Glancing at Dr Clarke’s plan of change

Last week, Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke came under a bit of pressure from mainly the Jamaica Civil Service Association, which threatened industrial action if certain issues were not addressed adequately.

Dr Clarke responded to some of those issues by way of the media, which resulted in some amount of civility. There is some confusion by civil servants, and others, about some of the changes to the overall system of compensation that Dr Clarke has proposed, as part of an broad package to improve the public service. On the surface, the workers are suggesting that they will lose out. The minister and his team say otherwise.

In conversations with members on both sides of the Jamaican Parliament, many of whom were sceptics of the plan proposed by Dr Clarke, they have said that it would be in Jamaica’s best interest for the ‘new system’ to be implemented. At first, they said, it appeared not to be so, but the more they got into understanding the ‘package’, it became clear that more benefits would abound.

I have not seen the proposals under the revised system, but I take it that if so many of the people in Parliament think that what is coming would be better for the people they, in effect, represent, then it cannot be so bad at all.

Dr Clarke is a brilliant man, and while it doesn’t have to take a man armed with a prestigious Rhodes scholarship to make fundamental changes that will redound to the betterment of all concerned, I am left to wonder if Dr Clarke has seen something that many of us have been missing all along.

Two of our prime ministers of yesteryear — Michael Manley and Edward Seaga — were thinkers par excellence. They had ideas that would leave the average man in awe, some would say they were ahead of their time. At first, some of the things that they said would leave those close to them scratching their heads, until they settled down to reality. One such was the announcement made by Manley, shortly after he won the 1972 General Election, about free education for all. Some prominent names who were at that public event were all scurrying like headless chickens trying to decipher how to work things out. One even said to him at the end, ‘Michael, we never knew about this, how we going work it out?’ to which Manley responded, ‘I announced it, you work it out. It can and must be done.’

I am willing to give Dr Clarke the chance to prove himself, but in the meantime, as a side bar, he still needs to look at the effect that the movement of the price of oil on the world market has had on Jamaican life. As best as he can, too, he must ignore the feeble mutterings of someone like Robert Morgan, said to be in charge of Government information, who believes in the old- fashioned chatter that if there are any protests hovering or happening, then the Opposition must be behind it. People are feeling it. Those talkers in Government who do not believe it, do not belong there.

Blaine did the right thing

Not surprising, it should have been to anyone, that interim coach of the Women’s national football team Vin Blaine decided to resign, even as his employer, the Jamaica Football Federation, found no fault in the man, arising from a letter from 20 ill-advised women calling for him to be nailed to the cross.

Luckily, the JFF was not like Roman provincial Governor Pontius Pilate who found no fault in Jesus, but still sentenced Him to death after washing his hands before the multitude. So, for once, the JFF stood up for what was right in backing Blaine, but at the end of it all, Blaine had to make a straightforward decision. Since a majority of the squad members wanted him out, led or not by ‘outside forces’, he had no business staying on.

And it’s quite sad, for having led the team to four straight wins in the earlier round of the World Cup qualifiers, and poised to push the team to another Cup berth in Australia and New Zealand next year, the structure got derailed by people who thought that they were best for the players.

How could 20 players do the unprecedented and launch a campaign to get the coach out, don’t get what they desire, and continue to take orders from him? Would these same players give you 100 per cent during matches? Unless there is a massive turnaround in the thought process, and people openly repent, it would not happen. So why would Blaine waste his time on individuals who do not want him to be their technical and tactical leader?

Nothing has been heard of team ambassador Cedella Marley, who it has been said, is not so fond of Blaine, and who has the full blessing and backing of the players in this scenario. Maybe the JFF could engage her in conversation though, to see if she could succeed Blaine as coach in time for the July final play-offs — interim or full-time.

Who knows? Maybe she could hold training sessions against the full blast of her father Bob’s music in the background. My guess is, before you know it, crazy bald heads like me would witness a mass Exodus, which, eventually, could lead to all out War in the system later on.

A belief in local products

With competition so hot in just about every area of commerce these days, consumers will have to be hawk-like in checking, double checking, and triple checking what they get for their scarce dollars.

Apart from goods that we get from countries like China, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Trinidad & Tobago, the United States, and others, there are quite a few industrious Jamaicans who have been making their mark. Oftentimes though, these Jamaicans, though talented, concentrate on imitating some good brands, Clarks shoes, for example, ignoring copyright provisions, and forced to operate under clandestine conditions — paying off rogue police personnel when they are caught.

But all of that could be avoided if the local talent would only create their own brands, market them, and try and build up the clientèle as best as possible, while maintaining solid standards that will force purchasers to hug up the products as if they want to be with them for eternity.

I remember decades ago when my grandfather, Amaziah Hamil, would buy a new pair of shoes and walk home in them, throwing the old pair in his old tear up bag. He loved a brand called Bata, which originated in Hungary, and was the shoe to wear during the 1950s, 1960 and even a part of the 1970s. My grandfather would tell you when asked why he always wore his new shoes home, that he wanted to make sure that he ‘christened’ it, just in case he died before he got home. But I believe that it was more than that.

He believed in the brand, Bata. He would buy nothing else, but would accept any other if it was given to him by a willing buyer. Bata, he believed, represented the kind of reputation and strength that was needed in the shoe making industry. That is why, I believe, that if local makers got their products up to a high standard, personal advertising by those who spend their money would start from the moment they purchase — they too would wear their new shoes home, no matter if they consider themselves old and could face their demise in a snap of the fingers.

It is worth a try.

How much did Kamina’s Africa trip cost?

Recently, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith took off on a trip to Africa covering eight nations, to preach the gospel of next Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

The simple question that will follow is, how much money did that trip cost the Jamaican taxpayer, and why? If money was not used by Jamaica to fund the trip, then which country picked up the tab?

Already, Johnson Smith is the front-runner for the job, now held by Dominican-born Englishwoman and member of the British Labour Party Baroness Patricia Scotland. Delegates from the 54 countries of the Commonwealth will make that decision at the end of June in the African country of Rwanda.

With so many countries backing the Jamaican candidate for the London-based job that pays the equivalent of a little more than $40 million a year, making the $6.5 million that she makes now irrelevant, Johnson Smith is unlikely to lose, unless some of those powerful countries that have openly said they want her in, are producing top-notch actors.

England, Australia, Rwanda (the president would not visit Jamaica for anything else), India, Canada, and more have tremendous resources to influence others to do as they say.

As for the incumbent, apparently her stewardship has been called into question far too often, although she has said that some of the big bullies want to have their way and she stood up to them.

But back to the question of funding of Johnson Smith’s trip. Going to Africa as an individual is not a cheap undertaking. I have travelled there. Heading to that continent with a delegation is a different calculation. I have not seen the cost reported anywhere, which does not mean that it hasn’t been, but I would love if the outgoing minister of foreign matters could reveal the expenditure, outlining in clear terms how much had to be taken from the ministry’s travel fund, how many people went, what class did they travel, and how much, if any, was received in the form of friendly donations by those external forces pushing her campaign from a distance.