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EDITORIAL - Answer Truthfully (This Time), PM
Published: Sunday | August 29, 20100 Comments and 0 Reactions
Elsewhere in this edition of The Sunday Gleaner, several questions, including many from readers, are posed to the Golding administration regarding the relationship between the Government and the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the terms of their relationship with the United States law firm/lobbyists, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
We urge the Government to answer fully and truthfully, which most Jamaicans do not believe to have been the case so far. Lies, half-truths, and obfuscations, as the Information Minister, Daryl Vaz, has largely conceded, are hurting Jamaica.
For while people may no longer be in a seething public rage, it would be wrong for the administration to assume that the Manatt issue is now a mere, and minor, distraction. It is about the fundamental question of people's ability to repose trust in those who govern.
In the circumstances, it will be difficult for Jamaicans to give their full attention to improved macro-economic indicators, as Mr Vaz hopes will happen, when they lack faith in their government.
Of course, there is nothing wrong for a government, or a political party, which Prime Minister Bruce Golding says was the case here, to hire lobbyists to pursue its/their legitimate interests.
Opaqueness
What concerns Jamaicans, however, is the opaqueness with which our government and the JLP have defined those interests, and the appearance that these meant thwarting, or at least delaying, the extradition to the United States of an accused narcotics and gun smuggler, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.
Moreover, as the several emails extracted from the Office of the solicitor general, and quoted by this newspaper a week ago, revealed, there was a blurring of the lines and co-mingling between senior civil servants, to wit, the Solicitor General, Mr Douglas Leys, and his deputy, Mr Lackston Robinson, and the JLP's fixer, Mr Harold Brady, in their dealings with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
Mr Golding, despite his claims to the contrary, seems to have known about this. If he didn't, it is likely because he wanted plausible deniability.
So, if Mr Golding and the JLP want Jamaica to move on, they have, finally, to come clean. They must peruse our questions and be frank with the Jamaican people, starting with who hired Manatt, the terms of reference they were given, who paid the bill, and whether these financiers knew for what they were paying.
Overcrowded lock-ups
Overcrowding in Jamaican jails and police lock-ups is not new and ought not to surprise anyone. There is periodic hand-wringing on the matter, especially after some tragedy, such as in 1992, when Agana Barrett, Ian Forbes and Vassell Brown suffocated in a hot, overcrowded cell at the Constant Spring police station.
The then administration vowed it would never happen again, and announced plans to build a new prison. The prison has not been built, and, Constant Spring is likely to repeat itself.
Three years ago, a severely inadequate $200 million found its way into the national budget for a new facility. And the cash, although it was only on paper, evaporated.
Yet, we maintain prisons whose quality might have been imagined by Charles Dickens. And the situation is likely to worsen. The police, at the insistence of citizens, are working harder and more efficiently in catching criminals.
Maybe, therefore, it is time again, given its fiscal constraints, for the Government to consider privatised prisons, starting with private money going to build, own, operate, and transfer (boot camp) facilities.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
Published: Sunday | August 29, 20100 Comments and 0 Reactions
Elsewhere in this edition of The Sunday Gleaner, several questions, including many from readers, are posed to the Golding administration regarding the relationship between the Government and the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the terms of their relationship with the United States law firm/lobbyists, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
We urge the Government to answer fully and truthfully, which most Jamaicans do not believe to have been the case so far. Lies, half-truths, and obfuscations, as the Information Minister, Daryl Vaz, has largely conceded, are hurting Jamaica.
For while people may no longer be in a seething public rage, it would be wrong for the administration to assume that the Manatt issue is now a mere, and minor, distraction. It is about the fundamental question of people's ability to repose trust in those who govern.
In the circumstances, it will be difficult for Jamaicans to give their full attention to improved macro-economic indicators, as Mr Vaz hopes will happen, when they lack faith in their government.
Of course, there is nothing wrong for a government, or a political party, which Prime Minister Bruce Golding says was the case here, to hire lobbyists to pursue its/their legitimate interests.
Opaqueness
What concerns Jamaicans, however, is the opaqueness with which our government and the JLP have defined those interests, and the appearance that these meant thwarting, or at least delaying, the extradition to the United States of an accused narcotics and gun smuggler, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.
Moreover, as the several emails extracted from the Office of the solicitor general, and quoted by this newspaper a week ago, revealed, there was a blurring of the lines and co-mingling between senior civil servants, to wit, the Solicitor General, Mr Douglas Leys, and his deputy, Mr Lackston Robinson, and the JLP's fixer, Mr Harold Brady, in their dealings with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
Mr Golding, despite his claims to the contrary, seems to have known about this. If he didn't, it is likely because he wanted plausible deniability.
So, if Mr Golding and the JLP want Jamaica to move on, they have, finally, to come clean. They must peruse our questions and be frank with the Jamaican people, starting with who hired Manatt, the terms of reference they were given, who paid the bill, and whether these financiers knew for what they were paying.
Overcrowded lock-ups
Overcrowding in Jamaican jails and police lock-ups is not new and ought not to surprise anyone. There is periodic hand-wringing on the matter, especially after some tragedy, such as in 1992, when Agana Barrett, Ian Forbes and Vassell Brown suffocated in a hot, overcrowded cell at the Constant Spring police station.
The then administration vowed it would never happen again, and announced plans to build a new prison. The prison has not been built, and, Constant Spring is likely to repeat itself.
Three years ago, a severely inadequate $200 million found its way into the national budget for a new facility. And the cash, although it was only on paper, evaporated.
Yet, we maintain prisons whose quality might have been imagined by Charles Dickens. And the situation is likely to worsen. The police, at the insistence of citizens, are working harder and more efficiently in catching criminals.
Maybe, therefore, it is time again, given its fiscal constraints, for the Government to consider privatised prisons, starting with private money going to build, own, operate, and transfer (boot camp) facilities.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
