Yesterday, July 4, 2018, marked 125 years since the birth of National Hero Norman Washington Manley. Today marks 50 years since Norman Manley stated at his 75th birthday banquet (held the day after his birthday) that he would step down as president of the People’s National Party (PNP) and as leader of the Opposition. The change of the guard took place in February 1969, when his son Michael Manley was elected president of the PNP.

Many words in several books have been written about Norman Manley, the schoolboy athlete at Jamaica College, the Rhodes scholar and chemistry teacher, the decorated World War I soldier, and the lawyer who never lost a criminal case. Many words have also been written about Norman Manley, the founder of Jamaica Welfare (now Social Development Commission) which was dissected into several government agencies.

Norman Manley was also the first president of the PNP (though he never claimed to be founder), chief minister and premier of Jamaica. Dubbed ‘the man with the plan’ in political campaigns, it is quite possible that one day someone will write a book that will expand on this.

Such a book, if ever written, should state that Norman Manley should really have been given credit for at least 90 per cent of the plans that have been implemented and developed in independent Jamaica. This is indeed so, although Norman Manley was never prime minister of Jamaica in political independence.

In the book Man of Destiny, published by the PNP in 1954, it is written that the elder Manley’s parents were very impressed with the history of American Independence. So, with Norman Manley being born on American Independence Day, they gave him the middle name of Washington in honour of George Washington, the first president of the United States of America.

The break with the British Empire by the USA in 1776, like the later break by Haiti from the French Empire in 1804, always impressed people living in colonies who wanted political independence. Many resented living in colonies, especially if colonisation was by conquest, which was true in most if not all cases.

The fact that some nations that fought for their own political independence are today accused of being oppressors has nothing to do with the point being made here. But such cases are nevertheless classic examples of the oppressed becoming the oppressor.

So Norman Manley was, first and foremost, an advocate for political independence, and secondly a Fabian Socialist, which is a moderate variety of that ideology. Still, Norman Manley, at the time of the ferment in the late 1930s, thought that Jamaica needed economic independence rather than self-government. However, he later changed his mind. Norman Manley was also a federalist, but the West Indies Federation was short-lived.

Most of Norman Manley’s plans were manifestations of his socialist beliefs, especially in the area of housing, free education, health care, community development, cooperative ownership, and a radio station ( Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation) to broadcast Jamaican programmes. While he was chief minister of Jamaica, Norman Manley established the Beach Control Authority in 1956 to ensure that every Jamaican had access to all of our beaches.

It is, therefore, a sad irony that it was under the PNP Government of the 1990s that Jamaicans found that they gradually had far less access to the best beaches in Jamaica. I am not aware that the laws governing beaches have been repealed, but this has become quite a sore matter in recent times, and politicians in both major political parties have been guilty.

I still conduct church camps, and in the 1990s some of the camps were held in St Ann’s Bay. The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) owned a villa in Mammee Bay, St Ann, and they generously allowed us access to the beach. In 1996 I was told by a Jesuit priest that security guards employed by Carinosa, (a company owned by then Opposition Leader Edward Seaga) were stopping Jamaican non-tourists from using the beach. So we stopped going to the beach at Mammee Bay.

It is bad enough that the zoo at Hope Gardens, a gift to the people of Jamaica at the time of political independence in 1962, now has an expensive entry fee. This nonsense did not start with the present Government, but they have not stopped it either. Since it takes millions of dollars to run the Hope Zoo, wouldn’t it have been better to have set up a Zoo Foundation with tax write-offs for substantial donations to efficiently take care of the animals so that all Jamaicans can have access to the zoo?

Ever since 9/11, it has been standard practice all over the world to close the waving galleries at airports. How do we create and sustain families if individuals cannot take their children to the airport to see aeroplanes? Also, former Air Jamaica Pilots’ Association president, the late Russell Capleton, asked rhetorically how we could inspire young Jamaicans to become pilots if Air Jamaica was sold. This was totally against the spirit of what Norman Manley stood for.

Norman Manley wanted Jamaica to belong to all Jamaicans, not only in theory but in actual fact. He wanted all Jamaicans to receive the best education and have the best health that the country could afford. He wanted a nation of Jamaica in which its citizens would be proud to be Jamaican in international sports competitions. This is why he envisioned a very large stadium complex which he reduced because the then political Opposition accused him of wasting money.

Norman Manley was also accused of wasting money in dumping up “the swamps of Negril” to enhance the tourist industry. Today, Negril represents a huge portion of our tourism product. Of Norman Manley’s personal integrity, the late Sir Arthur Lewis wrote that West Africa will never be great until it produces men of integrity like Norman Washington Manley.

Michael Burke is a research consultant, historian and current affairs analyst. Send comments to the Observer or ekrubm765@yahoo.com.