“If the law supposes that,” said Mr Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, “the law is a ass — a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience — by experience.” — Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

In Oliver Twist, Mr Bumble, an uneducated man, expresses strong disgust at the law’s tendency to operate blindly. Its blind application causes obvious irrationality that even betrays common sense, as Bumble observed. His famous retort is often cited whenever outcomes with very serious human implications are reduced to absurd or overly rigid logic — much like insisting that 2 + 2 equals 22.

Mindless adherence to the letter of our laws by the powers that be, irrespective of exceptional situations wherein the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Jamaicans are threatened is not a virtue; it’s a vice, a most awful one.

For what does Government exist to do? Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s founding fathers and principal author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, has provided, in my estimation, one of the best definitions of Government to date. In a letter to the citizens of Washington County in 1809, Jefferson said: “The care of human life, happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.”

I completely agree.

Recall when the Pharisees accused Jesus’s disciples of violating Sabbath law by plucking grain to eat while walking through fields. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees. Christ said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) What did he mean? Jesus was emphasising that the Sabbath was crafted by God as a gift for human rest, blessing, and spiritual reconnection, rather than a burdensome, irrational, and legalistic blindfold.

Jesus’s rebuke of the Pharisees is a foundational lesson. In several other instances in the
Bible, Christ warned against pedantic adherence to restrictive burdens that had nothing to do with obtaining or preserving the great gift of salvation. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes were interested in performative theatrics. Genuine care for people’s happiness was a stranger to them. That is why Jesus described them as “whited sepulchres”.

GENERATIONAL DESTRUCTION

Many Jamaicans are still picking up the pieces from the near-crippling damage caused by Hurricane Melissa. It is one of the most powerful hurricanes on record. Hurricane Melissa’s passage on October 28, 2025 claimed the lives of some 45 Jamaicans, most in the western parts of the island.

Recall that there was near-total devastation in key crop lines, including an estimated 90 per cent loss of bananas and plantains, and significant destruction across vegetables, tubers (particularly yams), and fruit trees. Livestock assessments revealed major disruption, including the loss of approximately 40 per cent of the layer flock. The fisheries sector was also severely hit, with 25 per cent of the island’s fishing fleet destroyed and 41 per cent of aquaculture farmers reporting damage.

Our tourism sector — the breadbasket of the economy — was severely damaged. Infrastructure in the western part of the country, especially roads, schools, and hospitals, was hit hard in the solar plexus. Some 120,000 citizens in western Jamaica were left roofless. Scores lost precious memorabilia and effects. Hurricane Melissa has inflicted deep structural wounds on Jamaica.

Ponder this: “Hurricane Melissa, striking Jamaica in late 2025, caused an estimated US$8.8 billion in physical damage, according to the World Bank and [Inter-American Development Bank] (November 19, 2025). This figure, equivalent to roughly 41 per cent of the nation’s 2024 GDP [gross domestic product], represents the costliest disaster in Jamaica’s history, severely impacting residential, infrastructure, and agricultural sectors, particularly in St Elizabeth, St James, and Westmoreland.”

Now is evidently not a time for political flippancy, the retailing and wholesaling of envy over general election results, or performative gimmicks. In the wake of one of the most ruinous hurricanes, the Government — which includes the Opposition — has to, among other things, continue to focus like a laser beam on restoring especially ordinary people’s livelihoods and, simultaneously, on the stronger rebuilding of Jamaica’s social, physical, and related infrastructure with due haste. Some among us seem not to understand this urgent national priority.

IMMENSE NATIONAL TRAUMA

In the wake of the hurricane, electricity, water, and telecommunication services were severely disrupted. Thousands of Jamaicans, especially in the western part of the country, could not get in touch with their loved ones for many days. I have sisters and other relatives who live in two of the hardest-hit parishes. I experienced the deep anguish of not being able to contact my kin for many days. It was not a pleasant experience. Those who were in a similarly awful situation — and I suspect I am talking about thousands of Jamaicans — know the deep discomfiture of which I speak.

I can imagine that the blood pressure of thousands of Jamaicans shot sky high. Doubtless, the diabetes of thousands of Jamaicans was severely aggravated. One does not need to be a psychiatrist to figure out that the inability of thousands of Jamaicans to contact their relatives for many days placed a severe strain on the mental health of citizens all over the country. In the midst of massive human sufferings, administrative necessity and pedantic legal compliance must never supersede saving lives.

UNCARING DETRACTORS

In a national crisis such as the one occasioned by Hurricane Melissa, it is the duty of the Government to act and do so decisively. I have been a firm advocate of an activist State in this space for many years. I previously said here that the state exists to do for its citizens what they cannot effectively and efficiently do for themselves individually. The activist State is not a socialist or communist utopia, where manna falls from the sky while folks sip milk and honey.

Eighteenth-century philosopher Edmund Burke argued that to preserve a society, one needs to periodically reform it. I totally agree.

Our political leaders are elected or selected to lead. They must lead. I have said here several times that I dislike sunshine leaders. These are leaders who are hooked on flashy camera lights and related performative theatrics but freeze like polar ice caps in times of challenge and when the going gets tough. “Jelly-back” leaders cannot help Jamaica today.

Recall that, in response to the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Melissa, the Government of Jamaica enacted emergency laws, including declaring the entire island a “threatened area” and later a “disaster area” under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA). Prime Minister Andrew Holness did the right thing.

When the Administration committed to loan US$150 million ($24 billion) to Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to facilitate the company’s efforts to build back its grid that suffered near catastrophic damage from Hurricane Melissa, it was the right thing to do. It made sense except to those who wanted prolonged suffering for Jamaicans.

This decisive move enabled the Administration to ‘kill two birds with one stone’, as we say locally. Specifically, the Administration was able to reject a request from JPS to extend its current licence (which expires in 2027) in order for it to secure loans to carry out the restoration work. At the same time, JPS was facilitated to speed up the return of electricity to thousands of Jamaicans several months ahead of JPS’s initial restoration schedule.

Some, including the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) and several civil society groups, protested the mentioned facilitation. The discerning know why.

There are some among us who are working overtime to see Jamaica ‘burn to the ground’, provided it will enable them to become kings of the ashes. These fakers do not care about Jamaicans. All they care about is feathering their own personal financial nests and getting State power for themselves and their cronies.

Several Sundays before Hurricane Melissa landed on our shores I said in this space: “One of the biggest mistakes administrations make in a third term is they become bogged down by restraints like Lemuel Gulliver. Recall Jonathan Swift’s classic
Gulliver’s Travels. The primary function of an Administration in a Western liberal-type democracy is the social and material advancement of especially ordinary people in a sustained manner. Here at home, this primary function is essentially embodied in the duties of Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness. His duties are twofold. First and foremost, our prime minister has a non-negotiable duty to defend Jamaica’s interests at home and abroad. Second, he has a sacrosanct duty to do all that is humanly possible to improve the condition of Jamaicans.

People elect a Government to get things done in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Individual benefits are crucial to the preservation of a social contract. In return for the certain and consistent satisfaction of, especially, individuals’ immediate and aspirational needs, citizens entrust their confidence to a Government. This adhesive of confidence glues society together.

Those who watch the swirling of our political tea leaves saw that uncaring and severely bitter detractors would have crawled out of their dark and dingy hiding places long before Melissa made her catastrophic landing in Jamaica. The Administration must not get distracted. It has to, among other things, continue to focus like a laser beam on restoring especially ordinary people’s livelihoods and, simultaneously, on the stronger rebuilding of the social, physical, and related infrastructures of this land with due haste. Electricity, Internet, and water restorations are essential to that process. Those who are using fake news, gimmicks, bluster, and obstruction to thwart Jamaica’s rebuilding effort are not Jamaica’s friends.

Hurricane Melissa resulted in exceptional social and physical dislocation and disruption. In these very exceptional circumstances, ministerial leadership was correct to sidestep passive comforts lodged in procedural formalities. Ministerial responsibility is not a decorative knick-knack. On those bases, I fully support the procurement of additional Starlink devices to meet the emergency needs of Jamaicans. As I see it, Energy and Telecommunications Minister Daryl Vaz made the right decision when he facilitated the expeditious securing of additional Starlink devices. Councillors and Members of Parliament in affected areas got devices, including in response to a request from the Leader of the Opposition. They are not being pilloried. The reason is clear. Fiddling while Rome burns is not leadership; it is callous disregard. The law must not be “a ass”.

Garfield Higgins

Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com.

Seventy-two specialised trucks leave the port in Montego Bay for Westmoreland and other parts of western Jamaica, as part of JPS’s push to restore electricity to communities after Hurricane Melissaa

Jamaicans walk through some of the debris left in Black River, St Elizabeth, days after Hurricane Melissa hit that town on the island’s south-western coast on October 28, 2025.

Energy and Telecommunications Minister Daryl Vaz  (Naphtali Junior)

HOLNESS…declared the entire island a “threatened area” and later a “disaster area” under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) (Photo: JIS)