to the next following an announcement that telecoms giant LIME is still not ready for the implementation of number portability.

“LIME has been given a 22-day extension because some of the testing that they have been doing has failed and they really need the time to sort it out,” Minister of Science, Technology, Energy, and Mining Phillip Paulwell told the Jamaica Observer in a telephone interview last Friday.

“The new implementation date is June 22.

“‘I met with all the players today, and we have determined that all the testing must be completed before that time and that the modifications be done to system to ensure that we have no further delays,’ he added.

“Number portability should have been implemented in Jamaica from December 2012. Paulwell later revised it to the end of 2013. Since then, the process has been pushed back some five times, with the latest date being May 31.

“Reports are that LIME has created a number of the delays, while Digicel is insisting that it will not go ahead unless there is full mobility with LIME.

“Last month, Paulwell informed the House of Representatives that he has issued a Number Portability Administrator licence to Porting Access BV, a company out of The Netherlands, which was working to ensure that the May 31 deadline would be met. The licence took effect on March 16 and is expected to last for a period of 10 years.

“Porting Access BV is mandated to establish, operate, manage, coordinate, and maintain a number portability central reference database and an automated central order handling system, in addition to related activities for the provision of number portability.

“Number portability arrangement will allow Jamaicans to move from one service provider to another while retaining their mobile and fixed telephone numbers. The system will also enable greater competition among players within the telecoms industry, resulting in lower prices and more innovative products and service.”

“There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,

There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Use your head, then! dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

Use your head, then! dear Henry, dear Henry, use your head!”

The political missteps of Noel Arscott, Dr Fenton Ferguson, Richard Azan, A J Nicholson and indeed the entire Administration are a reflection of the inability of the prime minister to lead. She has hugged and kissed failures that have caused thousands of Jamaicans to be unable to pay their bills, find jobs, buy food, medication, and live as decent human beings.

Some of those who wasted millions of dollars bailing out friends as happened in the National Housing Trust/Outameni scandal are stoutly defended and rewarded with reappointments by the prime minister. Hundreds of millions wasted at the National Solid Waste Management Authority and on phantom projects, as happened at the former Goodyear property in St Thomas, are overlooked. The welfare of Jamaica is not a primary concern of the prime minister and her Government. Her preoccupation is protecting those who are loyal to the PNP at all costs.

While the Portia Simpson Miller Administration, its spin doctors and sycophants tell public sectors workers to “hold strain”, it is an albatross around the necks of the people. Non-performers drive around the country in high-end SUVs, eat their meals at swanky restaurants and hotels abroad, and fly first-class around the world. Austerity is the lot of the people. These betrayers of our Independence then ask the masses to make further sacrifices. I have long argued that there is no burden-sharing. They view us like Boxer in George Orwell’s allegory Animal Farm. We must work to subsidise their foibles and inefficiencies and accept crumbs from their tables like house slaves.

Given that the PNP has been in office 22 of the last 26 years, the evident deterioration of almost every facet of life can only be attributed to that party’s failure to live up to the trust placed in it. One cannot help but conclude that this Government is an enemy of the people.

Habits are cobwebs at first; cables at last. — Chinese Proverb