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The Powerhouses in the PNP
MARK WIGNALL
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Following the rude dismissal of the JLP administration on December 29, 2011, once the new PNP administration was formed it became quite clear to me where power in the party would be concentrated and from where firm performance results could be expected in the next five years.
At the top of the list is Peter Phillips, the man who dared to challenge for leadership twice and lived to tell the tale. It is rare in party politics that contenders survive after leadership challenges, especially with the same leader in place.
The Powerhouses in the PNP
MARK WIGNALL
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Following the rude dismissal of the JLP administration on December 29, 2011, once the new PNP administration was formed it became quite clear to me where power in the party would be concentrated and from where firm performance results could be expected in the next five years.
At the top of the list is Peter Phillips, the man who dared to challenge for leadership twice and lived to tell the tale. It is rare in party politics that contenders survive after leadership challenges, especially with the same leader in place.
His survival would be due either to the generosity of spirit of the party leader and prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller, or it could be said that once she had secured her own mandate — the ultimate prize — the petty squabbles and the side shows would fade away into insignificance.
Named to shadow the JLP finance minister sometime before the December 29 poll, it was obvious that Phillips would have secured the finance portfolio once the PNP won. Seen as an integral part of the 'conscience' of the PNP, an academic and more importantly an intellectual, he was the PNP's main troubleshooter in the administration which ran from 1989 to the present, with a recess period occupied by the JLP from September 2007 to December 2011.
The second on the list would be Omar Davies, former finance minister but now transport and works minister. It was certainly not an accident that he was given the highly important ministry after it had been brought into disrepute by the last person to occupy the top post.
Short in stature but big on ego and his own ideas about 'mission', Davies would certainly know that he would have to be the clean-up agent after the JDIP troubles, plus the catalyst in putting together the much touted PNP proposal for jobs — JEEP.
Minister of science, technology, energy and mining Phillip Paulwell would in 2012 be older than when he was exuberant in the last PNP administration, but much would be expected from him, especially in bringing reform through the National Energy Policy. If talk is indicative of imminent action, he has hit the ground running. According to him, he has given himself three years to lower the price of electricity to between US$0.15 and US$0.18 per KWh from the present crippling US$0.40, a proposed huge drop of up to 62 per cent.
We will be holding him to his word.
The other powerhouse would be Anthony Hylton, the industry, investment and commerce minister. Already he has met with those having big, workable ideas and business proposals and, as a full, powerful minister, he has a lot to prove.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller may have been the person who won the elections, but it will fall to this council of ministers (Peter Phillips, Omar Davies, Phillip Paulwell and Anthony Hylton) to carry the burden of real governance for, at the very least, the next five years.
At this stage no one can claim that they do not understand the nuances of the overlap which each ministry brings to the other. If energy gets it right, industry and investment will be facilitated and all the right indicators will be blinking on the finance side. If finance gets it right, it will be easier for transport and works to get the daily beat of life around us humming like it ought to.
Nothing will be easy as Peter Phillips and his team sit down with IMF officials in an effort to iron out the kinks left over from the JLP's short time at the wicket. There is the likelihood of a sustained economic slowdown and it is likely to be felt in our tourism arrivals from the European continent. I have not mentioned the tourism ministry as one of the powerhouses, simply because it has an administrative body that seems to sustain itself outside of any special touch from any minister.
Another of my main concerns is that the prime minister needs closer liaison with these men because they are naturally driven in their own directions in any attempt to gain success in their ministerial pursuits. Already we have seen the kinks in the JEEP matter, but in these early days I am willing to put that down to PNP exuberance.
If Anthony Hylton gets this one right
Sitting at the top of the industry, investment and commerce minister's agenda of items is that proposal by Dr Lloyd Cole for a massive dry dock to be situated in Jackson Bay, Clarendon.
As I have stated before, this project, when it gets off the ground, has the potential to radically transform the Jamaican economy. Marshall Ogle, director of strategy and operations at Deloitte Touche, Tohmatsu Ltd, who has been close to the proposal from its inception over 20 years ago, said, "The dry dock project is an ambitious mega project that could be similar in its impact to the national economy as the bauxite industry which commenced in the 1950s. Today, bauxite still accounts for 50 per cent of Jamaica's export earnings since the 1960s.
"The project is a US$3-billion capital project that will require a wide range of skills. It will require the skill sets of engineers (marine, civil, mechanical, electrical), managers, skilled and semi-skilled metal fabricators, electricians, plumbers, welders, mechanics, etc) workers from the feasibility stage through construction and during operation.
"The proposed facility will be designed to accommodate some of the largest ships in operation today. Services will cover minor repair at the lower end of the spectrum to ship conversion at the higher end. Allied facilities will include bulk storage (fuel, water, etc), railway, air cargo transport, sewage treatment, accommodation, specialist facilities, to name a few.
"It could lead to the expansion of Jamaica's limestone industry, as well as impact the viability of Vernamfield as a cargo airport. The overall impact could be significant to the economy during all phases of implementation."
When I spoke to Dr Cole in the early part of last week, he was ecstatic that the new minister (Hylton) had been showing such keen interest in the project proposal. In fact, Hylton had been eyeing the proposal long before December 29.
During that time, JLP Government officials had met with Cole and his team while a set of business development specialists from UTech had 'adopted' the proposal and made it one of their priority 'to do' items.
Some of the JLP Government officials said the right words, but in the end it was all wind. I had personally intervened at that time and told one powerful JLP minister, "If you guys can get your best technocrats to work with the project conceptualisers — and remember, the Chinese have been showing keen interest — and get it off the ground, it may save you from the Dudus/Manatt fiasco. It may help to win you an election".
Although it is known that the red tape that potential investors must clear in Jamaica is enough to drive them mad, I had honestly thought that, knowing that the then Opposition PNP, in the form of Anthony Hylton and his team, had been keenly examining the well laid-out project proposal, the JLP would be only too eager to jump at the chance to assist in kicking off the project.
First, it would not cost the Government a red cent, and all it had to do was give the go-ahead for the land allocation — land which was already identified. Second, even an announcement of the project would lead to interest from other potential investors. Third, in terms of pure politics, it had the potential to save the JLP.
Corruption and investments
It has always been my concern that once foreign investments touch down on our soil, too many politicians and their creepy-crawly operatives in certain ministries tend to see the investment as a feeding tree.
Where permits are sought, money is also sought for speeding up the process. Where a link is needed to another ministry, a creepy-crawly creature inserts himself in the process and wants a 'finder's fee'. At the other ministry there is a village tyrant who sits, fiddles his thumbs and invites additional funds under the table if he is to actually sign a document. Before the investor even lays out one block or a length of steel, his budget is severely under stress.
It seems to me that Jamaican governments have been afraid of the really huge projects for mainly two reasons. One, they have never been able to think big. Two, they have always shown a preference for small to medium-size projects, and I will give the reasons.
A huge project, like the one conceptualised and drafted in much detail by Dr Cole, invites a higher level of scrutiny than say, a man erecting a multi-storied structure in downtown Kingston. The man erecting that building will meet many bottom feeders as they scrape the scales from what they can get their hands on.
Whether it is a minister who wants US$100,000 or an operative in the backroom who wants US$10,000, they are there, ready to scrape, ready to eat.
With a huge project, many become scared because of the level of scrutiny, both local and international, so it inhibits the involvement of those who would want to 'make a deal' behind closed doors.
The present PNP Cabinet is by no means a display of political virgins. They have been there before and they know the rules of the game, on the field and in the changing rooms. This time around, a clean break with the past is desired because investment money tends to follow the route where official facilitators are more in number than those seeking payoffs under the table.
I have full faith in Minister Anthony Hylton. I have reposed faith in many before and, almost to a man, they have 'bus mi bet'. I have spoken to the minister (when he was in the Opposition) and I believe he has Jamaica's interest at heart.
It is imperative that this project gets off the ground in the next five years. If Obama wins the US election this year, as I believe he will, given the possibility that Newt Gingrich is likely to get the GOP nomination over Romney, it is likely that we will be seeing more of an opening up of the socio-political space between Cuba and the US.
The Chinese have been exploring for oil offshore Cuba and the world is watching. Bauxite operations in Jamaica are slowing down and our tourism market will be subject to the economic impact coming out of Europe. We have to move now, Minister Hylton, not tomorrow!
If this happens and big business begins to cast its eyes on Cuba with its large army of engineers, technicians and other highly trained personnel, it is not far-fetched that Cuba would begin to erect a huge dry dock. If this happens, we are dead and buried in Jamaica!
As Jamaicans, we have the best of our trained people living abroad in places like New York, California, Connecticut, Miami, London, etc. We would have the opportunity to attract some of them to this project, in the construction phase and at the operational level. The linkages are numerous in this economic game changer for Jamaica.
Minister Hylton, if you want your Government to occupy Jamaica House for the next 20 years and to make that 20 years better for Jamaicans than it would be for the PNP, please go full steam ahead on Dr Cole's dry dock plan.
Jamaica is relying on you.
observemark@gmail.com
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