Tweet
JLP administration, PNP direction?
Wignall's World
Mark Wignall
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Diane Abbott
I have been taken to task by some of my readers for being too harsh on some of our leaders, and especially varying my opinions on them too rapidly. To some readers, if today I find favour with a political leader, I have a duty to hold on to that position for life. That viewpoint is, of course, inconsistent with the reality of changing situations and times.
Recently I have been 'accused' of earlier pushing Portia Simpson Miller on the people of this country for the purpose of 'setting her up'; that is, I embarked on this process of building her up to later cut her down as a part of a political ploy to give Bruce Golding the space he needed to eventually take political power.
Although he has not called my name directly, that is the general drift of Rev Garnet Roper, Sunday Herald columnist, a man who finds it difficult to believe that many of us who rooted for Portia initially, later found her to be sadly lacking in leadership skills.
Let me inform my readers that most of my opinions are drawn from a not-so-unique perspective of listening to the Jamaican people from all walks of life, especially the marginalised ones along with what I consider to be my own viewpoints on certain matters. At any stage of such a process, it is difficult to determine if 'my own' viewpoint is a hard and fast one and not influenced by those with whom I interact on a daily basis.
I will not, for one minute, claim that my powers of observation are superior to any other columnist writing in Jamaican newspapers. What I do know is that I have made it my duty to listen to the small man and woman, not only because the majority of them have no heard voices, but simply because I find them to be without the sort of doublespeak which is a feature of some upper-crust Jamaicans.
Granted, most of the poor are without formal information, and this has forced them into devising their own information networks. Much of it is rumour, but when it is not, the perspective is most refreshing.
Recently I wandered into a joint along a volatile section of Waltham Park Road when a young man, half 'sweet' on the season of good cheer, asked me my name. His tone was not hostile so I gave him my standard answer in such situations. "That depends," I said.
He smiled and turned to his friends. "This man is Mark Wignall and he writes for the Observer." Then he strode over to me and offered his hand. "Missa Wignall," he said, "I see you here so I know you are real. Nuff time you write 'bout poor people and I used to say is where that man get him information. Now I understand. Respect due."
Those are the little moments that perk me up in an exercise that can, at times, be extremely stressful. In the interim I am forced to ask, what does Omar Davies know that Audley Shaw does not? Are there spies in the finance ministry feeding the former finance minister information?
Am I unfair to political leaders?
One online reader sent me the following perspective:
'Over the years I have appreciated how you, and other columnists in the Observer, have treated the subjects which you have brought to your readers to broaden our understanding of topical issues.
'There is a comment which I would like to offer, if you will permit me. From the way you seem to swing in your judgement of our leaders, I get the impression that you expect our human leaders to operate with an unselfishness that is not typical of the rest of us. I say this because you write as if open rebuke, rather than open encouragement, is the most effective path to helping another human being to want to change.
'If this is a fair perception, you would be right in line with the thinking of most of us human beings. Yet, if we are honest with ourselves, it is really the kind word of encouragement, intertwined with a helping word to consider another and hopefully better way, that seems to get the resulting changes that we all hope for to make JA a better place.
'I am not totally naive to the strident nature of us as a people. I have tried to manage collective numbers of our people from widely differing backgrounds requiring teamwork to be productive in a very competitive activity for survival. In this I have found that the kind word of encouragement has always proven, for me, to be more successful than the expected rebuke.
'So please, Mark, help us your readers to see some of the good in our leaders, which does exist in everyone of us, and which I believe wil help them, and us, strive for what is best for all of us.
'If you do get around to reading this, let me thank you for your valued contribution to helping us confront important issues.'
My response to this reader was:
'I am of the firm belief that leaders ought to be tough, decisive and, although filled with the same blood and guts and vulnerabilities as the rest of us, they ought to be able to rise above responding negatively to harsh criticisms.
'I am not dealing with school children here. And I happen to know that criticisms move them faster than anything else. Over the years I have done many 'big ups' of our leaders. It is the criticisms which tend to surface and last.
'I will, however, bear in mind much of what you have said. We can all learn.'
Which leads me to the recent utterances of the opposition leader in which she saw Golding and his team as akin to Musharraf in Pakistan and she, Benazir Bhutto. Grabbing eagerly (again) at Portia as victim, she has charged headlong at the windmill, found no signs of the enemy but is insistent that she must go full speed ahead in her futile charge. Hopefully, at the end of the day, (dare we hope) all that will be laid out on the battlefield in her mind will be her misdirected neuroses.
To me it is obvious that while a significant percentage of the people in this country are taken up with bettering their lives, the opposition leader is harbouring thoughts of her personal political space. Having tasted political power and sipped the heady brew of life at the top of the political spiral, Simpson Miller is now hooked for life. She wants it back with a vengeance.
Am I, as a public commentator, supposed to pander to such a reckless statement and position? Where do I draw the line? I have called for the rebuilding of the PNP Opposition, but in the mind of the PNP president, she is merely on a break, and soon she will be prime minister all over again.
One online commentator wrote: 'Portia is a major disappointment to many Jamaicans. Power has brought out the worst in her. I didn't know before now that some would see her as being so selfish and spiteful. Her actions will eventually reflect negatively on the people she professes to love, the poor.'
Second 11 team and Portia have captured the PNP, for now
This capturing of the PNP by the second 11 team is just not good enough. For many years Portia was loved, is still loved by many Jamaicans, misinformed and otherwise. In all of those years she received mountains of praise for the little molehills of performance she laid out while other harder working ministers had to go all out in proving themselves. It was just a 'Portia' thing.
Having grown spoiled by years of adulation ('the people love me'), the criticisms, according to her, are being made because she is a woman. In her latest dispensation, she has made herself into the late Benazir Bhutto, a woman, I am certain, she has read little about. Maybe next week she will be Mother Teresa.
Am I supposed to be heartened by her decision to re-enter the Vale Royal talks? I am not, simply because I believe she has made that decision under protest. For this reason I expect that her inputs will be by rote and her heart will not be in it. It will be one grand waste of time, but afterwards an impressive document will be prepared and it will be presented to the nation as another in the long line of 'solutions'.
My advice to the prime minister is, go to the talks filled with energy and hope but expect little real consensus on nation building. The PNP leader eagerly wants to be at the top of the roost again, and her acting in any other role is nothing more than marking time.
The JLP Government had better get up off its illusions and forget about the opposition leader, except in circumstances where cosmetic engineering is what we demand.
No end to religious/political sham
The last time a celebrity (Bob Marley) twinned the hands of two political leaders, Michael Manley and Eddie Seaga, the nation embarked on a sustained four-year 'war' that at the time was without modern parallel but which changed the country forever.
Recently we saw the spectacle of some of our religious leaders forcing the hands of Portia Simpson Miller and Prime Minister Bruce Golding into one. What are we to make of that?
This country has been inundated by Prayer Breakfasts and the 'laying on of hands' for a long time. If the collective will of prayer was a fact, Jamaica would today be a first-world country offering five flights a day to the moon. But we do not learn.
Prayer, to us, seems to be a substitute for hard work and taking personal responsibility for our lives. 'The Lord will provide,' goes the saying. Provide what, we are never told. First-world countries in Europe, Asia and North America are constructing engineering marvels and engaging their people in research to better their already good lives, while in Jamaica we still believe that as long as political leaders hold hands and lift their hearts to heaven, food will magically appear on our plates.
Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore took a raggedy, underdeveloped country in the mid-1960s and transformed that small space into a giant of a nation in less than 40 years. He did not do it by attending countless prayer breakfasts and holding on to useless notions of 'sovereignty'.
He sought help where it was available and more than anything else he understood what leadership meant. Many times he had to push unpleasantness on his people to get them moving, but he did it. Now they can smile while we are heading to the next prayer breakfast, the next round of daily murders, men urinating on our streets, women folk sympathising with murderous gunmen, children soaking up third-class education, and fear stalking the land.
Our political leaders' collective actions are nothing more than political trickery. In this I sympathise with them as they are only giving an ignorant people what they demand. 'Is a good man dat Golding. Him believe in God.' 'Portia never without her Bible. That's why mi did vote fi she.'
I can also appreciate that the electorate in underdeveloped settings need to see their leaders selling them more hope than development. After all, if there is no prayer, no cargo will appear at the seaside. So we force our leaders into selling us sham and duppy and sevens lined up from Constant Spring to Hope Gardens.
The people must see a visible prime minister
Why am I not hearing Prime Minister Golding urging Jamaicans to work, to increase their outputs and efficiency? Why am I not hearing him telling us that the politicians can only set the stage for development but cannot spoon-feed us?
When it was announced that he had earmarked $500 million to ease the burden on basic food items, why did he not come out openly and appeal to the better side of distributors and large merchants? Does he believe that the free market model is entirely without heart, especially when the nation is in crisis?
In the 1970s Michael Manley told us that 'this is a time, my friends, to sow and not to reap...' It seems that in the 1970s little sowing took place while the politics scavenged the arid landscape for what it could get to massage its craw.
So now the sowing process must really begin, but guess what? it must be kept a secret. Golding, like most of our political leaders, has boxed himself into a corner and must be seen as the Provider, the Sustainer. As one online reader wrote:
'I am shocked that Golding has not waved the magic wand to turn Jamaica around! Oh, while I hold no vote for the hoodlums in the PNP, you guys had saviour Bruce performing miracles once he got in.
Well, welcome to reality. You said he has time. Think again. As someone who has "studied" Jamaican people, YOU should know their impatience in results. No long waiting, action NOW. Not that I agree with them, but in reality, that's how it is. I agree that the NEXT six months will be VITAL for Bruce's/JLP's survival. The new commish will help him a lot.'
My view is that political leaders must be those inspiring hope by their actions. Placing Portia's hands into Bruce's is public relations gimmickry, nothing less, nothing more. But we the people, like some of those in a certain alternative investment scheme, need our leaders to send us, the fools, a little further.
What about an athletics link with the Chinese?
An online reader with a very famous last name has sent me the following, which I am sure will be found interesting by sports aficionados:
'I don't know if you have sensed it, but I do believe we are on the tip of a paradigm shift in the athletics world, and Jamaica has the capacity and ability to gain substantial amounts of wealth and prestige from this for Jamaica and the Jamaican economy if we have the foresight and business sense to capitalise on the recent US downturn in athletics leadership.
'The Chinese have solicited our coaches namely Donald Quarrie on two occasions to deliver presentations in athletics mechanisms and physiology. They are competing with the USA in every way and are desirous of improving their global superiority by developing an excellent programme.
'They are willing to invest in athletics for the future prestige, which means a lot to their country.
If we can [we should] formulate a plan whereby the Chinese can assist us to develop and implement international standard training facilities geared to unearth talents in the three counties of Jamaica - Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey.
'It's my belief that more talent exists in Jamaica than is currently coming through, especially in the rural areas. In return, Chinese athletes will be trained and developed, practised with and lectured by Jamaican coaches - a sort of quid pro quo arrangement with them.
'Both parties will benefit. Just think of the possibilities as it relates to development for Jamaica, its people and prestige, other countries may want to come here and train as well, a sort of athletics HUB in the Caribbean.
'Earnings will be generated from athletes' performance on the Grand Prix circuit, Government's contribution, private sector sponsorship of athletes eg Puma (Usain Bolt). For too long the USA has taken our best athletes and ruined their careers on the arduous college circuit.
'Luckily, Asafa didn't peak too early or he may have been on the bastion of athletics also-rans, namely, Daniel England, Roy Bailey, Raymond Nelson, Rudolph Mighty, Thomas Mason, and many more, too [numerous] to mention here. Athletics is a business like any other venture, and Jamaica has the natural resources, competitive advantage and tenacity to earn priceless benefits from investing in such an enterprise. We only need to see the bigger picture.
'Jamaicans all over the world are renowned for their speed, even Jamaican-born athletes Ben Johnson, Linford Christie, Donavon Bailey to name a few, have shown Jamaica has the natural-born talents to an athletics HUB of the world. We need to exploit the current shame on the US programme and develop a competitive alternative here in Jamaica.
'Stephen Francis and Asafa Powell have shown what can be done on their own without much governmental assistance, they have only scratched the surface of the possibilities here. We need the Government to be on board along with China as an investment partner. Believe me, I see a successful venture here.
'The Olympics in Beijing is the perfect opportunity to make this proposal to the Chinese. Here they will see the benefits of the prestige that could be theirs at the expense of their main competitor, the US, and can be sold the idea there, especially if our athletes perform superbly once again, especially Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt.
'It's a great opportunity, Mark. Something I hope you will speak about in your column. Thanks for your time.'
This reader is definitely on to something, and I am recommending that our new minister of sports see the light shining from the East and bring the West towards it. China will be the main focus on this planet for the next 50 years. We need to tap into this lucrative market, but we need to do so where we are strong. And in athletics, we are second only to a few.
Excellent suggestion, reader!
Lawyers Hugh Thompson, Ernie Smith vindicated
In January 2003, the police raided the law offices of Ernie Smith and Hugh Thompson and seized several clients' files in a move which took the Bar Association totally by surprise.
The warrants to do so were secured under the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matters) Act where ostensibly the Canadian Government was seeking information on a Canadian national - Robert Bidwell - who was then in custody awaiting the conduct of an extradition hearing.
Bidwell was being represented by both lawyers, and in the minds of some, the search indicated that something untoward/illegal was being hatched between the accused and the attorneys.
At some later stage the Constitutional Court (Wolfe, Harrison, Hibbert) upheld the action brought on consolidated suits. Smith and Thompson appealed. The appeal was heard before justices McCalla, Panton and Forte between June 2005 and December 2007 where the matter was overturned.
In a small way, I had a connection with the matter because while Bidwell was in custody at the Tower Street prison someone had arranged for me to meet with him, as I gathered he had information which would have been of assistance to me in dealing with another subject. The visit was totally botched, as when I arrived outside the towering brick walls of the castellated monstrosity, none of the guards knew anything about the meeting.
The justices who overturned the matter on appeal stated among other things that, "... the offices of several attorneys-at-law were searched by the police, who seized several clients' files although there was no allegation that any of the attorneys or their members of staff had committed any criminal offences, or that there had been any wrongdoing by anyone on those premises."
The main conclusions drawn were:
. the warrants purportedly issued under the Mutual Assistance Act were unlawful; and
. the searches and seizures were in breach of legal professional privilege.
It is a scary thought, this idea that the police, empowered by some misdirected motive, can raid a lawyer's office and seize files belonging to clients, which could be you or me.
As far as I am concerned, the appeal could have gone only one way. Which only goes to prove that under the law, that is, justice which is dispensed fairly and openly can ensure that 'what gone bad a mawning can come good a evening'.
Capri's view on Informal Investment Schemes
The Caribbean Policy Research Institute (Capri) has recently conducted an impressive study on the schemes which have been an integral part of the financial landscape, although operating outside of formal regulation.
The 49-page report is recommended reading for those with more than a passing interest in the investment climate in Jamaica.
Some of the important positions drawn are:
. Extrapolation from the survey indicates that at least 14,000 Jamaicans are likely to have invested in these schemes, with the total number probably being in the tens of thousands.
. The vast majority of investors do not expect a bail-out from the Government.
. Investor deposits are "facilitated" by the banks, which currently provide loans to over a fifth of investors in the informal investment schemes. However, a large proportion of investors choose to keep returns in the form of savings in the banks.
. Based on the proportion of middle-class investors, most individual investors will be able to absorb the losses should a scheme collapse.
. Evidence suggests that social unrest following a scheme collapse will likely also be short-lived and probably isolated.
. In terms of the impact on the economy, the research shows that in the event of a sudden outflow of funds belonging to the IIS (collapse), the effect will not be long-lasting; hence there should be quick recovery of key macroeconomic indicators following a major collapse of these schemes.
Capri's recommendations are:
. The Government should not offer any kind of bail-out or rescue package to investors or firms which lose money as a result of a collapse of any informal investment schemes.
. The appropriate policy response to the emergence and proliferation of such schemes is for the regulatory authority to prod them into formalisation, as is currently being done.
. It is not within the remit of the banks or other private entities to hasten the collapse of informal investment schemes.
I have been informed that Capri will be making an official launch of the report after which I am certain that the media discussion will provoke the verandah talk and hopefully action where it matters most.
Very impressive, Capri, and so speedily done.
observemark@gmail.com
Wignall's World
Mark Wignall
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Diane Abbott I have been taken to task by some of my readers for being too harsh on some of our leaders, and especially varying my opinions on them too rapidly. To some readers, if today I find favour with a political leader, I have a duty to hold on to that position for life. That viewpoint is, of course, inconsistent with the reality of changing situations and times.
Recently I have been 'accused' of earlier pushing Portia Simpson Miller on the people of this country for the purpose of 'setting her up'; that is, I embarked on this process of building her up to later cut her down as a part of a political ploy to give Bruce Golding the space he needed to eventually take political power.
Although he has not called my name directly, that is the general drift of Rev Garnet Roper, Sunday Herald columnist, a man who finds it difficult to believe that many of us who rooted for Portia initially, later found her to be sadly lacking in leadership skills.
Let me inform my readers that most of my opinions are drawn from a not-so-unique perspective of listening to the Jamaican people from all walks of life, especially the marginalised ones along with what I consider to be my own viewpoints on certain matters. At any stage of such a process, it is difficult to determine if 'my own' viewpoint is a hard and fast one and not influenced by those with whom I interact on a daily basis.
I will not, for one minute, claim that my powers of observation are superior to any other columnist writing in Jamaican newspapers. What I do know is that I have made it my duty to listen to the small man and woman, not only because the majority of them have no heard voices, but simply because I find them to be without the sort of doublespeak which is a feature of some upper-crust Jamaicans.
Granted, most of the poor are without formal information, and this has forced them into devising their own information networks. Much of it is rumour, but when it is not, the perspective is most refreshing.
Recently I wandered into a joint along a volatile section of Waltham Park Road when a young man, half 'sweet' on the season of good cheer, asked me my name. His tone was not hostile so I gave him my standard answer in such situations. "That depends," I said.
He smiled and turned to his friends. "This man is Mark Wignall and he writes for the Observer." Then he strode over to me and offered his hand. "Missa Wignall," he said, "I see you here so I know you are real. Nuff time you write 'bout poor people and I used to say is where that man get him information. Now I understand. Respect due."
Those are the little moments that perk me up in an exercise that can, at times, be extremely stressful. In the interim I am forced to ask, what does Omar Davies know that Audley Shaw does not? Are there spies in the finance ministry feeding the former finance minister information?
Am I unfair to political leaders?
One online reader sent me the following perspective:
'Over the years I have appreciated how you, and other columnists in the Observer, have treated the subjects which you have brought to your readers to broaden our understanding of topical issues.
'There is a comment which I would like to offer, if you will permit me. From the way you seem to swing in your judgement of our leaders, I get the impression that you expect our human leaders to operate with an unselfishness that is not typical of the rest of us. I say this because you write as if open rebuke, rather than open encouragement, is the most effective path to helping another human being to want to change.
'If this is a fair perception, you would be right in line with the thinking of most of us human beings. Yet, if we are honest with ourselves, it is really the kind word of encouragement, intertwined with a helping word to consider another and hopefully better way, that seems to get the resulting changes that we all hope for to make JA a better place.
'I am not totally naive to the strident nature of us as a people. I have tried to manage collective numbers of our people from widely differing backgrounds requiring teamwork to be productive in a very competitive activity for survival. In this I have found that the kind word of encouragement has always proven, for me, to be more successful than the expected rebuke.
'So please, Mark, help us your readers to see some of the good in our leaders, which does exist in everyone of us, and which I believe wil help them, and us, strive for what is best for all of us.
'If you do get around to reading this, let me thank you for your valued contribution to helping us confront important issues.'
My response to this reader was:
'I am of the firm belief that leaders ought to be tough, decisive and, although filled with the same blood and guts and vulnerabilities as the rest of us, they ought to be able to rise above responding negatively to harsh criticisms.
'I am not dealing with school children here. And I happen to know that criticisms move them faster than anything else. Over the years I have done many 'big ups' of our leaders. It is the criticisms which tend to surface and last.
'I will, however, bear in mind much of what you have said. We can all learn.'
Which leads me to the recent utterances of the opposition leader in which she saw Golding and his team as akin to Musharraf in Pakistan and she, Benazir Bhutto. Grabbing eagerly (again) at Portia as victim, she has charged headlong at the windmill, found no signs of the enemy but is insistent that she must go full speed ahead in her futile charge. Hopefully, at the end of the day, (dare we hope) all that will be laid out on the battlefield in her mind will be her misdirected neuroses.
To me it is obvious that while a significant percentage of the people in this country are taken up with bettering their lives, the opposition leader is harbouring thoughts of her personal political space. Having tasted political power and sipped the heady brew of life at the top of the political spiral, Simpson Miller is now hooked for life. She wants it back with a vengeance.
Am I, as a public commentator, supposed to pander to such a reckless statement and position? Where do I draw the line? I have called for the rebuilding of the PNP Opposition, but in the mind of the PNP president, she is merely on a break, and soon she will be prime minister all over again.
One online commentator wrote: 'Portia is a major disappointment to many Jamaicans. Power has brought out the worst in her. I didn't know before now that some would see her as being so selfish and spiteful. Her actions will eventually reflect negatively on the people she professes to love, the poor.'
Second 11 team and Portia have captured the PNP, for now
This capturing of the PNP by the second 11 team is just not good enough. For many years Portia was loved, is still loved by many Jamaicans, misinformed and otherwise. In all of those years she received mountains of praise for the little molehills of performance she laid out while other harder working ministers had to go all out in proving themselves. It was just a 'Portia' thing.
Having grown spoiled by years of adulation ('the people love me'), the criticisms, according to her, are being made because she is a woman. In her latest dispensation, she has made herself into the late Benazir Bhutto, a woman, I am certain, she has read little about. Maybe next week she will be Mother Teresa.
Am I supposed to be heartened by her decision to re-enter the Vale Royal talks? I am not, simply because I believe she has made that decision under protest. For this reason I expect that her inputs will be by rote and her heart will not be in it. It will be one grand waste of time, but afterwards an impressive document will be prepared and it will be presented to the nation as another in the long line of 'solutions'.
My advice to the prime minister is, go to the talks filled with energy and hope but expect little real consensus on nation building. The PNP leader eagerly wants to be at the top of the roost again, and her acting in any other role is nothing more than marking time.
The JLP Government had better get up off its illusions and forget about the opposition leader, except in circumstances where cosmetic engineering is what we demand.
No end to religious/political sham
The last time a celebrity (Bob Marley) twinned the hands of two political leaders, Michael Manley and Eddie Seaga, the nation embarked on a sustained four-year 'war' that at the time was without modern parallel but which changed the country forever.
Recently we saw the spectacle of some of our religious leaders forcing the hands of Portia Simpson Miller and Prime Minister Bruce Golding into one. What are we to make of that?
This country has been inundated by Prayer Breakfasts and the 'laying on of hands' for a long time. If the collective will of prayer was a fact, Jamaica would today be a first-world country offering five flights a day to the moon. But we do not learn.
Prayer, to us, seems to be a substitute for hard work and taking personal responsibility for our lives. 'The Lord will provide,' goes the saying. Provide what, we are never told. First-world countries in Europe, Asia and North America are constructing engineering marvels and engaging their people in research to better their already good lives, while in Jamaica we still believe that as long as political leaders hold hands and lift their hearts to heaven, food will magically appear on our plates.
Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore took a raggedy, underdeveloped country in the mid-1960s and transformed that small space into a giant of a nation in less than 40 years. He did not do it by attending countless prayer breakfasts and holding on to useless notions of 'sovereignty'.
He sought help where it was available and more than anything else he understood what leadership meant. Many times he had to push unpleasantness on his people to get them moving, but he did it. Now they can smile while we are heading to the next prayer breakfast, the next round of daily murders, men urinating on our streets, women folk sympathising with murderous gunmen, children soaking up third-class education, and fear stalking the land.
Our political leaders' collective actions are nothing more than political trickery. In this I sympathise with them as they are only giving an ignorant people what they demand. 'Is a good man dat Golding. Him believe in God.' 'Portia never without her Bible. That's why mi did vote fi she.'
I can also appreciate that the electorate in underdeveloped settings need to see their leaders selling them more hope than development. After all, if there is no prayer, no cargo will appear at the seaside. So we force our leaders into selling us sham and duppy and sevens lined up from Constant Spring to Hope Gardens.
The people must see a visible prime minister
Why am I not hearing Prime Minister Golding urging Jamaicans to work, to increase their outputs and efficiency? Why am I not hearing him telling us that the politicians can only set the stage for development but cannot spoon-feed us?
When it was announced that he had earmarked $500 million to ease the burden on basic food items, why did he not come out openly and appeal to the better side of distributors and large merchants? Does he believe that the free market model is entirely without heart, especially when the nation is in crisis?
In the 1970s Michael Manley told us that 'this is a time, my friends, to sow and not to reap...' It seems that in the 1970s little sowing took place while the politics scavenged the arid landscape for what it could get to massage its craw.
So now the sowing process must really begin, but guess what? it must be kept a secret. Golding, like most of our political leaders, has boxed himself into a corner and must be seen as the Provider, the Sustainer. As one online reader wrote:
'I am shocked that Golding has not waved the magic wand to turn Jamaica around! Oh, while I hold no vote for the hoodlums in the PNP, you guys had saviour Bruce performing miracles once he got in.
Well, welcome to reality. You said he has time. Think again. As someone who has "studied" Jamaican people, YOU should know their impatience in results. No long waiting, action NOW. Not that I agree with them, but in reality, that's how it is. I agree that the NEXT six months will be VITAL for Bruce's/JLP's survival. The new commish will help him a lot.'
My view is that political leaders must be those inspiring hope by their actions. Placing Portia's hands into Bruce's is public relations gimmickry, nothing less, nothing more. But we the people, like some of those in a certain alternative investment scheme, need our leaders to send us, the fools, a little further.
What about an athletics link with the Chinese?
An online reader with a very famous last name has sent me the following, which I am sure will be found interesting by sports aficionados:
'I don't know if you have sensed it, but I do believe we are on the tip of a paradigm shift in the athletics world, and Jamaica has the capacity and ability to gain substantial amounts of wealth and prestige from this for Jamaica and the Jamaican economy if we have the foresight and business sense to capitalise on the recent US downturn in athletics leadership.
'The Chinese have solicited our coaches namely Donald Quarrie on two occasions to deliver presentations in athletics mechanisms and physiology. They are competing with the USA in every way and are desirous of improving their global superiority by developing an excellent programme.
'They are willing to invest in athletics for the future prestige, which means a lot to their country.
If we can [we should] formulate a plan whereby the Chinese can assist us to develop and implement international standard training facilities geared to unearth talents in the three counties of Jamaica - Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey.
'It's my belief that more talent exists in Jamaica than is currently coming through, especially in the rural areas. In return, Chinese athletes will be trained and developed, practised with and lectured by Jamaican coaches - a sort of quid pro quo arrangement with them.
'Both parties will benefit. Just think of the possibilities as it relates to development for Jamaica, its people and prestige, other countries may want to come here and train as well, a sort of athletics HUB in the Caribbean.
'Earnings will be generated from athletes' performance on the Grand Prix circuit, Government's contribution, private sector sponsorship of athletes eg Puma (Usain Bolt). For too long the USA has taken our best athletes and ruined their careers on the arduous college circuit.
'Luckily, Asafa didn't peak too early or he may have been on the bastion of athletics also-rans, namely, Daniel England, Roy Bailey, Raymond Nelson, Rudolph Mighty, Thomas Mason, and many more, too [numerous] to mention here. Athletics is a business like any other venture, and Jamaica has the natural resources, competitive advantage and tenacity to earn priceless benefits from investing in such an enterprise. We only need to see the bigger picture.
'Jamaicans all over the world are renowned for their speed, even Jamaican-born athletes Ben Johnson, Linford Christie, Donavon Bailey to name a few, have shown Jamaica has the natural-born talents to an athletics HUB of the world. We need to exploit the current shame on the US programme and develop a competitive alternative here in Jamaica.
'Stephen Francis and Asafa Powell have shown what can be done on their own without much governmental assistance, they have only scratched the surface of the possibilities here. We need the Government to be on board along with China as an investment partner. Believe me, I see a successful venture here.
'The Olympics in Beijing is the perfect opportunity to make this proposal to the Chinese. Here they will see the benefits of the prestige that could be theirs at the expense of their main competitor, the US, and can be sold the idea there, especially if our athletes perform superbly once again, especially Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt.
'It's a great opportunity, Mark. Something I hope you will speak about in your column. Thanks for your time.'
This reader is definitely on to something, and I am recommending that our new minister of sports see the light shining from the East and bring the West towards it. China will be the main focus on this planet for the next 50 years. We need to tap into this lucrative market, but we need to do so where we are strong. And in athletics, we are second only to a few.
Excellent suggestion, reader!
Lawyers Hugh Thompson, Ernie Smith vindicated
In January 2003, the police raided the law offices of Ernie Smith and Hugh Thompson and seized several clients' files in a move which took the Bar Association totally by surprise.
The warrants to do so were secured under the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matters) Act where ostensibly the Canadian Government was seeking information on a Canadian national - Robert Bidwell - who was then in custody awaiting the conduct of an extradition hearing.
Bidwell was being represented by both lawyers, and in the minds of some, the search indicated that something untoward/illegal was being hatched between the accused and the attorneys.
At some later stage the Constitutional Court (Wolfe, Harrison, Hibbert) upheld the action brought on consolidated suits. Smith and Thompson appealed. The appeal was heard before justices McCalla, Panton and Forte between June 2005 and December 2007 where the matter was overturned.
In a small way, I had a connection with the matter because while Bidwell was in custody at the Tower Street prison someone had arranged for me to meet with him, as I gathered he had information which would have been of assistance to me in dealing with another subject. The visit was totally botched, as when I arrived outside the towering brick walls of the castellated monstrosity, none of the guards knew anything about the meeting.
The justices who overturned the matter on appeal stated among other things that, "... the offices of several attorneys-at-law were searched by the police, who seized several clients' files although there was no allegation that any of the attorneys or their members of staff had committed any criminal offences, or that there had been any wrongdoing by anyone on those premises."
The main conclusions drawn were:
. the warrants purportedly issued under the Mutual Assistance Act were unlawful; and
. the searches and seizures were in breach of legal professional privilege.
It is a scary thought, this idea that the police, empowered by some misdirected motive, can raid a lawyer's office and seize files belonging to clients, which could be you or me.
As far as I am concerned, the appeal could have gone only one way. Which only goes to prove that under the law, that is, justice which is dispensed fairly and openly can ensure that 'what gone bad a mawning can come good a evening'.
Capri's view on Informal Investment Schemes
The Caribbean Policy Research Institute (Capri) has recently conducted an impressive study on the schemes which have been an integral part of the financial landscape, although operating outside of formal regulation.
The 49-page report is recommended reading for those with more than a passing interest in the investment climate in Jamaica.
Some of the important positions drawn are:
. Extrapolation from the survey indicates that at least 14,000 Jamaicans are likely to have invested in these schemes, with the total number probably being in the tens of thousands.
. The vast majority of investors do not expect a bail-out from the Government.
. Investor deposits are "facilitated" by the banks, which currently provide loans to over a fifth of investors in the informal investment schemes. However, a large proportion of investors choose to keep returns in the form of savings in the banks.
. Based on the proportion of middle-class investors, most individual investors will be able to absorb the losses should a scheme collapse.
. Evidence suggests that social unrest following a scheme collapse will likely also be short-lived and probably isolated.
. In terms of the impact on the economy, the research shows that in the event of a sudden outflow of funds belonging to the IIS (collapse), the effect will not be long-lasting; hence there should be quick recovery of key macroeconomic indicators following a major collapse of these schemes.
Capri's recommendations are:
. The Government should not offer any kind of bail-out or rescue package to investors or firms which lose money as a result of a collapse of any informal investment schemes.
. The appropriate policy response to the emergence and proliferation of such schemes is for the regulatory authority to prod them into formalisation, as is currently being done.
. It is not within the remit of the banks or other private entities to hasten the collapse of informal investment schemes.
I have been informed that Capri will be making an official launch of the report after which I am certain that the media discussion will provoke the verandah talk and hopefully action where it matters most.
Very impressive, Capri, and so speedily done.
observemark@gmail.com