The war against the dreaded novel coronavirus pandemic and the perennial monster of crime will be the two determining factors as to whether Jamaica ends up being a failed State or a success story, even as this troubled nation approaches its 60th anniversary of having gained political Independence.

Today, September 3, marks the first full year of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) walloping of the Opposition People’s National Party and it can be said that one of the major contributors to that resounding victory was the impressive way in which the Andrew Holness Administration had been managing the burgeoning novel coronavirus crisis. Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton was the “star boy” and seemingly could do no wrong.

But, alas, the sheen has gone off the ball and we are now in crunch time. To begin with, the wishy-washy, hit-or-miss way in which the virus and, similarly, the crime problem is being handled has caused the Holness Administration and the JLP to lose much political capital.

Things started to fall apart when there was the growing perception that the Government was kowtowing to special interests (including major players in the entertainment sector), while treating with scant regard and heavy-handedness those at the lower end of the socio-economic ladder.

In this regard, whether true or not so true, the Dream Weekend staged in Negril, which is to be found in the hard-hit parish of Westmoreland, gave more fodder to the raging fire of speculation in the mind of John Public that the prime minister had acted invidiously and thus, has now found himself between a rock and a hard place.

Prime Minister Holness, no doubt, has been hurt by the fact that he had eased up on the COVID-19 restrictions in the interest of the business community and its SOS for economic survival, and is now getting the full blame.

But the prime minister and some key members of his Cabinet did display some amount of arrogance and lack of compassion when they declared in unison that the Government would not apologise for this obvious blunder. Well, he has now said “never again”, so let us see if he is a man to his word and will display the right leadership approach by continuing to impose the necessary restrictions, including curfews and lockdowns, to manage the ongoing crisis.

It has been said that in war there is really no winner or loser, but what is left. One suspects that the JLP leader is also mindful of the local government elections that are due in February 2022 and would want to put his party in a winning position, but now is the time that he must put the country’s interests first and not the party’s. Does he have the cojones to do this or will he, as is being suggested, embark on a public relations campaign to shore up his political fortunes, thereby displaying a classic case of Nero fiddling while Rome burns?

In this regard the prime minister must not simply mouth epithets about national unity, but must also demonstrably show that he genuinely wants a united nation and not one divided along party lines in tackling this crisis. This writer along with many well-thinking Jamaicans have been insisting that there needs to be a national consensus with respect to bringing the fight to the issues of crime and the novel coronavirus. We wait with bated breath to see how he will, in real terms, respond to Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding’s call for them to work together in whatever practical ways possible to rescue this nation.

In the meantime, what is causing many Jamaicans not to trust the prime minister and his crew is that there is a general feeling that they are not being told the truth or are being given, as the popular saying goes, “a six for a nine”. In this regard, the methodologies used in messaging need to be revisited and improved. Careful analysis of the Jamaican psyche needs to be done so that more effective and meaningful ways are used to communicate with a very sceptical, and, in many cases, scared populace.

Propaganda and half-truths are always used on the battlefield, but in the long run are self-defeating. And, in this vein, the prime minister’s so-called press conferences need to be reformatted. Though well-intentioned, the prime minister, oftentimes, comes across as being long-winded and bombastic, as well as evasive, and is too much on the defensive. Indeed, from an optics point of view, he appears to be the alpha male in the room beating his chest while affirming that he is the king of the jungle. As a result too many pertinent questions are left unanswered. Lest we forget, one of the first casualties of war is always the truth.

One undeniable truth is that the island’s health system is in a creaky, dilapidated state and the Holness Administration should once and for all stop paying lip service to this vital sector and treat it as a top priority. One only has to look at the protracted delay in completing the rehabilitation of the Cornwall Regional Hospital, which for all intents and purposes has become a national scandal. Millions of dollars have been spent, yet the main building of the multi-disciplinary medical facility can be likened to a bombed-out bunker. Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke keeps boasting about budget surplus and the net international reserves (NIR) while Jamaicans continue to die needlessly because of an inadequate, rundown and, oftentimes, ignored health sector, both in terms of human, technical, and physical resources. Now is not the time to focus on politics but on the logistics.

Meanwhile, one suspects that the prime minister, in a warped way, may be viewing the COVID-19 crisis as a blessing in disguise, as it detracts from the frightening number of murders that continue unabated even during curfew hours and lockdowns. No, Prime Minister Holness, the murder and novel coronavirus death figures are rivalling each other, even as morgues run out of space.

In times of crisis servant leaders and not despots should come to the fore. His is not an easy task and I am sure he has the sympathy of many concerned Jamaicans who would want him to succeed in taking us on the right path to winning this war. In the final analysis, Jamaica needs all hands on deck with a leader that leads from in front with compassion and steely resolve, bearing in mind that Caesar is not necessarily one person.

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full-time in Jamaican media for the past 45 years. He has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.