The end of every year is a good time for evaluating the happenings of the ending year. A time to review events and accomplishments, some planned, others not. The fact that they happened means they get a review. There are also things that never happened that we wanted to happen, and things planned that didn’t happen the way we intended.

The plan must be to improve the good things and correct the bad ones in 2016. So this is a good time for reflection to wrap up the year 2015.

Jamaica is near and dear to my heart and I take being Jamaican very seriously. This has been before we were famous for reggae music, athletics, beautiful people, high crime, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) case studies. My years growing up in Jamaica were great because of two amazing parents and amazing grandparents. One half of my grandparents lived in deep rural Trelawny, off the grid, because there was no grid those days in the district of Bunkers Hill. There was nothing like living off the grid as a child. Everything we ate was grown by my grandparents, and every day of the holidays spent in those exciting happy years was like a movie. It was fantastic. Inevitably, after summer, was the dreaded ‘wash out’ — can’t go to school with whatever was picked up in ‘deep rural’ was what we were told.

From my country holidays I learned that cocoa was from a tree and made chocolate tea, which would burn your tongue if you were not careful. I learned that you can grate corn when you let it dry on the cob to make cornmeal. I learned not to play with the chicken grandpa put in the coop on Friday because it was Sunday’s dinner and it was no fun seeing your friend on the table in pieces, though delicious.

I learned that the rushing waters of the nearby river had shrimps under the stones near the shore, and my brother learned that you shouldn’t put live shrimp in your pocket, and when you catch eels you must tie them because they will escape in the grass if you leave them there.

So, every day there were more adventures than I remember. And these were happy days, because my grandpa and grandma were the greatest, they cared for us and made me feel greatly loved and most important. These were the times I came to believe that Jamaica was a beautiful magical place, with endless opportunity and everyone had that opportunity to be a child when they were children, a teenager when they were teenagers, and an adult when they grew up.

However, as I grew up in Kingston my beliefs were challenged by life’s experiences. I found that not everyone had grandparents to spend summers with, or parents who could look after them the way mine did. I also found out that there were many unhappy children and angry adults. These experiences shaped my perception over the years and made me speak up about the inequities I see around me, especially when I see so many good people struggle every day, and have the resolve to say that it’s OK; we are alive so all is well, things will be better tomorrow.

There is a great need to change our resolve to find solutions that will improve our circumstances, rather than accept them as the way it has to be.

THE CHALLENGE

As another year ends, I observe the experience of Jamaicans reflecting increasing struggle and unearned inequality, expanding as far as the mountaintop is from the valley floor, with only prayer for the poor and disadvantaged in the struggle for tomorrow. The need for equal opportunity, justice, and unbiased representation is increasing daily as we note exclusive success and excesses of mostly those who already had. The people are impatient for success.

The year 2016 will bring more challenges to Jamaica with the anticipated election causing national anxiety with the behaviour of some politicians reverting to old-style politics, threatening and intimidating opponents. Economically, the approaching end of the IMF support in 2017 should be cause for a national evaluation of how we will conduct the nation’s business when the arrangement is concluded. We should be preparing for this. It would be useful to hear something from candidates — from all sides — about how they would handle the new guidelines and targets set with the IMF.

While the realignment to our government framework to correct economic operational deficiencies is happening on schedule, the growth which should occur relative to it is taking place at a snail’s pace. Going forward without IMF oversight in 2017 will be the first test of any Administration because the structural adjustments must be maintained so that whoever is the government will maintain and improve economic growth for all after so much sacrifice.

The lack of national political discourse on this matter is disturbing and seems to point to those wanting to form the Government having no recognition of the issue. But the people are impatient with struggle for no gain, frustrated by avoidable failures caused by incompetence at responsible positions of government

RESOLUTIONS

New Year’s resolutions are easy to declare because they are not burdened with reality. My expectations for this new year are no different, because I have been the beneficiary of my year’s accomplishments, seen what worked, what was hard to achieve, and what happened without my trying.

My selections for the new year should improve every year — if only I would follow the lessons of the current year and keep it personal. However, I depart from my known reality and extend my expectations to those in Jamaica who occupy the positions of power over the economy and national resources for 2016. They are:

1) A better quality politician — people seeking to advance the nation, not themselves.

2) A Government that keeps its commitment to its people; like the commitment by government to create the wildlife sanctuary of Goat Islands which should remain a natural wildlife fish sanctuary and place for “likkle lizard”, birds and fish, and not become a foreign territory.

3) A responsive, respectful and truthful Government which respects everyone in word and deed, regardless of social, political and economic status.

4) Members of parliament who are actually representatives of the people in their constituencies working to improve the lives of all residents, regardless of party affiliation, and not continue to be mouthpieces of their respective political parties.

5) Ministers of government with actual expertise in the field for the ministry which they helm, with the requisite management ability.

6) That the National Water Commission will implement solutions to the collection, management and distribution of domestic and wastewater, instead of blaming the problems on the system they inherited over half a century ago. The excuse that this is what they got is really very old and sad and shows a lack of ability.

7) A physical planner in government to develop a real plan for the physical infrastructure and built environment in a comprehensive strategy.

8) A genuine start to national planning to implement housing and community solutions to correct the squatting problem.

9) That the Finsac Commission report be finally completed.

10) Political leaders with vision that most Jamaicans are willing to embrace and enable.

In January 2016, all Jamaicans, especially those who remain passive about their conditions, must get together with their fellow community members and call on those who say they represent us. They all have phone numbers and are supposed to have offices in the constituencies. We must not be incited by their failure, which leads to our frustration and into us thinking that blocking roads will bring lasting solutions to our problems. We must ask the ones trying to get elected now to present in public their thoughts on practical workable solution on matters relevant in our communities in order to get our vote, whether PNP, JLP, or the dog that they send to get our vote.

Jamaicans, we must become advocates for what we want Jamaica to be. We must embrace the art of the possible. Many things conspire against us every day because of the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and — although I hate to say it — Independence.

The current politician is a descendant of the colonial system and shows no real intention of changing. We must let them know that their inadequate representation will not be allowed to continue. The only way to let them know is to write and call them and do so collectively. Let’s resolve to start that in 2016.

FALLACY

Independence for Jamaica was inevitable, and the many variables required to run a country at the time were unclear and unknown (maybe they knew) to the future leaders. And, somewhere in the look to the future, they chose to adopt as Jamaica’s motto, “Out of many one people”, which made us all feel like we were to be afforded equal opportunity, justice and services. That statement was not sincere. We are not equal.

It appears that they meant that “we are all equal”, then neglected to tell us that they also believed that they are “more equal than us”. We, the disenfranchised Africans brought to Jamaica in chains, stripped of our liberty and culture after being led to believe we would become a welcome part of a new nation, found that the master of our distress was changed from British-Jamaican to Jamaican, maintaining the system of oppression developed by the British over 500 years. Without our culture, we Africans have been forcibly made to drift aimlessly for all these years. We needed an anchor to re-establish our self-esteem and develop what was to become our culture. What was right at the time of Independence was the self-denigration and lack of esteem of anything African or black, reflected today in bleaching, broken families, distrust and indiscipline. It is time for these things that have led to so many current undesirable traits be revealed so that an understanding might be obtained of how they came to be, so that our reasoning can find foundation in facts, not Anancy anecdotes.

The University of the West Indies can and should undertake to create a chair of Jamaican studies to research and present regularly to the public, both in conference and online, the path Jamaica has travelled for us to be here today. Our African-Jamaicans really need to know. We need to achieve our independence. This year is as good a year to start as any.

LEADERSHIP

All told, we must keep all things good and bad in mind, while we undertake to keep our personal focus and direct that of the Government who are currently giving away our priceless heritage in backroom deals, for a debt that our descendants will be repaying with no benefit to us and our culture. We cannot continue creating unsustainable debt for political and personal gain on non-productive endeavours. Government must become leaders by example for the people and provide the country with the best coaches for society and economy.

In this new year, we have the benefit of it being new, we have both political parties preparing for an election with the same script as years past. We must move on from this arrangement. We must communicate with them early and often to let them know that there will be sanctions for poor performance, sooner than later and definitely not every five years. The sooner they realise that most of us are not so easily distracted or fooled, and aware of what they are doing, the sooner they will stop taking us for granted. Times have changed but they have remained the same. This is not acceptable.

Finally, if we must retain our flawed constitution long enough to have responsible parliamentarians and government, then so be it; Jamaicans have been exposed to too much bloodshed and want to see it end. The constitution must be reformed and made to be a guiding principle for the people elected, so they recognise they are to serve us, not the other way around. Politicians must recognise that their position is not for show, but requires the difficult activities of study to become expert about our strengths, weaknesses and resources. Governance is not about personal “shelling out” but skilled management of our resources, accompanied by disciplined implementation of solutions with dedication, integrity and perseverance, to achieve success.

I have said too much already. I will endeavour to reduce my words (next year) in agreement with all who have an interest in what I write. Also, I must pledge to focus on building those positive things that exist in my beautiful piece of Jamaica, in my own little corner.

Happy New Year, Jamaica, family, friends and those with whom I agree from time to time, may the new year be a refreshing change from the anxiety of the expected to the surprising welcome of Jamaica having overwhelming success over political parties.