Green gone clear, but what about Nzinga?

I do not accept all the arguments put forward by the Director of Public Prosecutions, but nevertheless respect the outcome of the matter that involves reinstated Cabinet minister and Member of Parliament Floyd Green.

I am amazed by the speed at which the matter of Green and the others, who were charged under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA), was dealt with, while that of the Rastafarian girl Nzinga King remains a whole big circus with the decision-makers flattering all over the place like headless chickens.

Achieving real justice in this country is a far way from reality. If Nzinga King had a connection with the political hierarchy, her matter would have ended long ago, and, hopefully, the truth, the real truth, would have fallen into our laps.

But the matter of a Cabinet minister and MP; along with a sitting councillor of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation and others, had to take priority, the DPP might have felt. And, I guess, some members of the public, judging, from the sentiments that have been expressed to me so far, expected that with their link to the ruling party, they would all have escaped reprimand.

Overall, the real deal is not what the DPP has decided, but that a decision has been made in more than reasonable time, judging from the snail’s pace by which such matters are handled these days.

For the record, I did not believe that Green should have been asked to resign as minister at the time, because while he might have stepped out of line, it was not enough for him to have given up as policy head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Now that the DPP has washed her hands of the Green issue, can we expect that the Nzinga King ruling will be in by latest February 11?

Madame DPP must move quicker on this, or else her office will be deposited in the scrap heap of shame and injustice. The time for excuses has passed.

Import chicken if we must

Hopefully, Jamaica’s large producers of chicken meat and related products do not degenerate to the level that the ruthless banks have – by being all unconcerned about the pain that the people of Jamaica are feeling, and only focused on improving their already established profit streams.

Jamaica Broilers last week admitted that it would hike the price of chicken meat by $10 per pound – that increase adding to a few others in 2021 which affected the flow of things within the industry.

Apparently, the entire industry got jumpy last week when it was announced by relatively new Minister of Agriculture Pearnel Charles Jr, that he would be exploring the possibility of allowing cheaper leg quarters to come in from North America, which brought on howls of protest from some of the industry’s main players, including those in the Jamaica Agricultural Society.

Well, if that can be done, and the consumers of Jamaica will benefit directly, then let us import the chicken parts until the market settles down.

People are suffering in this country. Maybe it is something that the powerful capitalists who dominate the chicken industry need to realise.

If those who live in Jamaica decided to join real vegetarians and not eat chicken for three months, initially, what do you think would happen?

And there is this fear that if Jamaica were to import more chicken from the USA, the island would be flooded with inferior meat. But that is mere stupidity.

Remember when Jamaica used to produce sugar that could more than supply the local market? Well, much of Jamaica’s sugar for domestic consumption now is imported. One of the reasons is that it costs far less to import sugar than to produce the commodity here. So, what’s the difference with chicken?

Top producer Jamaica Broilers, a company that I have admired over the years, even from a personal perspective, more so because I am a recipient of the Fair Play Award sponsored by that organisation, should not only be at the forefront of production and distribution, but should also lead a conscious effort at ensuring stability in the system.

I believe that the minister of agriculture, by his pronouncements, only wants to protect the consumers of this country, and give them the best option, despite signs nearby that the State’s financial machinery is not doing enough to shore up the fortunes of the weeping majority.

By the way, the value of the Jamaica dollar hit a record low last Thursday. This country could well need divine intervention.

Jamaica, Barbados and crime

Some years ago, while in Barbados covering cricket, I took up an invitation from my idol Joel “Big Bird” Garner, the legendary West Indies fast bowler, to meet him at a bar on Baxter’s Road near the capital.

We sat there, joined by other friends, Keith Holder and Mike King, both journalists, in a wide-ranging discussion, mostly about West Indies cricket. But as we progressed, a man came in, seemingly with ‘spirits’ in his structure from another bar, and brought up the subject of crime.

He was concerned about the rise in crime in Barbados, in particular one at an ABM when a journalist was held at gunpoint and robbed of a few hundred Barbados dollars on Fontabelle Road near to the Nation newspaper. I then jumped in to say what’s the fuss about, you don’t have crime here, and he immediately recognised my accent as Jamaican.

“Oh, but you a di big boys of crime in the world, man. God blind man, how you guys have so many murders?” he asked, tongue further loosened with a few sips of Cockspur Rum.

There was no quick answer to that.

‘Big Bird’, whom I had requested to sit on a chair while I stood, so as not to make light of his six-foot, eight inches height, as against mine, a foot shorter, stretched his legs. ‘Boy’… he was about to say… but the new man in the group cut in on the verbal race… “you ha too many gangs in Jamaica man, and the politicians work with them.” Wow! A complete stranger saying that – one who had never before set foot on Jamaican soil, though he said that he would like to visit, despite the crime, because someone had taken back some jerk pork for him from Jamaica and he had fallen in love with the worst enemy of Rastas and Adventists.

The point is that Jamaica has held that reputation for being the murder capital of the Caribbean, if not the world, at least per capita, for too long. Take Bob Marley and Usain Bolt aside as positives, the first negative that people have of Jamaica is that of crime – murder in particular, and the people placed in charge of finding a solution have fallen flat over the years.

And yes, there are those who are trying to erase that reputation but it is really a long road, riddled with huge potholes that continue to slow the journey down.

Late last week, Jamaica’s army boss … oh sorry, Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson boasted about a six per cent drop in murders this time of the month over last year, and swimming in an ocean of reduced crime numbers in other areas. Hip hip, let’s all start the celebrations. We are all safe now.

Sad tale of Jamaica’s football

Amid the mess that discolours Jamaica’s football, the appointment of Paul Hall as, first, assistant national coach, and then interim head coach of the national team was a sloppy one.

It was not that the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) was not warned that using Hall, a former recruit as a player from England, to coach the national side. But the JFF comprises stubborn and tough-headed souls.

The resulting stubbornness has seen Hall lose all of the matches played under his column…even if some ridiculous people want to push the view that Jamaica lost at home to Mexico and Costa Rica, because there was no local crowd, which is absolute hogwash.

If Hall remains, he will only be interested in recruiting players who were born and raised in England for the national team. That’s not the way to go. What is needed now is for a deep concentration of the talent that is available here, and focus on them for at least the next four years.

It would be better for Jamaica to build on the youngsters through the schoolboy system, some of whom will get scholarships, or contracts to play in various leagues overseas, which will not only benefit them but the country as a whole, financially. They would then be prepared for callups to the national squad, instead of seeking washed-up England rejects, whose talent does not outshine many of those who live in Jamaica.

But then, too, what do you do with the penny-brain leadership of the JFF, whose leader complained about the lack of resources, and low Government support? Doesn’t he see that competence is the problem within his organisation? Oh no. He and his men are not smart enough to recognise that.