Performance-related reward? Look no further than the Oregon World Athletics Championships my people. This is the blueprint: Get good coaching, train, perform, prepare to be tested.

Regardless of your talent and certificates, nothing beats hard work. This is a message that does not seem to resonate in this country. Yet we all cheer with one voice when we see that work materialise into the championship medals earned by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson, Elaine Thompson-Herah, and Shanieka Ricketts and the hard road travelled by our athletes to qualify.

Keith Duncan, chair of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) says, “The GOJ [Government of Jamaica] Transformation Implementation Unit (TIU), trade unions, and bargaining units are cordially and diligently working through the very complex and involved negotiation process towards the implementation of the new Public Sector Compensation Model.” Duncan noted that the public sector must pay better to retain outstanding workers or the sector may suffer from attrition.

This reminds me of a conversation I had recently with the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Ambassador Sheila Sealy Monteith. She related the anxious moments she had while coordinating with fellow ambassadors, consuls, and friends of Jamaica to get our students safely out of Ukraine. “Night and day we ensured we answered every call and text from the students, updating them on arrangements made at the Polish border,” she said. “We could not sleep until we knew they were safe.” While others suffered in the cold at the border, heated buses were on spot to take our students to safety. Public servants like her and many others can stand toe to toe with the best in the private sector.

Diligent and ethical professionals will have no need to worry about performance-related pay. They are like our proud athletes who have no issues being tested repeatedly after their race because they know they are clean.

We know, too, that there are also issues of ethics in the private sector.

Futurist Edie Weiner, who addressed our International Women’s Forum in Jamaica in 2020, noted that, while time used to be regarded as the greatest luxury, it has been replaced by trust. Imagine that – trust is now a rare element.

While it is easy to spot an unethical athlete running under the bright lights and follow up with drug testing, it is challenging to identify dishonest workers. Thankfully, the technology is constantly improving to track performance of all types, so let us ensure that those quiet, diligent folks are rewarded and not frustrated. We need to keep our best in Jamaica.

STARRY NIGHTS IN EUGENE, OREGON

Many of us Jamaicans are a bit bleary-eyed, travelling in spirit to the Oregon World games every night and ‘running’ with our athletes. We see on social media how we went hoarse from the screaming when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, once again, won the gold in the 100m event, along with our other two queens, Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah, gave us a clean sweep of the medals. That broom emoji was everywhere.

Hansle Parchment’s cramp just before the start of the 110m hurdles was a moment of despair as he sparkled in the semis; however, we learnt that there was no serious injury and that he should be ready for the Commonwealth Games.

Then came Shericka in the 200m – what a heart-stopping run! Did Shelly-Ann push her even further than she imagined? Well, she ran away from the field into golden glory with Shelly-Ann and Dina Asher-Smith of the UK getting silver and bronze, respectively.

We sympathised with Olympic gold medallist Thompson-Herah as we know she was just recovering from an injury. Shanieka Ricketts jumped to her second World silver medal, the statuesque athlete flying high her Jamaican flag. We gained silver in our women’s 4x100m relay, but that still surpasses the Beijing slip when the baton was dropped.

We also hail our Reggae Girlz who beat Costa Rica and then had the tiring inconvenience of shortage of funds when they tried to check in their equipment. When will the Jamaica Football Federation take our women seriously?

VISIT TO LMC IN SEAVIEW GARDENS

Diligent does not even come close to describing Leon Mattis.

The HEART/NSTA Trust graduate in landscaping looked across the street from his house in Seaview Gardens and saw promise hidden under a garbage dump. “I contacted the Social Development Commission and they assisted me in a lease-buy arrangement for the land,” he explained. “It was a low-lying area which used to get flooded so I raised the level and then built this little place, which I am planning to expand.”

Mattis has a muscular disability which slows his walk, but this has not prevented him from developing a landscaping and fish-rearing business, supported by members of his family and community. We visited with Digicel Foundation Project Manager Miguel “Steppa” Williams and board director and Digicel Jamaica CEO Jabbor Kuyamov, along with young interns from the company.

It was fascinating to see the beautifully designed fish tank created by Mattis and his own mix of fish food as the commercial version is very expensive. He is hoping to install renewable energy to save on expenses.

It was serendipitous that while I was reflecting on the bravery and vision of Leon Mattis I received a video on WhatsApp showing Keith Duncan announcing, “We’re here to have a conversation about a game-changing project for Jamaica, Project Star. Project Star is about lifting, transforming communities and individuals. Project Star is about transforming Jamaica to the Jamaica that we all want as a people.” Please watch Television Jamaica this evening, this may very well be the long-awaited turning point for Jamaica.

CONGRATULATIONS, DIONNE JACKSON MILLER

The St Andrew Chapter of the International Business and Professional Women’s Club, led by Dr Lilieth Nelson, awarded the prestigious Mavis Watt Award for Excellence to journalist and attorney-at-law Dionne Jackson Miller last Saturday.

A Morant Bay High School alumna, Jackson Miller started out with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the sciences and later bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law, specialising in human rights law. Dionne has conducted media training for leading private and public sector organisations. She has been the Press Association of Jamaica’s Journalist of the Year twice and has served as the organisation’s president.

The citation concluded: “An advocate of press freedom, speaking at the recently concluded (2022) People’s Forum put on by the Commonwealth Foundation in Kigali, Rwanda, Mrs Jackson Miller declared, ‘Even in countries that are doing well on freedom of expression, we cannot afford to be complacent.’ Mrs Dionne Jackson Miller, whose philosophy is ‘Life is about learning’, is currently pursuing a PhD in law and wants to be remembered as an excellent journalist.” Indeed you are, Dionne. Heartiest congratulations!

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