A fine stroke by ‘Babsy’

WHEN the suggestion is made that the best performing minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Andrew Holness is one Olivia Grange, who most of us call “Babsy”, it should never be taken lightly.

Last week it was confirmed that the Festival Song Contest would be spicier than normal, with some of the popular names in Jamaica’s music fraternity, among them some of rich vintage, chosen among the final 10 contestants.

Pleasantly shocking, it would be to those interested in the contest that names like Buju Banton, Toots & the Maytals, Freddie McGregor, Papa Michigan, Shuga, and Sakina Deer are involved in this year’s renewal. What has brought about this?

Surely, it is the ingenuity of the minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport. Babsy is one of few who thinks like that … to breathe new life and inject additional energy into the process.

By her admission, meetings were held with some of the finalists to try and get them involved in the contest; and it worked. Babsy has a way with people. She knows how to connect with them and get the best from them.

Now, we are going to be treated to two live Festival song shows, July 12 and July 19, when we will see Buju, Toots, Freddie and the others in full flight. That’s simply brilliant.

Who would have thought that Buju Banton would be a finalist in a Festival Song Contest? My fondness of Buju is legendary, but the song that sounds best to me is that done by Freddie, with Sakina Deer’s in second.

Buju, however, is powerful, and he might be the favourite. The songs all sound good though.

Again, kudos to Babsy Grange for coming up with something hugely different this year.

Already, she has gone down in my history book as among the five most outstanding woman parliamentarians that Jamaica has seen.

Had it been a game of cricket, that ball would have cleared the fence, and the umpire raised his hands like a preacher in the spirit.

Not the best team sent to England

Well , there are about three stories about why Cricket West Indies (CWI) sent a team to play three-Test matches in England, starting next month. And CWI has still not given the real reason for touring a country whose COVID-19 statistics are alarming.

That aside, the composition of the team comes into question. Not the best squads were selected, which confirms my earlier suspicion of appointing former Guyana and West Indies player, and Coach Roger Harper to chair the selection panel, as he is far too conservative.

Harper is not the only one choosing the squads, but his influence is solid. To have again selected Kraigg Brathwaite, a failed opening batsman, among the main squad, suggests a cowardly embrace of what prevailed previously. In compounding the problem, Brathwaite’s likely opening partner, Jamaican John Campbell, has not made the grade too, and is lucky to have been selected.

But when I see the fastest bowler in the region and the world, Oshane Thomas, only managing to make the reserves, I have to wonder what is really happening. There is no place too for Trinidadian wicketkeeper/batsman Nicholas Pooran, a rare talent, maybe because someone like Harper does not believe that he is Test material.

The unwise decision to decline the tour by Shimron Hetmyer, Darren Bravo, and Kemo Paul, the latter who has not even made an impact, could work against them in future.

Life is about taking risks. It is a gamble. Notwithstanding the several COVID-19 cases in England, the measures that cricket UK has put in to guarantee the safety of the players seem fool proof.

Prison deal fuss unnecessary

THE public tracing match about which party, or Government is responsible for shelving the prison deal offered by the Government of the United Kingdom was unnecessary.

It was the Jamaica Labour Party Government that took office in 2016 that told the motherland that Jamaica would not be accepting the 25-million-pound gift to assist in building the prison, that would, among other things, be used to accommodate convicted Jamaicans in the UK.

The negotiations started under the previous Administration of the People’s National Party, which won the December 2011 General Election, and took the Oath of Office in January 2012.

The deal was not finalised under the PNP though, and by time the JLP formed the Government in February 2016, there were indications that it would not go ahead.

I clearly remember then Minister of National Security Bobby Montague stating publicly that Jamaica would not accept the offer. That was also echoed in the Senate by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith.

So what’s the fuss about? The prime minister should check these things thoroughly before he speaks. It should not be as major an issue that it has turned out to be, but the fact is that Jamaica is producing more criminals, home-grown and imported, and the conditions at penal institutions here are depressing.

That’s why I am amazed to see so many people commit acts of , knowing that if they are caught and found guilty, then prison would be an ultimate reward for such transgressions.

Some of them know the conditions that exist in these hell holes, yet they still want to be numbered among the repeat offenders. Silly!

Can we look at increasing the length of sentences, if even to demonstrate that prison is not a domino joke?

Floyd, COVID-19 have created a new world

THE jury is out as to what has been the significant occurrence that has reshaped the world this year.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) burst from the starting gate first, and established an early lead. But the death of American black man George Floyd, at the hands … sorry … knee of a policeman, brought some competition to the fight for number one slot.

Both are negatives though. But they have changed the world in such a significant way. My wish would have been for none to have occurred. COVID-19 has severely damaged, if not destroyed some economies. There is hope that with the coming of a vaccine, which I strongly believe will be available by year-end, the virus may be controlled, if not eradicated.

But the memories of what transpired in Minnesota, USA, can never be erased. It was an act that should never have occurred. The related protests that spewed out across the globe, in many unlikely places, suggested that millions of people, perhaps billions, agreed that the black race had had enough.

Several positives have arisen from Floyd’s death, and as saddened as most of us are about the loss of his life, he will be viewed as the hero who forced the world to sit up and take note.

And as the days pass, there is greater hope that the United States will be entrusted again with a leader whom the whole world will respect, if not love. That is so crucially needed now, as the US is still the country that defines the viability of so many others.

Now before I have my cup of coffee, can one of those brilliant scientists give us a guarantee that he will put in a little extra work so that we do not always have to be on the street looking like bandits? Let’s hope so.