The Government has started the roll-out of one of the most ambitious and far-reaching road maintenance and enhancement projects ever to be undertaken in the country. Arrestingly, it has been dubbed the Spark programme — Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network. We are certainly not short of acronyms in Jamaica.

We hope that the programme will spark, and we will not have sparks, especially political ones, flying in all directions.

The $40-billion project should hit the road running (no pun intended) by October of this year. What is significant about this project is that it is being undertaken on the taxpayers’ dime, and not on borrowed funds, as projects of this magnitude in yesteryear would have been. It is a testimony to the fiscal prudence that the country has undertaken and the care that the Government is taking to ensure that there is no reckless spending of the kind that attended previous national projects, great or small. On this the Government must be congratulated.

It must also be congratulated for the care taken to ensure the project adheres to the best canons of accountability and transparency in the procurement process. Insofar as politicians can be kept at arms length from projects like these, all contract packages will be subject to approval from the Public Procurement Commission and the Cabinet. The contracts will be scrutinised and vetted by the Integrity Commission and the Auditor General’s Department.

Of perhaps greater significance, occasioning further commendation, is the strong insistence that the project will be community-based. All 63 constituencies in the island will have a say in what roads are to be fixed. Constituency meetings will have to be held to ensure community participation. This will ensure that the project will have the people’s imprimatur. It will also ensure that there is transparency in how the work is being done. If people feel they have skin in the game, they will be more vigilant in seeing to it that the work is done properly. This is a far cry from what used to happen in the past. Back then, the political representatives and their cohorts were central to the process. Political henchmen, activists, and others held sway over the scarce resources over which they quarrelled as political tribes in a gladiatorial battle.

No project of this size could escape criticism and already there are prominent Opposition voices that are being heard in the public square. One such voice is that of the shadow spokesman on national security Peter Bunting. At a recently held public meeting, he styled himself a prophet, but certainly did not sound like any of the major or minor prophets of biblical fame. Said he, “Dem done know a who a get the contracts already. Me a prophesy say that is a Chinese company a get dat contract.” The ‘prophet’ continued, “You mark my word, the JLP [Jamaica Labour Party] a go nyam out most a dat money.” (
Jamaica Observer, June 17, 2024)

It is pathetic that someone of Bunting’s intelligence and persona should have gone down this road, even before the project hits the road. Given the care that is being exercised by the Government to ensure transparency in the process as stated above, it is unworthy of Bunting to insinuate that the Government will be availing itself of the financial resources. There is no genuine basis for such an accusation.

If Bunting and his party fear that his accusations will bear fruit, they must get involved with the process to ensure that no misappropriation of funds occur; that JLP constituencies do not get a better advantage than those of the Peoples National Party (PNP); that taxpayers’ money is properly accounted for in the process. To be the boy that cried wolf is unbecoming of Bunting’s stature in the eyes of intelligent constituents and Jamaican citizens.

In making these accusations, Bunting is no doubt mindful of the haunting ghost of Christmas past in the ways in which projects of this magnitude failed the test of public probity. He must have been mindful of the 18.5 years of PNP rule and the problems which bedevilled public projects. No doubt, he would be mindful of the “run wid it” scheme which became the hallmark of how projects were managed under the regime of that day.

In this sense he is indulging in psychological projection. It is unworthy of him because he knows better. People who have much to offer, as Bunting obviously does, must seek to implement a new kind of politics. They must seek to eschew the politics of the past that demonstrated its disdain for the ordinary people by insulting their intelligence with innuendoes, falsehoods, and fabrications in their pursuit of power. These things generate animosity and lead inevitably to violence.

It is time that politicians use what intelligence they have and the power they are given by the people to advance meaningful debate and dialogue. They must lift the level of the debate and not use privilege as a conduit to score cheap political points and insult the intelligence of the very people who often cheer them on. It is time, Bunting, that we stop this nonsense.

Kingsley Cooper

This column notes the passing of Kingsley Cooper, the creative mind behind Pulse Investments Limited.

Cooper’s pioneering work in the fashion and beauty industry in Jamaica is well known. He was instrumental in growing the self-esteem and personal integrity of many young women who might have thought that they did not possess the talents or beauty to shine as stars in an often dreary universe. This will be his lasting legacy to Jamaica and the people that his extraordinary talents touched. He will be sadly missed in that fraternity, as in the country.

My best wishes to his family as they mourn his loss. May his soul find its eternal rest in God’s peace.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms; Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life; and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.