I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean. — G K Chesterson

Last Sunday, this newspaper carried on its front page a most interesting proposal from Gordon “Butch” Stewart, chairman of Sandals Resorts International and the Jamaica Observer. For those unencumbered by low-voltage thinking, it was straightforward enough.

As expected, the People’s National Party came out swinging against Stewart’s proposal. I am not surprised. Damion Crawford was spot on when he said recently that former Prime Minister Michael Manley would be ashamed of this People’s National Party (PNP).

In the public discussion of the pros and cons of Stewart’s proposal, I believe a very serious omission was made. What is that?

There is a class of thinkers — here I am being very generous — in Jamaica who evidently believe that the majority of us must be “hewers of water and carriers of wood”. They see nothing wrong with a certain category of people getting billions in bailouts and special privileges. However, as soon the masses are to receive some tangible benefit which can improve their pockets and enhance the quality of food on their dinner tables, there is a threat of revolt.

It is time those whose blood, sweat and tears have been guaranteeing the passing of International Monetary Fund tests for over 40 years get a return on their investment.

While some might have been upset when Prime Minister Andrew Holness reiterated the commitment of the Government to implement the tax relief plan, the majority who waited nearly six years for a five per cent increase on their salaries were not.

I commend Prime Minister Holness for his resoluteness in seeking to change aspects of the foundational rot that has held the country back for decades. Those who, as Bob Marley said, “nuh have nuh friends in high society” are tired of the half-measures and palliatives.

Last week the PNP again made the country know how it views ordinary folk being given an economic lifeline that will have reciprocal beneficial spin-offs for the economy.

“PNP scoffs at using TEF [Tourism Enhancement Fund] for $1.5-m income tax plan,” screamed the headline in this newspaper last Tuesday.

Norman Manley’s party is evidently obsessed with turning Jamaica into what some contemporary economists refer to as a “Zombie State”. Such states exist only to pay debt. The contents of the story, based on a news release from the PNP, leaves little doubt that the dominant theme of the PNP’s thinking is rooted in merciless taxation and little else.

“Former Minister of Tourism Wykeham McNeill has come out against suggestions that money from the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) be used to fund Government’s $1.5-million income tax plan.

“But in a statement from the People’s National Party (PNP) Tuesday evening, McNeill hit out at the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) saying that ‘in the heat of their election campaign, made untenable promises to the people. Now the rubber has hit the road it is clear what they put forward as a ‘plan’ was not viable’.

“He argued that Finance Minister Audley Shaw, instead of consulting with Cabinet regarding the proposal, should speak to stakeholders in the industry.

“ ‘On a principle of good governance it is more important that the minister seeks wide consensus of the players in the sector, given the commitment given to the sector by the Government of Jamaica when the fund was being established. This includes hoteliers, large and small, villa and apartment owners, transport operators and attractions, who most benefit from the collective expenditure of these funds,’ McNeill said.

“ ‘The TEF was established by an Act of Parliament to provide resources for marketing the destination and to invest in improvements in our tourism product to ensure that we keep pace with trends in this most competitive industry,’ he added.

“ ‘To divert these funds is to jeopardise the continuation of product improvements that are vital to the long-term sustainability of the sector’.”

What absolute rubbish!

Whose money is in the TEF? In what verifiable ways have ordinary workers in the tourism industry benefited from this fund? Maybe Dr McNeill might want to outline that.

Those who argue that the sky will fall if the tax relief plan is implemented must tell us why they did not espouse similar viewpoints when the former National Housing Trust board approved near $200 million for the bailout of a single individual. That injudicious decision is still costing taxpayers some $900,000 per month. Did they cry shame when Lambert Brown, Percival LaTouche, Sonia Hyman, and Robert Budhan were reappointed after a scathing report on the Outameni affair by the auditor general of Jamaica?

Those who say let ordinary Jamaicans who have put this country on the world stage ‘eat cake’ should tell us why they did not argue that the International Monetary Fund programme would be derailed when this story appeared in the public space: ‘Government did not receive value for money in an almost $9-billion project implemented by the agency’. (

The Gleaner, November 11, 2015)

Our economy lost $7 billion and 13 million production man-hours because of the carelessness of the former Administration to prepare the country adequately for the chikungunya outbreak. Many of those who say cancel the tax relief were silent on this matter. Why?

Those who say the country will go under when the tax relief package is introduced, seem to be terrified of something. What is that?

Are they afraid that certain hegemonic structures which are designed to keep ordinary Jamaicans ‘in their place’ might be punctured? The relics of slavery are still a powerful force in Jamaica. To be sure, let me point out that the pernicious Willie Lynch psychology is not a matter of colour. Indeed, there are many black Jamaicans who, like Miss Aggy in Trevor Rhone’s

Old Story Time, still believe that “anything black nuh good”.

I commend Stewart for thinking beyond the interests of his Sandals Group.

“I, for one, would be very proud to see tourism coming to the rescue of the plan and giving this well-needed contribution to the taxpayers,” said Stewart. “After all, everyone knows that it is the Jamaican community at large which has made it possible for tourism to be doing as well as it is doing. Tourism has a vested interest in the well-being of the rest of the society.” (

Jamaica Observer, April 12, 2016)

His words testify that he is thinking and, more importantly, is prepared to act to further the interests of the ordinary Jamaican.

To pull this country from the rot of 23 years of economic mismanagement by the PNP will require a Churchillian approach. Prime Minister Andrew Holness is uniquely placed to move Jamaica from the ‘poor man of the Caribbean’ category and re-establish her as the pearl of the Caribbean.

The PNP must accept the lion’s share of blame for the economic doldrums in which Jamaica is temporarily fastened. Michael Manley’s party formed the Government in 23 of the last 27 years. During that period we saw the decimation of the business sector.

In the 1990s the PNP wrecked the economy with their scorched-Earth economic polices. Recall that these companies capsized under the PNP’s time at bat: (This is an abbreviated list) Mutual Life, a company that operated locally for over 100 years; Goodyear Tyre Company; West Indies Glass; Homelectrix; Workers’ Bank; Raymar’s Furniture; Charley’s Windsor House; Thermo Plastics; Berec Batteries; Century National Bank; Crown Eagle Insurance; Crown Eagle Insurance Commercial Bank; Island Life Insurance Company; American Life Insurance Company; Eagle Merchant Bank; Ecotrends; Times Store; Things Jamaican, which had its location turned into a prison by the PNP. Add to those another 45,000 small- and medium-sized businesses that went under during the 1990s.

While former PNP Administration steered the ship of Jamaica there was an unprecedented explosion in costly money scandals from which we are yet to recover.

Recall a front-page story in

The Gleaner on Tuesday, February 9, 2002, which listed major money scandals that have occurred under the watch of PNP administrations. The root of these scandals is an amalgam of ineptitude and a cruel waste of public resources. The consequences have helped to chronically impoverish Jamaica and damage our credibility abroad.

• Shell waiver (1991) — $29.5 million; approximately $68 million in today’s terms

• Zinc (1989) – $500 million; approx $1.3 billion today

• Furniture (1991) – $10.6 million; approx $ 35 million today

• Public sector salaries (1998) – $60 million; approx $137 million today

• NetServ (2001) – $220 million; approx $785 million today

• Operation Pride/NHDC (1997-present) — $5.5 billion projected; approx $10.8 billion today

TOTAL= $6.320 billion; approx $13.3 billion today

Former Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, to be generous, was our most unimpressive head of government since Independence. The consequences of her ‘leadership’ have provided a most recent template in how not to govern. Simpson Miller’s failures again came out into the wash when the Office of the Public Defender published damning report on the operations of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).

Hundreds are still suffering from the negative health effects of fires at the Riverton dump. The findings of the Office of the Public Defender have skewered Jennifer Edwards’ stewardship as the former chief executive of the NSWMA.

The country is anxiously awaiting the necessary actions which need to follow these scandalous findings.

1. The allegation of lack of resources has not been made out in that the billions of dollars provided for the Riverton and other disposal sites have not been accounted for nor have the earnings of the parks and markets.

2. The NSWMA operated with impunity, in that it disregarded/ignored the terms and conditions of National Environment and Planning Agency’s (NEPA) environmental permits and made little effort to be compliant, always raising issues as to why it could not comply.

3. The NSWMA failed to fulfil its legal duty to safeguard the public health of Jamaicans. From inception to 2014 it operated and managed the Riverton disposal facility without an environmental permit contrary to the provisions of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act.

4. The NSWMA acted at large without any or adequate sense of fidelity or understanding of the enabling legislation and demonstrated little or no appreciation for the constitutional provisions guaranteeing people a healthy and productive environment, free from the threat of injury or damage from environmental abuse and degradation of the ecological heritage, and repeatedly violated the provision of the charter.

5. The executive director also, it seems, operated as an executive chairman of the board without sufficient/if any checks and balances.

6. NSWMA managed its financial affairs without a sense of duty and accountability to the people of Jamaica.

7. It has not submitted to Parliament either annual reports or audited financial statements in over 10 years.

8. The NSWMA has breached section three of the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act.

9. The costs of putting out the fires over the very many years far exceed the cost of establishing a sanitary landfill so urgently needed.

10. Under Ms Jennifer Edwards’ leadership/stewardship the authority ignored or disregarded or failed to appreciate the absolute necessity for observing all NEPA’s conditions.

11. The creation and maintenance of cells is an effective means of reducing the possibility of fires, the cost of which is manageable and within budget.

12. That the financial resources of the NSWMA were managed with far less care than was required in the management of public funds. The authority breached many basic and established accounting practices to govern its resources.

13. Despite the widespread and frequent fires the NSWMA did not have a fire suppressant system but relied exclusively on the fire department as first responders.

14. The NSWMA’s attention to “public health” of Jamaicans related solely to the removal of garbage from homes and communities.

15. There exists at Riverton a multitude of mini dumps of various sizes and material dispersed all over.

16. A report on Riverton would not be complete without mentioning the existence of perhaps the largest piggery in the county, if not the island, creating a stench which is as offensive as it is invasive.

17. It was not Parliament’s intention that garbage truck after garbage truck should attend on the disposal site and deposit the garbage and repeat that action to the extent that sections of the Riverton disposal site are now “over 80 feet above sea level” as told to the public defender.

18. Parliament’s intention when enacting the NSWMA remains unrealised, unfulfilled.

19. NEPA was slow to act and started to pursue NSWMA after the permits were issued.

Jamaica now needs to pursue a new and different path.

Governor General Sir Patrick Allen confirmed in the throne speech on Thursday that Parliament will this year see legislation to create fixed election dates and term limits for the prime minister. This cannot come to soon.

“The Impeachment Bill, which will provide for impeachment proceedings to be brought against corrupt public officials and parliamentarians and further amendment ‘to give full legislation to marijuana to be used for the specified purposes’ when implemented will further perforate certain slave constructs that some are intent on protecting with every sinew of the being.

The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good. — Baltasar Gracian

Garfield Higgins is an educator, journalist, and advisor to the minister of education, youth and information. Send comments to the Observer orhiggins160@yahoo.com.