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Bank Cartel must tread carefully
Bank Cartel must tread carefully
Wignall's World
Mark Wignall
Sunday, November 25, 2007
There are still many of us who remember when banks operating in Jamaica employed a few token black Jamaicans - the porter at the door and two ladies locked away in a back kitchen sweating over hot stoves, preparing meals for the white and near-white faces who worked in air-conditioned comfort in the main banking area.
The Jamaican society was different then, and as a boy growing up in the 1950s it didn't strike me that anything was out of place. In my boy's eyes then, I understood the arrangements. White and near-white Jamaicans drove big, shiny, black cars, worked in banks, travel agencies, offices in general and they were rich.
Black Jamaican men held the doors open and said, 'Good morning sir, good day madam'; black Jamaican women worked in someone's downstairs, cleaning floors and mopping up the white man's shame. And they were all poor.
As a very obviously mixed-race individual (East Indian, African, traces of Amerindian and a whiff of European), I wasn't quite sure about me.
While attending Trench Town Primary School in the late 1950s, I was constantly jeered by black Jamaican children and adults with, '****** Baboo s..t pon callaloo and nyam it,' while, at the same time, I was certain that white people had no place for my kind in their verandah happenings. It was my father (now 87) who provided me with some answers by telling me that persons tended to curse out what they feared or misunderstood.
As soon as I was befriended by boys living in the depressing poverty of Trench Town, no one could any longer throw derision at me. Outside of the area, the general behaviour was better, but by then, if I happened upon the crass name-calling I had other ways of dealing with it.
Much has changed between the 1950s and now. Many black-skinned Jamaicans have used the education afforded them through the Common Entrance Examination and they have done well. Many of those Jamaicans in the bankers' association have travelled on the rough road, dragging themselves up from poverty, all the time trying to carve out a social slot in the delicate and oftentimes confusing mix of class struggle and colour placement.
Michael Manley's politics of the 1970s may have prodded the bankers into a consideration of new frontiers which would involve more of the 'people's aspirations', that is, devising loan and deposit policies to empower the small man to bigger things, but by 1974 when Manley flew off on his democratic socialist whim, he was seen as the enemy to those bankers who wanted the old, cemented arrangements to rise from foundation to rooftop.
Bankers are very quiet people, but one should never be disarmed by the real or affected gentility. Historically, bankers in Jamaica have never fully publicly explained or justified the peppercorn rates paid out to those whose money they have on deposit. If anything, we know more about the progressive bankers who were wrecked by the monetary policies of the last political administration in the mid-1990s and less about the conservative ones who seem to live each day as the captive audience for government paper.
Five years ago when the alternative schemes burst upon the socio-economic landscape, the business was slow in coming. In time it gathered momentum until even some persons employed to banks became 'investors' in these schemes which promised and delivered about 10 per cent per month on investment. The banks have begun to fight back, not because they believe the schemes are unsustainable, but because their depositors have pulled out much which they had in the traditional banking system.
For sure, many of the fly-by-night alternative investment schemes are shaped like three isosceles triangles stacked against each other. In time the charlatans will fail, and some of the eternally greedy ones will get burnt.
New JLP government can't afford wholesale failure of alternative schemes.
Every second PNP MP and councillor, and JLP MP, minister and councillor seems to have more than a passing interest in Olint. Many of them differ on policy at the political level but when it comes to Olint, a lot of them are on board and they have reaped rich rewards in the last five years or so.
Minister of Finance Audley Shaw will have to tread carefully on this one. His 'second', Don Wehby, will have a much rougher time, as First Global Bank is a GraceKennedy outfit. How does he deal with a matter that has now become a clear case of conflict of interest?
How can he weave his way through the FSC strictures on these alternative investment schemes when up until recently he was head of GraceKennedy's financial arm? Big, big problem and one that lawyers working on behalf of some of these schemes will want to pounce on.
It is obvious that there are some charlatans travelling with their offices in their cars and laptops. These need to be identified and weeded out, if not by the actions of the very investors then certainly by creative action on the part of the Government.
Tried, tested and proven Fx trading schemes like Olint need to be given space to operate in the formal economy even as the charlatans are identified and impelled towards the safest way out - early demise.
In the interim, the banking sector is advised not to mess with poor people's attempt to earn a bread. Closing off accounts without giving sound, 'bankable' reasons is playing with a fire which has the potential to consume those providing the fuel.
It's not an easy road, prime minister
Two Sundays ago in my column, I outlined the concerns of a reader, a comrade with strong loyalties to the PNP. In it I explained that because the opposition leader, Portia Simpson Miller, had not brought 'closure' to the election ('It is not over yet, it is not over yet...') her irresponsibility and horribly poor leadership have convinced lesser educated PNP supporters that somehow the JLP took that closest of election victories by employing political skullduggery.
At present the machinery of government has about 200 boards attached to it and the majority of these boards are staffed with people employing obstructive PNP objectives rather than national objectives. For the two-month-old JLP administration to get on with the business of running Jamaica for the purpose of allowing us to pursue wealth, health, order and happiness, many of these political appointees will have to be dug out of their cushy posts.
Coming to the prime ministership with little political capital, Golding knew that any plans he had based on the assumption of a huge win had to be shelved. Rapid and sweeping change had to be put off. Where he had already identified political predators in the civil service, the usual method of dealing with those would have been immediate dismissals.
The PNP prevented that by placing many on contract, meaning that long after the PNP lost the election, PNP persons would still be standing firm in their posts. Where PNP objectives could no longer be pursued, all they had to do was make the day-to-day business of running government very difficult for the JLP administration.
One immediate case in point is the PSC's recommendation of Professor Stephen Vascianne as solicitor general. Next week I will give a most interesting take on the matter.
Was Bruce Golding irresponsible too?
One reader, a Jamaican living in Canada and doing quite well for himself and his family, had an unusual take on the matter. As he sees it, there could be valid reason for comrades believing that 'it is not over yet', and these reasons could be grounded in what he sees as irresponsibility on Golding's part.
He writes, 'There is another side to the question of leadership in the political game. It involves strategy.
'Should the PNP have alerted the nation to the possible unqualified nominations of the JLP candidates before the elections, thus giving them a chance to withdraw; or wait until after the election, and if, on the losing end, show the ace up their sleeve?
'I believe that it was in reference to the strong claims that the JLP were not properly nominated when she said in her usual parlance, "it nuh over yet", suggesting that there are grounds to challenge several seats.
'Politicians tend to concede when they believe they have been fairly beaten. In this case it appears that they believe they were not fairly beaten, particularly with the close results, and the info they had about improper nominations by the JLP candidates. To imply lack of leadership by not being gracious in speech, under these conditions is to not give the devil her dues!
'Remember, Portia can only communicate at a certain level and we suddenly can't expect her to rise to another level in the face of a defeat that may very well have been unlawful.
'I am no fan of Portia, but I am for the rule of law, even if it may very well assist an undesirable leader in the face of defeat.
'On the other hand, leadership ought to have been demonstrated by Bruce in ensuring that all his candidates are qualified for nominations, similar to how voters have to satisfy the returning officer of their identity before they can participate in an election.
'If the PNP prevails in court, how must we regard the integrity of the JLP leadership? Wouldn't such ostrich-like leadership be tantamount to corruption en masse?
'When the matter will have had its course through the courts, it may be Portia who will have the last say on leadership!'
It is still my view that responsible leadership was not demonstrated by Portia Simpson Miller on election night. Certainly, the opposition leader is no stranger to political tribalism, Jamaican style. Certainly she must have recognised that the politics she practised in the last 30 years has not enriched this nation and, closer to home, it has made her constituency, South West St Andrew, dilapidated, residents mired in abject poverty, the worst example of what leadership is about.
Her delivery, after it was clear she had lost the election, had the effect of bringing out the worst of this tribal behaviour. The day was saved by Golding's speech, which embraced all. It defused what could have been triggered by Simpson Miller's intemperate remarks.
Her talking constantly about the poor as if it is some badge of honour has worn thin. If the nation wants to be provided with her care for the poor, all persons have to do is visit her constituency where they will witness poverty as it has never been seen. She had 30 years to do something about it. The people are still dirt poor as ever.
Racism alive and well
A successful black businessman is approached by a white couple. After the men exchange pleasantries, the wife is introduced. She then launches a verbal attack on the black man and during her tirade refers to him as 'a little black boy'. He responds by giving her a small piece of his mind.
Then, as he attempts to leave the verbal crap behind, he is suddenly punched in the face by the husband and then held by three white friends of the husband who then attempt a home-grown version of a lynching.
The 'little black boy' is spared a serious beating by the swift and brave actions of a young CEO with a famous name. And the young CEO just happens to be white.
Mississippi at the beginning of the 20th century? Louisiana in the 1930s? No, no. It happened in Jamaica in 2007, two weekends ago on the north coast.
The 'boy' in question has distinguished himself as a businessman, community servant and political player, and is highly sought after in his field both locally and abroad. If he could have been treated this way, one wonders how these people view and approach less affluent or established people of colour.
As I understand it, the mother of the man in the couple has been badmouthing the 'black boy' who was attacked ever since he began offering his consulting skills to the head of the company where she is employed.
Apparently all efforts to stop her denigration of the individual proved futile and instead it intensified.
It seems to me that when the 'little black boy' made complaints to senior persons at the company where she works about her maligning him, it provided the spark which upset the son and daughter-in-law and led to the most vulgar of attacks.
In all honesty, the 'little black boy' is not one of those individuals who is content to sit in a corner and wait until he is called. He is a bit flamboyant, travelling to functions/parties he is invited to with a discreetly concealed cache of expensive single malt whisky in tow.
Unfortunately, there are those in Jamaica today who cannot let go of the era of the plantocracy when every 'little black boy' knew his place and kept his mouth shut.
I need to congratulate the young white CEO who told those remnants of a lost glory a piece of his mind and firmly 'dressed them down'.
The story has been carried in the gossip section of both the Observer and the Gleaner. Spins have been put on it, one even saying that the matter started over the style of shoes the 'little black boy' had on.
Foolishness.
I saw some types of this behaviour in 1981 after the JLP won. In the 1970s, Michael Manley had been preaching egalitarianism and he had gone overboard to right some social wrongs. After the Seaga-led JLP won, a certain set of people read the times horribly wrong. I saw uptown, white-skinned Jamaicans in their 'criss' Volvos driving while their black domestic helpers, fully decked out in helper monkey suit sat in the back. The helper was not good enough to sit in the front.
The vast majority of our white-skinned Jamaicans are non-racists and are much better behaved than many of our black-skinned fellowmen. This column excludes them from the crass and racist behaviour of the couple mentioned above.
The PNP has a short, selective memory
A reader has responded to my piece two Sundays ago which gave the views of a comrade who seems to be blaming the JLP for the day's temperature and the weather. He stopped short of saying it was the JLP who carried Hurricane Dean close to Jamaica.
He writes:
'I have read your piece in today's Observer and as usual it is very incisive and informative. A lot of what is said by the comrade is absolute rubbish.
1. You may recall that in the 1990s 'Butch' intervened in the foreign exchange market to stem the decline in the exchange rate from $5 to $1 to $30 to $1. At that time he was hailed by the PNP as a patriot.
2. During the previous administration various private sector persons were appointed to state boards and served on various advisory committees (on taxation, etc). Some names readily come to mind: the Matalons (JAMPRO, UDC, etc), Rousseau, Melhado, Cameron, Sameer Younis, Ryland Campbell, etc. There is no evidence that a larger number of private sector persons have been appointed to state boards under the current JLP than the PNP.
3.Chris Zacca and colleagues were already members of the PSOJ before the JLP came to power. If 'Butch' has a gift for selecting bright and competent people to his organisations, then why should we be upset with him?
4. The fact that the JLP outspent the PNP this time around is nothing to complain about, as in previous elections (since 1989) the PNP always outspent the JLP. Where did the PNP get its money from?
5. In the 1989 election the PNP promised to eliminate the cess on tertiary education and to sever Jamaica's ties with Marc Rich. I participated in several demonstrations in the 1980s against the cess and the leader of my group was Delano Franklin. We received advice from members of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Some of these people later became ministers under the PNP Government. Can the comrade tell us why the PNP did not fulfil its promises to the people.
'Mr Golding ought to be credited for the way in which he handled the transition. Many comrades continue to occupy executive positions in the Government. Look at the permanent secretaries all appointed during the 18 years of PNP rule and are known supporters of the party. The BOJ governor is still in place. When the PNP came to power in 1989 Headley Brown was removed as BOJ governor.
'Also, Bill Saunders (a BLACK JAMAICAN) who was group managing director of the PCJ under the JLP was dismissed. Wesley Hughes is still director general of PIOJ and Allison Anderson is still the executive director of the Child Development Agency. Rex Nettleford is no friend of the JLP, but has been reappointed to the Air J Board. In short, Bruce has taken steps to detribalise the Jamaican society.'
Note: My apologies to readers who were expecting part two of my piece on HIV/AIDS. Sometimes current matters press themselves upon us.
Please read it soon.
observemark@gmail.com
Wignall's World
Mark Wignall
Sunday, November 25, 2007
There are still many of us who remember when banks operating in Jamaica employed a few token black Jamaicans - the porter at the door and two ladies locked away in a back kitchen sweating over hot stoves, preparing meals for the white and near-white faces who worked in air-conditioned comfort in the main banking area.
The Jamaican society was different then, and as a boy growing up in the 1950s it didn't strike me that anything was out of place. In my boy's eyes then, I understood the arrangements. White and near-white Jamaicans drove big, shiny, black cars, worked in banks, travel agencies, offices in general and they were rich.
Black Jamaican men held the doors open and said, 'Good morning sir, good day madam'; black Jamaican women worked in someone's downstairs, cleaning floors and mopping up the white man's shame. And they were all poor.
As a very obviously mixed-race individual (East Indian, African, traces of Amerindian and a whiff of European), I wasn't quite sure about me.
While attending Trench Town Primary School in the late 1950s, I was constantly jeered by black Jamaican children and adults with, '****** Baboo s..t pon callaloo and nyam it,' while, at the same time, I was certain that white people had no place for my kind in their verandah happenings. It was my father (now 87) who provided me with some answers by telling me that persons tended to curse out what they feared or misunderstood.
As soon as I was befriended by boys living in the depressing poverty of Trench Town, no one could any longer throw derision at me. Outside of the area, the general behaviour was better, but by then, if I happened upon the crass name-calling I had other ways of dealing with it.
Much has changed between the 1950s and now. Many black-skinned Jamaicans have used the education afforded them through the Common Entrance Examination and they have done well. Many of those Jamaicans in the bankers' association have travelled on the rough road, dragging themselves up from poverty, all the time trying to carve out a social slot in the delicate and oftentimes confusing mix of class struggle and colour placement.
Michael Manley's politics of the 1970s may have prodded the bankers into a consideration of new frontiers which would involve more of the 'people's aspirations', that is, devising loan and deposit policies to empower the small man to bigger things, but by 1974 when Manley flew off on his democratic socialist whim, he was seen as the enemy to those bankers who wanted the old, cemented arrangements to rise from foundation to rooftop.
Bankers are very quiet people, but one should never be disarmed by the real or affected gentility. Historically, bankers in Jamaica have never fully publicly explained or justified the peppercorn rates paid out to those whose money they have on deposit. If anything, we know more about the progressive bankers who were wrecked by the monetary policies of the last political administration in the mid-1990s and less about the conservative ones who seem to live each day as the captive audience for government paper.
Five years ago when the alternative schemes burst upon the socio-economic landscape, the business was slow in coming. In time it gathered momentum until even some persons employed to banks became 'investors' in these schemes which promised and delivered about 10 per cent per month on investment. The banks have begun to fight back, not because they believe the schemes are unsustainable, but because their depositors have pulled out much which they had in the traditional banking system.
For sure, many of the fly-by-night alternative investment schemes are shaped like three isosceles triangles stacked against each other. In time the charlatans will fail, and some of the eternally greedy ones will get burnt.
New JLP government can't afford wholesale failure of alternative schemes.
Every second PNP MP and councillor, and JLP MP, minister and councillor seems to have more than a passing interest in Olint. Many of them differ on policy at the political level but when it comes to Olint, a lot of them are on board and they have reaped rich rewards in the last five years or so.
Minister of Finance Audley Shaw will have to tread carefully on this one. His 'second', Don Wehby, will have a much rougher time, as First Global Bank is a GraceKennedy outfit. How does he deal with a matter that has now become a clear case of conflict of interest?
How can he weave his way through the FSC strictures on these alternative investment schemes when up until recently he was head of GraceKennedy's financial arm? Big, big problem and one that lawyers working on behalf of some of these schemes will want to pounce on.
It is obvious that there are some charlatans travelling with their offices in their cars and laptops. These need to be identified and weeded out, if not by the actions of the very investors then certainly by creative action on the part of the Government.
Tried, tested and proven Fx trading schemes like Olint need to be given space to operate in the formal economy even as the charlatans are identified and impelled towards the safest way out - early demise.
In the interim, the banking sector is advised not to mess with poor people's attempt to earn a bread. Closing off accounts without giving sound, 'bankable' reasons is playing with a fire which has the potential to consume those providing the fuel.
It's not an easy road, prime minister
Two Sundays ago in my column, I outlined the concerns of a reader, a comrade with strong loyalties to the PNP. In it I explained that because the opposition leader, Portia Simpson Miller, had not brought 'closure' to the election ('It is not over yet, it is not over yet...') her irresponsibility and horribly poor leadership have convinced lesser educated PNP supporters that somehow the JLP took that closest of election victories by employing political skullduggery.
At present the machinery of government has about 200 boards attached to it and the majority of these boards are staffed with people employing obstructive PNP objectives rather than national objectives. For the two-month-old JLP administration to get on with the business of running Jamaica for the purpose of allowing us to pursue wealth, health, order and happiness, many of these political appointees will have to be dug out of their cushy posts.
Coming to the prime ministership with little political capital, Golding knew that any plans he had based on the assumption of a huge win had to be shelved. Rapid and sweeping change had to be put off. Where he had already identified political predators in the civil service, the usual method of dealing with those would have been immediate dismissals.
The PNP prevented that by placing many on contract, meaning that long after the PNP lost the election, PNP persons would still be standing firm in their posts. Where PNP objectives could no longer be pursued, all they had to do was make the day-to-day business of running government very difficult for the JLP administration.
One immediate case in point is the PSC's recommendation of Professor Stephen Vascianne as solicitor general. Next week I will give a most interesting take on the matter.
Was Bruce Golding irresponsible too?
One reader, a Jamaican living in Canada and doing quite well for himself and his family, had an unusual take on the matter. As he sees it, there could be valid reason for comrades believing that 'it is not over yet', and these reasons could be grounded in what he sees as irresponsibility on Golding's part.
He writes, 'There is another side to the question of leadership in the political game. It involves strategy.
'Should the PNP have alerted the nation to the possible unqualified nominations of the JLP candidates before the elections, thus giving them a chance to withdraw; or wait until after the election, and if, on the losing end, show the ace up their sleeve?
'I believe that it was in reference to the strong claims that the JLP were not properly nominated when she said in her usual parlance, "it nuh over yet", suggesting that there are grounds to challenge several seats.
'Politicians tend to concede when they believe they have been fairly beaten. In this case it appears that they believe they were not fairly beaten, particularly with the close results, and the info they had about improper nominations by the JLP candidates. To imply lack of leadership by not being gracious in speech, under these conditions is to not give the devil her dues!
'Remember, Portia can only communicate at a certain level and we suddenly can't expect her to rise to another level in the face of a defeat that may very well have been unlawful.
'I am no fan of Portia, but I am for the rule of law, even if it may very well assist an undesirable leader in the face of defeat.
'On the other hand, leadership ought to have been demonstrated by Bruce in ensuring that all his candidates are qualified for nominations, similar to how voters have to satisfy the returning officer of their identity before they can participate in an election.
'If the PNP prevails in court, how must we regard the integrity of the JLP leadership? Wouldn't such ostrich-like leadership be tantamount to corruption en masse?
'When the matter will have had its course through the courts, it may be Portia who will have the last say on leadership!'
It is still my view that responsible leadership was not demonstrated by Portia Simpson Miller on election night. Certainly, the opposition leader is no stranger to political tribalism, Jamaican style. Certainly she must have recognised that the politics she practised in the last 30 years has not enriched this nation and, closer to home, it has made her constituency, South West St Andrew, dilapidated, residents mired in abject poverty, the worst example of what leadership is about.
Her delivery, after it was clear she had lost the election, had the effect of bringing out the worst of this tribal behaviour. The day was saved by Golding's speech, which embraced all. It defused what could have been triggered by Simpson Miller's intemperate remarks.
Her talking constantly about the poor as if it is some badge of honour has worn thin. If the nation wants to be provided with her care for the poor, all persons have to do is visit her constituency where they will witness poverty as it has never been seen. She had 30 years to do something about it. The people are still dirt poor as ever.
Racism alive and well
A successful black businessman is approached by a white couple. After the men exchange pleasantries, the wife is introduced. She then launches a verbal attack on the black man and during her tirade refers to him as 'a little black boy'. He responds by giving her a small piece of his mind.
Then, as he attempts to leave the verbal crap behind, he is suddenly punched in the face by the husband and then held by three white friends of the husband who then attempt a home-grown version of a lynching.
The 'little black boy' is spared a serious beating by the swift and brave actions of a young CEO with a famous name. And the young CEO just happens to be white.
Mississippi at the beginning of the 20th century? Louisiana in the 1930s? No, no. It happened in Jamaica in 2007, two weekends ago on the north coast.
The 'boy' in question has distinguished himself as a businessman, community servant and political player, and is highly sought after in his field both locally and abroad. If he could have been treated this way, one wonders how these people view and approach less affluent or established people of colour.
As I understand it, the mother of the man in the couple has been badmouthing the 'black boy' who was attacked ever since he began offering his consulting skills to the head of the company where she is employed.
Apparently all efforts to stop her denigration of the individual proved futile and instead it intensified.
It seems to me that when the 'little black boy' made complaints to senior persons at the company where she works about her maligning him, it provided the spark which upset the son and daughter-in-law and led to the most vulgar of attacks.
In all honesty, the 'little black boy' is not one of those individuals who is content to sit in a corner and wait until he is called. He is a bit flamboyant, travelling to functions/parties he is invited to with a discreetly concealed cache of expensive single malt whisky in tow.
Unfortunately, there are those in Jamaica today who cannot let go of the era of the plantocracy when every 'little black boy' knew his place and kept his mouth shut.
I need to congratulate the young white CEO who told those remnants of a lost glory a piece of his mind and firmly 'dressed them down'.
The story has been carried in the gossip section of both the Observer and the Gleaner. Spins have been put on it, one even saying that the matter started over the style of shoes the 'little black boy' had on.
Foolishness.
I saw some types of this behaviour in 1981 after the JLP won. In the 1970s, Michael Manley had been preaching egalitarianism and he had gone overboard to right some social wrongs. After the Seaga-led JLP won, a certain set of people read the times horribly wrong. I saw uptown, white-skinned Jamaicans in their 'criss' Volvos driving while their black domestic helpers, fully decked out in helper monkey suit sat in the back. The helper was not good enough to sit in the front.
The vast majority of our white-skinned Jamaicans are non-racists and are much better behaved than many of our black-skinned fellowmen. This column excludes them from the crass and racist behaviour of the couple mentioned above.
The PNP has a short, selective memory
A reader has responded to my piece two Sundays ago which gave the views of a comrade who seems to be blaming the JLP for the day's temperature and the weather. He stopped short of saying it was the JLP who carried Hurricane Dean close to Jamaica.
He writes:
'I have read your piece in today's Observer and as usual it is very incisive and informative. A lot of what is said by the comrade is absolute rubbish.
1. You may recall that in the 1990s 'Butch' intervened in the foreign exchange market to stem the decline in the exchange rate from $5 to $1 to $30 to $1. At that time he was hailed by the PNP as a patriot.
2. During the previous administration various private sector persons were appointed to state boards and served on various advisory committees (on taxation, etc). Some names readily come to mind: the Matalons (JAMPRO, UDC, etc), Rousseau, Melhado, Cameron, Sameer Younis, Ryland Campbell, etc. There is no evidence that a larger number of private sector persons have been appointed to state boards under the current JLP than the PNP.
3.Chris Zacca and colleagues were already members of the PSOJ before the JLP came to power. If 'Butch' has a gift for selecting bright and competent people to his organisations, then why should we be upset with him?
4. The fact that the JLP outspent the PNP this time around is nothing to complain about, as in previous elections (since 1989) the PNP always outspent the JLP. Where did the PNP get its money from?
5. In the 1989 election the PNP promised to eliminate the cess on tertiary education and to sever Jamaica's ties with Marc Rich. I participated in several demonstrations in the 1980s against the cess and the leader of my group was Delano Franklin. We received advice from members of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Some of these people later became ministers under the PNP Government. Can the comrade tell us why the PNP did not fulfil its promises to the people.
'Mr Golding ought to be credited for the way in which he handled the transition. Many comrades continue to occupy executive positions in the Government. Look at the permanent secretaries all appointed during the 18 years of PNP rule and are known supporters of the party. The BOJ governor is still in place. When the PNP came to power in 1989 Headley Brown was removed as BOJ governor.
'Also, Bill Saunders (a BLACK JAMAICAN) who was group managing director of the PCJ under the JLP was dismissed. Wesley Hughes is still director general of PIOJ and Allison Anderson is still the executive director of the Child Development Agency. Rex Nettleford is no friend of the JLP, but has been reappointed to the Air J Board. In short, Bruce has taken steps to detribalise the Jamaican society.'
Note: My apologies to readers who were expecting part two of my piece on HIV/AIDS. Sometimes current matters press themselves upon us.
Please read it soon.
observemark@gmail.com
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