The current leadership of the People’s National Party (PNP) continues to loom over Jamaica’s growth and development like a bitter, spiteful Banquo’s ghost refusing to rest and determined to haunt the nation’s progress at every turn, as I see it.

Banquo’s ghost is an inescapable reminder of past wrongdoing and a persistent source of guilt. Originating from Shakespeare’s
Macbeth, it symbolises a haunting conscience or hidden secret that reappears at the worst possible moments.

Today’s uninspiring leadership of Osmond Theodore Fairclough’s PNP confuses good governance with prolific, directionless social media posting. They fail to grasp that, especially in tough times, people often crave radical and positive change that improves their lives. Political contortions, razzle-dazzle, fake news, and sky-is-falling fatalism may excite some temporarily, but they lack definition, seriousness, and vision.

Fairclough’s party increasingly resembles a clueless travelling theatre group with ever-changing costumes and bad actors who foolishly think they are the cat’s pajamas.

SECOND RATE PUPPETRY

Consider these two banner headlines:

* Paulwell urges Gov’t to stop the PR and get on with oil exploration (Jamaica Observer, April 22, 2026)

Member of Parliament for Kingston Eastern and Port Royal Phillip Paulwell Karl Mclarty

* Oil digging caution — Newell warns Jamaica not ready for offshore oil exploration (Jamaica Observer, May 21, 2026)

Phillip Paulwell and Omar Newell are spokespersons for the Opposition PNP. Paulwell is the long-standing Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kingston Eastern and Port Royal constituency, which is a political garrison. He is also the spokesperson on energy.

Newell is the first-term MP for St Mary Central, one of the strongest PNP seats in the country. He is the spokesperson for environmental and climate governance.

The two sit adjacent to each other in Gordon House. What is the likely cause of the highly avoidable cock-up involving Paulwell and Newell? I say it is highly avoidable because members on the Opposition benches have an abundance of free time compared to those who form the Administration. What, then, is the possible cause of this disagreement or difference of opinion between Paulwell and Newell?

Some will, doubtless, bellow: “What disagreement, Higgins?”

When two contrasting opinions, sides, or points of view are presented, or held simultaneously, that is a disagreement. It’s elementary, my dear Watson.

Daryl Vaz, the minister of science, energy, telecommunications and transportv Joseph Wellington

I would hate to think Paulwell and Newell are not on speaking terms. And I would hate to think they don’t have access to the Internet. I believe a preoccupation with headline-grabbing is a primary explanation for the disagreement.

There are some in our Parliament who are caught up in being the first in the kingdom. This preoccupation inevitably leads, for example, to the kind of second-rate puppetry evidenced in the Paulwell and Newell cock-up. It is a harbinger.

Folks must remain vigilant. Among other things, we’ve seen this movie before, and it was very scary. The PNP continues to be a party that doesn’t know whether it’s coming or going, as we say locally. The left hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. I doubt that a socialist party of the left, like the PNP, even has a right hand.

This is a design defect. It stifles the party’s political brain. It was a design defect that caused the PNP to oppose states of public emergency (SOEs) just as there was a noticeable and historic reduction in murders and other major crimes. Crime, especially murder, has been a painful burden on Jamaica’s growth and development for decades. That beast is finally being tamed. Up to the time of writing, there has been a 23.3 per cent decline in homicides compared with the corresponding period in 2025. That means 67 fewer Jamaicans have been murdered. I am not happy that any Jamaican has been murdered, but I am glad that, following the historic 31-year low in murders recorded in 2025, homicides continue to decrease appreciably.

Today the same PNP that berated the Andrew Holness-led Administration for what they claimed was the absence of a crime plan is actively seeking to take credit for the reduction in murders and other major crimes.

“Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan,” US President John F Kennedy famously said. Kennedy used the maxim in 1961 when taking responsibility for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.

RIGHT MAN ON THE BRIDGE

Guyana has found oil in commercial quantities and is now beginning to reap the benefits.

After almost 11 years of auditioning for Jamaica House, the PNP has demonstrated that, “It nuh ready for the video light yet,” as we say locally.

The mentioned cock-up involving Paulwell and Newell is, I believe, a blaring noise from the trumpet at 89 Old Hope Road. This cacophony is very likely the first notes of the eulogy that will be read once the coming leadership contest is decided and the political spent shells, bayonets, daggers, and bodies are cleared from the political battlefield.

The Administration needs to listen discerningly to those who are praying that Jamaica does not find oil in commercial quantities, as well as their confederates. Some masquerade as environmentalists. It is very evident that some of these charlatans simply do not want Jamaica to discover oil in commercial quantities while the JLP is in office. Whether the JLP or the PNP is at Jamaica House, I want Jamaica to find oil in commercial quantities. Guyana found oil recently. Today she is one of the fastest-growing economies globally.

Hundreds of local businesses are sprouting up in Guyana. Scores of international companies are setting up shop there too. Rapid infrastructural improvements and expansion are happening there. I believe Jamaica could do well with this kind of economic and social growth and development, especially given the devastation that Hurricane Melissa, one of the most powerful hurricanes in recorded history, brought to our shores nearly eight months ago, and the double whammy of the global oil crisis which some experts say is worse than 1973.

I believe Jamaica has the right man on the bridge in the person of Daryl Vaz, the minister of science, energy, telecommunications and transport. I said here some months ago that I believed Vaz was the best utilities minister Jamaica has had since Independence. I stand by that.

Vaz, as I see it, is the right man to safeguard Jamaica’s interests if and when oil is discovered. Two Sundays ago, in my
The Agenda column, I explained, with examples, countries which have avoided the evitable resource curse. It is not oil which has corrupted leaders; it is very corrupt leaders who have corruptly used oil.

EXTRACT RESPONSIBLY!

An oil platform is seen in the waters of the Guanabara Bay in Niteroi, Brazil. Exploration continues to determine if Jamaica has the resource in commercial quantities. Photo: AFP

There are some among us who constantly cite environmental protection and preservation as the primary reasons it is better for Jamaica not to find oil in commercial quantities.

Like-minded lobbyists made a similar argument when bauxite was discovered in Jamaica. Recall that, “Alumina-bearing soils were first reported in Jamaica by a British geological team in 1869. However, the economic potential of these red-earth deposits as a source of bauxite was not formally realised and confirmed until 1938. Commercial extraction and shipping eventually began in 1952.” (
Jamaica Information Service)

Jamaica squandered much of the earnings from bauxite. And, yes, we suffered much needless environmental damage. Does that therefore mean that Jamaica should cease the extraction of her physical resources? I think not! To me, the better solution is to learn from the negative experiences of the past so that we do not repeat them. One way to do this is to put in place legislation that protects Jamaica’s interests. Timely implementation is equally critical.

“We must not make a scarecrow of the law,” warned Lord Angelo in William Shakespeare’s play
Measure for Measure. He argued that the law must be an active deterrent rather than a mere, harmless object that birds of prey (lawbreakers) eventually learn to ignore and perch upon without fear.

Failure to devise fit-for-purpose legislation and ensure its timely implementation is one of our biggest Achilles’ heels. We have made strides in reducing this weakness, but we still have “promises to keep and miles to go before we sleep”. Think Robert Frost. Fixing our national problems cannot be achieved through phony fatalism, which, among other things, preaches that the sky will fall if Jamaica finds oil in commercial quantities and begins to extract it. After nearly 65 years of political independence, walking and chewing gum at the same time cannot be beyond us as a country. Those who preach that not building anything, at anytime, anywhere, and far from everyone is the best use of land are living in cloud-cuckoo-land. If primitive man/woman had abided by this very foolish notion we would never have evolved from the Stone Age.

Genesis 1:28 says, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the Earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Dominion presupposes that we use our brains; not to abuse the very environment which sustains us, but rather to establish a harmonious relationship with it. With the massive advances in technology, it cannot be beyond our people to organise for the advantageous extraction of resources.

Garfield Higgins

There is a country that has been very successful in achieving a healthy balance between the extraction of its physical resources and the simultaneous preservation and protection of its environment: “Norway is considered the premier global example of this balance. Despite being Europe’s largest oil and gas producer, the country maintains world-class environmental protections, operates a heavily renewable domestic power grid, and has some of the lowest carbon-intensity extraction metrics in the industry.” (European Student Think Tank)

Marcus Garvey, our first national hero, famously said: “Whatsoever things common to man, that man has done, man can do.” Mr. Garvey was simply saying that we should always keenly examine the past achievements of others — whether in innovation, overcoming hardship, or related endeavours. Garvey was pressing home the point that, with unwavering commitment and the correct application of knowledge, black people can aspire to and achieve even greater feats than others.

If we are to successfully apply Garvey’s advice we need to devote far less time to the gladiatorial chambers of performative politics, which are amplified today by social media. In this arena, outrage is more important than competence. Sadly, many are captives of the smartphone, for example. We need to stop dumbing ourselves down with the political sewage that some lost souls peddle wholesale and retail on social media. Those who invest in keeping us angry 24/7 mean us absolutely no good. Those who put managing decline on a pedestal while discounting the informed pursuit of new national horizons also mean us no good.

MOVE FORWARD APACE

Jamaica has been caught in a vortex of low growth and development for decades. The same “tired ideas that got us into this mess cannot get us out”. Going forward, we will have to embrace radical change, not small improvements. Decades of economic lethargy and decline cannot be remedied with the application of familiar palliatives and customary tinkering. Jamaica’s biggest challenge now is to achieve a stronger recovery after Hurricane Melissa, while simultaneously delivering meaningful growth.

This is growth that is felt in the pockets of the national majority and visible on our dinner tables. If meaningful growth is to be realised, there must be a comprehensive understanding that unemployment once defined poverty. Today we have the working poor, caused by low skills, low wages, low grasp of technology, and rising inflation. Only those devoted to taming these beasts can help Jamaica. It is time to move with Garvey’s sureness.

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