October is here, and we are enjoying beautiful weather. The hills are deep green from the recent rains. The sun does not burn so harshly. It’s a delicious time of year. But, we still have mosquitoes.
Humble pie: First, I owe Delano Seiveright and his Opposition colleagues an apology. Political candidate Mr. Seiveright and Member of Parliament for western St. Thomas James Robertson raised the alarm about the chikungunya virus over a month ago now. Like many others, I thought they were dramatizing, seeking to score some political points. I wrote about the aedes aegypti mosquito acquiring green striped legs instead of the regular black and white. Health Minister Fenton Ferguson immediately attacked them for politicking; the Opposition Health Spokesman (who is a medical doctor) was being “alarmist.” Well, now we are all alarmist, and I am eating humble pie. Sorry, Delano. None of us have any idea why the Minister decided to play down the possible impact of chikungunya on a population that has never experienced it before. After all, it is appearing in the Western Hemisphere for the first time in history. None of us were immune.
Ignorance and lack of information has has certainly exacerbated the situation regarding chikungunya in Jamaica. The Health Ministry is to blame; it was talking politics at a crucial point in the epidemic, instead of getting information out. Rumors are rife; some Jamaicans still strongly maintain that chik v is not spread by mosquitoes! The Minister has repeatedly referred to a “seminar” with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Jamaica in May 2012, during which a road map for action on chik v was drawn up. Were all the preparations and actions outlined during that meeting undertaken? Meanwhile, kudos to Opposition Health Spokesman Dr. Kenneth Baugh, who has been sharing valuable information on the virus on radio.
When is the National Cleanup Day, Minister Ferguson? And isn’t it a bit late to be holding “stakeholder meetings”? And Local Government Ministry…This is too little, too late. The Ministry met with Mayors over the weekend to decide priority communities for vector control. It released funds for six – yes, six! – communities for drain cleaning, etc. Clearly funding is an issue but why these last-minute meetings? The first Chikungunya case in the Caribbean was in St Maarten in December, 2013, and it spread steadily from east to west after that. Wasn’t that enough time for Jamaica to prepare, to educate the public?
No word from the Prime Minister: No, not at all. She made a speech yesterday about the great progress her Government has made on women’s issues (I reserve judgment on that). However, reading out prepared speeches before a group of International Monetary Fund officials and other foreigners does not count.
Ebola in America: So, a chill went through us all yesterday on hearing that there is a case of Ebola in Dallas, Texas. Remember, Jamaica is very close to the United States; only a 45-minute flight away! The thought of the terrible disease reaching our shores is deeply troubling. The Health Ministry is now on “high alert,” says Dr. Kevin Harvey, Permanent Secretary, noting that isolation units have been prepared (one in Kingston). How speedily could we respond? How well equipped are we? Meanwhile, Jamaicans were impressed by the forthright, no-nonsense and detailed press briefing given by U.S. officials immediately after the case was confirmed.
And our professionals? The heads of our professional associations – doctors and nurses, have been quite evasive when interviewed on radio. One radio commentator expressed his frustration at their reluctance to “call a spade a spade.” He apparently asked them about whether a pregnant woman can transmit chik v to their child, but got no straight answer. But are we surprised? After all, they all work for the Ministry of Health so they cannot say much. But their predecessors were braver.
And talking of courage, I heard an observation: “Everybody’s afraid…What are they all afraid of?” They are all playing it safe, protecting their livelihoods and afraid to speak out. This applies to many Jamaicans, it appears, especially those working for the Government. In a way, I can’t blame them. But…
In the midst of all this, Parliament passed a historic law! The legislation allowing for the expungement of criminal records for misdemeanors – including minor ganja possession charges – was passed yesterday. An important, cautious first step. I think Justice Minister Mark Golding is going about this matter in the correct way – carefully and thoughtfully. Kudos to him. Next will come the legalization of medical marijuana and hemp for industrial use, which Cabinet has approved. The lobbyists are feeling a little happier, I think.
Bureau of Women’s Affairs (BWA) head Faith Webster’s application seeking a judicial review of an interdiction order in March – meaning that Ms. Webster was abruptly shown the door – will be heard on November 12 and 13. Ms. Webster, who has worked at the BWA for sixteen years, claims she was never able to respond to charges made against her. So, her life has been on hold for most of this year as she seeks to defend herself.
Congratulations! Proud of these people…
- To Jean Lowrie-Chin, the new President of the Digicel Foundation. I know Jean will do a wonderful job. She is a role model for me, and many other Jamaican women.
- UNICEF Jamaica and the wonderful team of education innovators who spoke at the #UNICEFActivate talk on Monday evening: Deika Morrison of Do Good Jamaica/Crayons Count; Jason Henzell of the BREDS Treasure Beach Foundation; Renée Rattray from JN Foundation; and Marvin Hall of Halls of Learning. I have written about it in my weekly Gleaner blog (Social Impact): http://gleanerblogs.com/socialimpact/?p=2239 Fellow blogger Dennis Jones also wrote about it here: http://jamaicapoliticaleconomy.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/no-chalk-good-talk-and-much-innovation-in-education-unicef-activate-talk-kingston/ UNICEF Jamaica is doing great work.
- Dr Kei Miller, Jamaican writer and poet, who won the UK’s Forward Prize for the Best Poetry Collection 2014 for his book “The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way To Zion.” If you have not read any of Kei’s works by now… go to your nearest bookstore immediately!
- Assistant Commissioner of Police Novelette Grant, who today became Deputy Commissioner of Police – only the second woman to be appointed to this position. I believe she is a very worthy person, intelligent, focused and articulate, and was a strong candidate for Commissioner. Congratulations Novelette!
Minister of National Security Peter Bunting announced that the sleepy parish of Portland has by far the lowest murder rate this year – 10 per 100,000 (by the way, this is how such things should be measured). St. James has the highest. Certainly, murders have declined and we are hoping numbers will stay low for the rest of the year! But some sad news this afternoon. My deepest condolences to the family of Muschett High School student Alicia Brown, who did not arrive at school yesterday morning, and whose body was found today.
Alicia Brown, 13, Stewart Castle, Trelawny
On the roads: Motorcyclists – please take care on the roads! I see some crazy bike riders on a daily basis – careless, and often riding without helmets (do the police enforce this law at all, I wonder?) This young man, a Titchfield High School graduate, lost control of his bike in Snow Hill, Portland, fell off it and died. Was he going too fast?
Petchary's Blog 
Hi,
just saw you post on the Chick V. It is a good read. I will need a month without break to read up on your articles as they are very informative. I am learning quite a bit about the real issues and not the feel good, headlines and political driven from the major papers there. Here is a link to my article on the the virus.
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/opinion/op-ed/51154-high-on-ebola-low-on-chikungunya- Published in Bahamas….. the other is my blog page. http://mydocvu.com/2014/10/21/high-o-ebola-low-on-chikungunya/
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Hi – I am so glad you are enjoying my articles. I do tend to focus on issues that really concern me personally, and Jamaicans in general. I will read your article and follow your blog. Yes, the chik v has really been a huge issue that I think has been damaging to the political administration in many ways – that is, the way it was handled, especially in the initial stages. People were, and still are angry about it. I will be following your blog. Thanks so much for your comments, and for reading…and Happy New Year!
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Kudos, for giving credit to Delano, and realizing that he was on the right track.
I’m concerned about the appearance of ‘fear’ amongst those who should be able to give the public advice, but withholding that for fear of retribution, embarrassment, etc. I took on the issue yesterday on Twitter. If public officials constrain their advice, then they cannot be trusted to be impartial. That’s a serious governance issue.
Again, a great UNICEF event, and thanks for the mention.
DJ
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