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The Honourable Audley Shaw, Minister of Finance, should resign because of his denying that he promised the nurses of Jamaica a 100 per cent increase. The President of the NAJ said Shaw promised to double their pay and Shaw said that he made "no such promise" (See 'Shaw denies NAJ charge', September 27, 2007, p. A2).
Then the NAJ produced the tape which had Shaw saying, "I would like to give the commitment, that as Minister of Finance, that would be the starting position", in reference to doubling of the pay (See 'Caught: Tape reveals Finance Minister's double pay promises for nurses', The Gleaner, October 2, 2007).
The issue is not whether the Golding government will honour the promise. The issue is about lying. Lying is an abomination to the Lord. It is a deadly sin. Lying destroys trust in relationships and makes governance impossible. It is pure chaos when there is lack of honour and trust. Even comedian Glen Campbell in the play 'Love Games' highlighted the importance of trust. He said, 'Cheating is based on trust'. So if in infidelity there has to be trust, how much more important it is between the rulers and the ruled?
Audley Shaw has not said that the tape is an impersonation or that the nurses doctored the tape. The honourable minister should have, owned up to his utterances. He has been caught with his pants down and the only honourable thing left to do is to resign.
Lying
Former president of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, was impeached, not because he had sex with Monica Lewinsky, but because he lied when he told the world that he did not have sex with that woman. The issue was not adultery but lying!
Recently, Libby, a high official in the Bush administration, was sentenced to imprisonment for lying. Libby had exposed the identity of a CIA operative Valerie Palme. That was a criminal offence. However, the prosecutor did not even bother to charge him with that. What happened was that Libby said he did not remember telling anyone in the media about Valerie because he was a busy man. The authorities did not buy the argument that he could not recall telling anyone about the identity of a CIA operative.
Shaw was replaced as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee because he said he was going to 'pepper' the backside of Dr. Vin Lawrence, then UDC chairman. This about face with the nurses is much worse than 'peppering' and therefore, Shaw should resign.
There are practical and sensible reasons for trust to be non-negotiable. Are we to trust Audley Shaw when he claims that there is an intention to reduce transfer tax on land transactions or will he deny saying so or claim that the intention is not imminent?
Rice
If Shaw is allowed to get away with this denial of what he said to the nurses, how are we to believe other members of the Cabinet? Take, for example, the dispute between the Honourable Karl Samuda, Minister of Industry, and Robert Persaud, Guyana's Minister of Agriculture.
Samuda claims that 25 per cent of the Guyanese rice crop was destroyed by rains and, therefore, cannot adequately supply Jamaica with rice which Persaud denies and insists that Guyana has supplied Jamaica with 10,000 tonnes more than last year. Who am I to believe?
I will believe my honourable minister whose utterances I should be able to trust. However, if Shaw remains in the Cabinet, then I will have to wonder if Samuda is doing a 'Shaw scuffle'. This issue of trust is important for the proper functioning of a country.
Audley Shaw has seriously betrayed the trust of the people and should resign.
Then the NAJ produced the tape which had Shaw saying, "I would like to give the commitment, that as Minister of Finance, that would be the starting position", in reference to doubling of the pay (See 'Caught: Tape reveals Finance Minister's double pay promises for nurses', The Gleaner, October 2, 2007).
The issue is not whether the Golding government will honour the promise. The issue is about lying. Lying is an abomination to the Lord. It is a deadly sin. Lying destroys trust in relationships and makes governance impossible. It is pure chaos when there is lack of honour and trust. Even comedian Glen Campbell in the play 'Love Games' highlighted the importance of trust. He said, 'Cheating is based on trust'. So if in infidelity there has to be trust, how much more important it is between the rulers and the ruled?
Audley Shaw has not said that the tape is an impersonation or that the nurses doctored the tape. The honourable minister should have, owned up to his utterances. He has been caught with his pants down and the only honourable thing left to do is to resign.
Lying
Former president of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, was impeached, not because he had sex with Monica Lewinsky, but because he lied when he told the world that he did not have sex with that woman. The issue was not adultery but lying!
Recently, Libby, a high official in the Bush administration, was sentenced to imprisonment for lying. Libby had exposed the identity of a CIA operative Valerie Palme. That was a criminal offence. However, the prosecutor did not even bother to charge him with that. What happened was that Libby said he did not remember telling anyone in the media about Valerie because he was a busy man. The authorities did not buy the argument that he could not recall telling anyone about the identity of a CIA operative.
Shaw was replaced as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee because he said he was going to 'pepper' the backside of Dr. Vin Lawrence, then UDC chairman. This about face with the nurses is much worse than 'peppering' and therefore, Shaw should resign.
There are practical and sensible reasons for trust to be non-negotiable. Are we to trust Audley Shaw when he claims that there is an intention to reduce transfer tax on land transactions or will he deny saying so or claim that the intention is not imminent?
Rice
If Shaw is allowed to get away with this denial of what he said to the nurses, how are we to believe other members of the Cabinet? Take, for example, the dispute between the Honourable Karl Samuda, Minister of Industry, and Robert Persaud, Guyana's Minister of Agriculture.
Samuda claims that 25 per cent of the Guyanese rice crop was destroyed by rains and, therefore, cannot adequately supply Jamaica with rice which Persaud denies and insists that Guyana has supplied Jamaica with 10,000 tonnes more than last year. Who am I to believe?
I will believe my honourable minister whose utterances I should be able to trust. However, if Shaw remains in the Cabinet, then I will have to wonder if Samuda is doing a 'Shaw scuffle'. This issue of trust is important for the proper functioning of a country.
Audley Shaw has seriously betrayed the trust of the people and should resign.
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