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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Prime Minister found wanting</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Ken Chaplin
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Ken Chaplin</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>There has been mutual love and respect between prime minister Portia Simpson Miller and me for more than 25 years, but the national interest far transcends our relations.
For example, she ought not to expect my support in the Trafigura Beheer affair which has brought the prime minister, People's National Party and the government to hame to the extent that it may well cost them the next general elections, constitutionally due next year. Not even her public kissing and hugging spree which many people find amusing and of which, joyfully, I have had my fair share over the years, may be able to help her.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Concerned with the poverty, frustration and hopelessness that exist in the slums of Kingston and St Andrew and many rural communities, I have supported her stated objective to attack poverty long before she became prime minister. Not much has been done in this regard because the Patterson administration which ruled the country for more than 17 years mismanaged the revenue, and corruption in government ate away a considerable portion of it. In taking over as prime minister in March this year.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Portia Simpson Miller also made wiping out corruption in government (which has had a negative impact on poor people) one of her primary targets, but no inroads have been made so far mainly because the Patterson administration (of which she was a minister) left very little money behind. Indeed, the social services, especially health care, have been allowed to deteriorate. And rural roads across the country are in a terrible state of disrepair.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The Trafigura Beheer scandal has tested the mettle of the prime minister and she has been found wanting. Her responseto the scandal is less than satisfactory. This column has already suggested that Simpson Miller should tell the whole story and apologise to the Jamaican people for the misdeed of her party. Her lack of frankness has been shattering. It is not too late for her to admit that the party did wrong in accepting a donation of US$31 million from Trafigura Beheer while negotiating a contract with the company. Further, she should produce evidence to show whether the money has been returned to Trafigura Beheer as she promised. There is widespread belief that Simpson Miller knows far more about the deal than she claims.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Already, the polls have shown that the party, Simpson Miller and the government are losing a great deal of support because of the Trafigura scandal which is not turning out to be the nine-day wonder that information minister Donald Buchanan was hoping it would be. The polls show the public is not satisfied with the performance of the prime minister and her administration. Of course, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding has been razor-sharp on issues and in many cases caught the government flat-footed.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Simpson Miller has also suffered from lack of effective support from some of her colleagues whom she whipped in the contest for the presidency of the party and prime ministership. This column said some time ago that opponents within the party are waiting for her to fail, then challenge her again. A house divided against itself cannot stand. I am sure that if all the leaders of the factions in the party had thrown their full support behind the prime minister, her perfor
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Ken Chaplin
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Ken Chaplin</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>There has been mutual love and respect between prime minister Portia Simpson Miller and me for more than 25 years, but the national interest far transcends our relations. For example, she ought not to expect my support in the Trafigura Beheer affair which has brought the prime minister, People's National Party and the government to hame to the extent that it may well cost them the next general elections, constitutionally due next year. Not even her public kissing and hugging spree which many people find amusing and of which, joyfully, I have had my fair share over the years, may be able to help her.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Concerned with the poverty, frustration and hopelessness that exist in the slums of Kingston and St Andrew and many rural communities, I have supported her stated objective to attack poverty long before she became prime minister. Not much has been done in this regard because the Patterson administration which ruled the country for more than 17 years mismanaged the revenue, and corruption in government ate away a considerable portion of it. In taking over as prime minister in March this year.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Portia Simpson Miller also made wiping out corruption in government (which has had a negative impact on poor people) one of her primary targets, but no inroads have been made so far mainly because the Patterson administration (of which she was a minister) left very little money behind. Indeed, the social services, especially health care, have been allowed to deteriorate. And rural roads across the country are in a terrible state of disrepair.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The Trafigura Beheer scandal has tested the mettle of the prime minister and she has been found wanting. Her responseto the scandal is less than satisfactory. This column has already suggested that Simpson Miller should tell the whole story and apologise to the Jamaican people for the misdeed of her party. Her lack of frankness has been shattering. It is not too late for her to admit that the party did wrong in accepting a donation of US$31 million from Trafigura Beheer while negotiating a contract with the company. Further, she should produce evidence to show whether the money has been returned to Trafigura Beheer as she promised. There is widespread belief that Simpson Miller knows far more about the deal than she claims.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Already, the polls have shown that the party, Simpson Miller and the government are losing a great deal of support because of the Trafigura scandal which is not turning out to be the nine-day wonder that information minister Donald Buchanan was hoping it would be. The polls show the public is not satisfied with the performance of the prime minister and her administration. Of course, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding has been razor-sharp on issues and in many cases caught the government flat-footed.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Simpson Miller has also suffered from lack of effective support from some of her colleagues whom she whipped in the contest for the presidency of the party and prime ministership. This column said some time ago that opponents within the party are waiting for her to fail, then challenge her again. A house divided against itself cannot stand. I am sure that if all the leaders of the factions in the party had thrown their full support behind the prime minister, her perfor
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