Proverb: Yuh shake man han, but yuh no shake him heart

Translation: You can shake a man’s hand, but you cannot shake his heart.

Explanation: It is impossible to detect what a person has in his mind toward you through mere physical contact. Do not, therefore, take people, their opinions, or their feelings for granted.

Speaking at a constituency conference in Central Manchester last week, Dr Peter Phillips, leader of Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition trumpeted, “It is clear the Jamaica Labour Party Administration has no clue how to reduce crime.” Dr Phillips’s expertise as a crime czar is known around the globe.

Apart from Phillips’s statement being a supreme irony, it reminded me of a maxim in Niccolò Machiavelli’s pioneering work The Prince: “Judge not, by the eyes, judge by the hands.” Where does this maxim come from? It comes from a tale that was popular in Machiavelli’s time. The story goes like this: A man keeps some birds in a cage. Each day he takes one of the poor birds, kills it, and eats it. An inexperienced bird says to an older bird, “Look at his eyes, he is crying while he is killing our fellow bird.” The old bird, responds, “Do not judge by the eyes, judge by the hand.”

We must judge Phillips and the People’s National Party (PNP) based on their actions and not by their convenient rhetoric and fantastical chatter.

In August 2012 the Jamaica Observer published this frightening expose: ‘9 Cops to 1 car — Police have only 1,300 working patrol vehicles for entire island’ The details revealed, among other things:

“A Corporate Area policewoman on patrol came close to serious injury or, possibly, death last week. That’s not an uncommon occurrence in crime-plagued Jamaica. However, in this case, the frightening experience came not at the hands of gunmen, but when the door of her patrol vehicle fell off in the middle of traffic.

“A few days later a member of the motoring public who observed the dangerous and embarrassing incident told the Observer that one of the cops travelling in the dilapidated service vehicle remounted the door, but had to use his arm, which he flung through the window, to keep it closed the entire return journey back to base.

“While a senior officer at that police station has confirmed the incident to the Sunday Observer, he declined to be quoted on an issue that has become shameful and a thorn in the side of the police — the rotting shell that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) fleet has become. The JCF simply doesn’t have enough vehicles to serve the country.

“Angella Patterson, who is the civilian head of the JCF’s Corporate Services, in response to this paper’s queries, said the JCF now has only 1,300 working patrol vehicles to serve 19 geographic divisions and protect a civilian population of over two million people.

“ ‘We have about 1,300 active vehicles now on the road, about 1,800 in total, but 1,300 actively on the road. There are about 350 vehicles that could be made roadworthy with parts. The estimate is between that $20 million and $30 million in parts would make those vehicles roadworthy,’ she added.

“Patterson admitted that Jamaica is woefully nowhere near the international standard for the ratio of service vehicles to personnel. That standard is one service vehicle for every four police officers.

“That means, in Jamaica’s case, with the 1,300 vehicles currently making up the JCF’s fleet and the approximately 12,000 members of the constabulary, the ratio is more like nine cops to a vehicle.

“According to one Sunday Observer source, most station chiefs count themselves lucky if they have even one vehicle that is roadworthy enough be sent out on patrol daily. He said that, in most cases, there is a rotation or tag-team approach with the few vehicles that are available for use, with one team having to wait several hours until another team returns with the service vehicle to base before going on the road to work.” ( Sunday Observer, August 26, 2012)

Dr Phillips was the minister of finance in 2012, yet he did not allocate the necessary resources to alleviate the chronic shortage of police cars. Phillips’s broadside on the Administration’s zones of special operation legislation in central Manchester last week was nothing more than unaimed cannon balls. A few weeks ago, Phillips described the zones of special operation legislation as “oppressive”. His salvo all but disintegrated in open waters. When the PNP realised that they were massively losing public support, they reluctantly agreed to the legislation in both Houses of Parliament — an effort to save political face.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, some months ago, told the country he would not countenance the use of criminal-type strategies to fight crime in our country. Holness has kept his word. Extensive training in human rights has preceded the implementation of the zones of special operation legislation. This unprecedented show of respect for human rights has been welcomed by numerous stakeholder groups, including Jamaicans For Justice.

“Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) is currently playing a major role in the human rights training being offered to members of the security forces. And JFJ board member Horace Levy is commending Prime Minister Andrew Holness for what he says is Holness’s seeming respect for the rights of his citizens.

“I suspect strongly that the greater discipline of the military on the ground would have a positive effect in the execution of law enforcement, and I am hoping it does, because there is need for strong law enforcement, provided that there is no violation of human rights. The feature of this Act, or at least the way it is being promulgated by the prime minister, is quite unique. On previous occasions when there were crime crises, as in the 1960s and 70s, Prime Minister Hugh Shearer told the police to take no measurements. In other words, just go in and carry out policing duties.

“Michael Manley, in 1974, established the Suppression of Crime Act, which had to be repealed 19 years later because of elements which were contrary to human rights. Here it is that Prime Minister Holness is strongly speaking out in favour of human rights and advising the security forces in general that he is not into any kick-down door. This approach contrasts very sharply with approaches taken in earlier years, and this is highly commendable. Also [laudable] is the component of social and economic interventions.” ( The Gleaner, July 19, 2017)

Phillips’s a recycled socialism does not understand this new paradigm, therefore, he is busy “tilting at windmills”. I agree with Government senator, Matthew Samuda, that Phillips “is a man scratching for relevance”.

In my view, Phillips was an abysmal failure as minister of national security: “In 2002 the murder rate moved to 40 per 100,000, and by 2005 it had risen to 64 per 100,000 population, placing Jamaica among nations with the highest murder rates in the world.” [Jamaica Constabulary Force: Police Crime Statistics]. On Phillips’s watch murders peaked at 1,674 in 2005. [JCF statistics]

An article in this newspaper on August 28, 2005 noted the following comparisons between Phillips and K D Knight, who also served as security minister: “K D Knight can boast 40 or more pieces of legislation to strengthen crime policy, new and better vehicles for the police force, new policy direction for the police, and a revitalised victim support programme, among other performance indicators. Phillips can make no such claim.”

We must judge Phillips and the PNP based on their actions, and not by their convenient rhetoric and fantastical chatter.

Recall this banner headline in The Gleaner of May 4, 2002: ‘Pothole-free roads by 2003, Pickersgill promises’. The story told us, inter alia: “Minister of Transport and Works Robert Pickersgill said yesterday that by 2003 Jamaica’s roads would be pothole-free. Pickersgill also announced that the National Works Agency (NWA) had secured the necessary equipment to undertake cleaning and maintenance of the South Gully ‘Montego Bay Drainage and Flood Control Project’: ‘Over many decades we have been able to construct new facilities, but seemingly we fall short on maintenance, not so anymore,’ he said.

“ ‘The box culverts will be cleaned regularly and the NWA has already acquired a state-of-the-art drain cleaner that will complement the other pieces of cleaning equipment being purchased.’ “

Nothing of the sort happened.

Bait and switch is a primary political strategy of the PNP. I am not surprised. Remember the prognostication of Robert Pickersgill, ex-minister of land, water, environment, and climate change, and life chairman of the PNP: “We believe it is best for the PNP to form the Government, therefore, anything that will lead us or causes us to be in power is best for the PNP and best for the country.”

In January 2013, Phillip Paulwell, then minister of energy, told the country that a project to mine rare earth elements from Jamaica’s red mud was going to result in great economic benefits. Paulwell said the project was “the starting line of an opportunity that has the potential to redefine Jamaica’s economic prospects in a positive way”. ( Observer, January 16, 2013)

Those who foolishly bought into Paulwell’s rare earth rhetoric of billions in earnings for Jamaica were sorely disappointed when they read this screaming headline in the Old Lady of North Street: ‘Rare-earth metal project in limbo’. The story said, among other things, “The much-touted exploration of rare-earth metals from red mud by a Japanese company in partnership with the Jamaica Bauxite Institute has failed to enter its second phase, owing to a flood of the metals on the world market.” ( The Gleaner, March 5, 2015) Paulwell, the youthful enthusiast, seemingly did not do his due diligence and embarrassed Jamaica for the umpteenth time.

Anancism is king in the PNP. Recall this headline in The Gleaner of May 25, 2012: ‘Broken Promise — No rollback of GCT on electricity’. The story delivered these heartbreaking details to thousands of expectant Jamaicans.

“The Portia Simpson Miller Administration has reneged on its promise to abolish general consumption tax (GCT) on electricity.

“Making his opening presentation in the 2012-2013 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips announced changes to the way in which GCT is to be charged.

“The minister said that, as of June 1, no GCT will be charged on the first 300kWh of electricity consumed, up from 200kWh. However, the tax will move from 10 to 16.5 per cent. The measure is expected to earn the Government $430 million this fiscal year.

“In the general election campaign last year, Simpson Miller declared that her Administration would remove GCT on electricity if her People’s National Party was elected to form the Government. The promise was also contained in her party’s election manifesto.

“Yesterday, Phillips told the House that of the approximately 500,000 JPS residential customers, 377,000 consume less than 200kwh of electricity.”

“He said the new tax directives will result in 90 per cent of [Jamaica Public Service] customers not paying GCT on light bills, up from the initial 76 per cent.

“ ‘The proposed measure should relieve approximately 80,000 additional residential customers from the payment of GCT on their electricity bill at the new threshold level of 300kWh, leaving only 52,000 residential customers subject to GCT,’ Phillips said.

“Just last month, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell said Government intended to honour its election promise to roll back the consumption tax on electricity usage.

“ ‘There is a commitment that was given to the people of Jamaica which we intend to fulfil,’ Paulwell said during a sitting of the House of Representatives.”

We would do well to remember the local adage, “Don’t mek hungry man carry yuh food.” The PNP is famished.

Proverb: Payshent man ride danki

Translation: A patient man rides donkey.

Explanation: It is customary that travellers in a great hurry are loath to go via the slow but sure donkey. For them, a horse, used to galloping at terrific speeds for sustained periods, seems a more logical choice. However, the donkey, although much slower, eventually gets to its journey’s end. Similarly, we must exercise great patience in order to reach our goals.

Garfield Higgins is an educator; journalist; and advisor to the minister of education, youth and information. Send comments to the Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com.