Disagreeing with the majority over MPs’ pay

We are often short-sighted in Jamaica, and the whole matter of remuneration for Members of Parliament (MPs) has not been given the kind of examination that it truly deserves.

Last Monday, a poll done by the reputable Dr Don Anderson for the RJR/Gleaner Group found that around 80 per cent of mature Jamaicans believed that parliamentarians should not receive salary increases.

Well, I dare say that that massive majority is clearly wrong. We tend to get carried away by cheap emotion that we fail to see the merits of making certain moves. There is a prevailing view that politicians in Jamaica are all thieves, something that is dreadfully flawed.

Paying a Member of Parliament $3.5 million annually and calling it a salary only makes a mockery of the situation. Even if a Government MP gets a Cabinet appointment which would push his salary up to around $5.5 million per annum, that too is inadequate, based upon the many hurdles that he has to clear on the way to cushioning the many blows from the people.

An elected official should not be asked to dip into his salary to help offset ‘headaches’ of constituents. But we are in the real world, and any MP who does not use his salary on his constituents, will not be around for the next election. Many MPs spend more than their monthly salaries on basic needs for their constituencies, among them Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Peter Bunting, Dr Norman Dunn, Dr Fenton Ferguson … a long list.

How then do they survive? Well, you may say that Holness is the prime minister, so he should have access to money; or Bunting is wealthy; or Dr Dunn is a businessman so he doesn’t need to be paid by the State, or Dr Ferguson can get around by running his dental practice. But being a Member of Parliament is a job, and compensation should be awarded accordingly.

We are so petty and parochial in this country that we often become blinded by stark realities.

Paying MPs more will also bring about brighter individuals who would want to serve in Gordon House. But at this point, and knowing what I know, only a mad man or someone who wants to work solely for charity, would want to become a Member of Parliament.

So coronavirus is here, now what?

There is no need for panic. But try telling that to 2.8 million Jamaicans and other nationalities, who are keen on hearing what is happening with this virus that does not discriminate when it goes on its killing and discomfort spree.

No one should be surprised that the first case of coronavirus, or COVID-19, was determined here. This is a country whose citizens are much travelled. It is also one which depends, like nothing else, on people coming to its shores to spend what they have and don’t have.

Now, it will be crucial, even critical, that the Government manages the process from this point onward, for there to be minimal fatalities arising from this unwanted guest. My hope is that partisan politicking does not interfere with what we should be doing to try and find solutions to something that could turn out to be a crisis.

No vaccine has been found to tame the virus, but it is encouraging that China, and the United States are digging deep to find a viable and relevant solution.

What can our medics do? I suppose nothing yet, for we do not, unfortunately, carry out much medical research in Jamaica, which could mean, as vulgar and crass as it might sound, that we will see the emergence of several bush doctors who will put forward remedies like Dawg Blood, Guinea Hen Weed, Bissy, Leaf of Life, Susumber, Sour Sop leaf, Dandelion etc, as viable options.

It all sounds like trying a thing, but who knows? There might well be a shining light somewhere there.

Crocodiles are too protected in Jamaica

Sometime ago, news surfaced that the people of a community in St Catherine were fearful of a large crocodile which had taken up duties as an unpaid security guard in front of the entrance to their community.

Now, here is another story of the protected reptile making life uncomfortable for people … real people. In Jamaica, the crocodile is often treated better than the people who build this nation.

If someone is attacked by a crocodile and that person ends up killing the creature, he could face conviction.

As far as I am concerned, crocodiles mean very little to Jamaica. I do not buy that silly view by the National Environment Protection Agency that those ugly creatures are harmless and they attack only if they believe that they are being attacked or protecting their young ones.

We could do a whole lot more for this country if we decided to use the crocodile breeding farms in St Elizabeth, Trelawny, and elsewhere, to develop Jamaica’s textile industry by using the skins to make leather for shoes etc.

Some African countries are doing it. Why can’t we in Jamaica?

I remember one time I went to St Lucia, and stayed at one of the top hotels in Castries, the capital. One employee, who played cricket for the Windward Islands, and who could have made the West Indies team had he not been so fearful of fast bowling, introduced me to alligator meat – the tail that is. Now the alligator is a first cousin of the crocodile, so initially I said ‘no, not at all’.

But after considering how many people alligators and crocodiles have ‘murdered’ and devoured, I decided to take my revenge. It was quite tasty, but I have never tried it again. Is that a potential protein for our tables, or should we be afraid of how the coronavirus started in China?

It hot KC, Edwin Allen, but hush

Only something like coronavirus could have prevented Kingston College, and Edwin Allen High School from retaining their Boys and Girls’ titles at premier secondary schools athletic championship this year.

Indeed, KC, the most accomplished school in the history of ‘Champs’, was seeking to become the first school to break the 400-point mark, had the event got going on March 24 as originally scheduled.

Edwin Allen would have left the girls’ field gasping too, what with their star-studded line-up. But a so it go.

Originally, I thought that those who made the decision to cancel the championship were too hasty. But upon careful reflection, the right thing was done. Maybe, consideration could have been given to postpone it, maybe, say until May or June, but then you would be digging into examinations time, and there ought to be no sacrificing exams for Champs.

Those athletes who never stopped training last April, in preparation for this year’s staging, must be devastated. They sacrificed a lot and now all of that has evaporated. Sad! But at the end of the day, the safety of everyone is of paramount importance.

For some of those athletes who were seeking to impress talent scouts in order to take up scholarships in Jamaica and elsewhere, other doors will open to them. That’s a guarantee.