Mid-Week Overload: Wednesday, October 9, 2013

I have a bit too much on my plate this week, so will try to keep this short. And literally – I ate too much today, at one of our lovely local neighborhood restaurants, Tea Tree Creperie. It’s recommended.

I start with a mea culpa: One of my readers gently reprimanded me for a comment I made in my last (Sunday) post, in which I poked fun at the way some callers to radio talk shows speak. It smacked of condescension, said my reader. The point is well taken. My attempt at being amusing certainly did sound that way, I do agree. So, my apologies to anyone who may have found it at all offensive or unkind. And please, dear readers, feel free to correct me whenever you feel it necessary! I take all your comments seriously, and you don’t have to be nice and polite!

It’s been an energetic week: With the preferred bidder for the 360 MW power project not able to come up with its deposit on time, the slightly mysterious Energy World International (EWI) has moved to the top of the heap. A local consortium, Energize Jamaica, has apparently been sidelined indefinitely. I understand that the EWI people will arrive in Jamaica this weekend, so we shall see what we shall see. Now local journalists have been digging around to find out what they can about EWI. The results have been far from impressive. A review of successive annual reports shows EWI failed to come up with the funds for an LNG project in the Philippines after several years of stalling. A report from the Sydney Morning Herald (link below) confirms this. Remember, EWI was the firm who met with Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell after the original deadline for bids, and was allowed in (why?)

Is the OUR up to the task? I agree with the private sector leaders, who are very uncomfortable with the unsatisfactory situation that has developed. Some wonder (as I do) whether the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), in whose lap the whole thing landed, actually had the know-how in the first place to evaluate the bids from each of the firms. They may know all the rules and regulations, as all good bureaucrats should, but should not some additional expertise have been brought to bear on the matter?

Problem is, the matter is becoming urgent. Almost a whole year of dithering has passed. Financial journalist Ralston Hyman (whose morning program Real Business gives me a sobering dose of reality on a daily basis) points out that the delay cannot continue. The requested emergency meeting with the Prime Minister should take place – now. Can we have some leadership, please?

Forty cents out of every dollar that Jamaica earns goes towards buying imported oil. As Mr. Hyman and his guest said this week, it is mind-boggling.

Are Jamaicans at the end of their tether? I was quite taken aback by raging emotions in the Jamaican twittersphere one night. What was everyone so upset about? Television Jamaica (TVJ) had bought the exclusive rights to “The Voice“ from NBC – prompting local cable company Flow to block the live NBC coverage – and planned to air the program with a two-hour delay. Jamaica’s much-loved singer Tessanne Chin is one of the stars of the show and a strong contender to win. Now, this may seem a petty matter, but perhaps it is symptomatic of a wider frustration creeping into Jamaican society – a kind of sense of “you can’t win” – which I fully understand, and share to some extent. Tessanne’s success is a little glimmer of light in a dark and foggy landscape (like sporting successes etc) and we cling on to these things. When even these small lights are snatched away…

The aggrieved Chin fans immediately whipped up a Facebook page (“No to The Voice on TVJ”), and many of us “liked” it. We patted ourselves on the back as to the power of social media in Jamaica – TVJ listened, and made concessions. Which prompted the question, how come the Jamaican public can become so galvanized around a relatively small concern like this, but remains indifferent, resigned or bored by many of our most enormous and pressing social issues?

I’ll meet you in court: Earlier this week, as former politician Kern Spencer sat in court waiting for his long-delayed corruption case to come up (it was delayed for the third time in two weeks), he sat through the case of (still current, not former) Mayor of May Pen Scean Barnswell, who is charged with misleading the Contractor General. And lawyers for Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, former Information Minister Colin Campbell, Ministers Phillip Paulwell and Robert Pickersgill filed an appeal against a ruling handed down by the Constitutional Court in the matter of an alleged donation to the People’s National Party by the Dutch firm Trafigura. Our politicians were trying to get diplomatic immunity so that they would not have to testify in court. The Director of Public Prosecutions is not amused. Oh, and lastly, the case of contempt of court filed by a now-deported Dutch national from Curacao against Minister of National Security Peter Bunting comes up tomorrow.

The corridors of our courts are clogged with politicians – or at least, with their well-heeled lawyers. I’m tired of hearing the phrase, “I am consulting with my legal team…”

I don’t want to be a scare-monger, but… There have been reported cases of (and deaths from) “swine flu” in Barbados and Trinidad. The Cayman Islands government has issued an alert. Are our health authorities at all worried? And with swarms of big fat mosquitoes flying around after the daily rains (I just killed one that landed on my hand as I typed), is there a dengue fever prevention program taking place anywhere at all on the island? Over to you, Mr. Health Minister.

And again, why the silence? On the Portland Bight (Goat Islands) logistic hub issue? Aren’t we already past the deadline for the so-called “desktop study” to be completed? Is it finished, as some news outlets reported this week? And if it is (or is not), why the continued deafening silence? We have an Access to Information Act, which the Jamaica Environment Trust has used several times to try to obtain information from the Government. Nothing.

The impact of climate change: Perhaps our local journalists are afraid to tackle the science of it, but I would love to see much more in-depth reporting on climate change as it affect the region, Jamaica, and our daily lives. There’s no doubt that it will play an increasingly important role, affecting our livelihoods in as yet undetermined ways. And in fact, it already has – hence the need to do some kind of assessment. We need to sit up and take notice. A new study in the popular science magazine Nature predicts that Kingston, Jamaica will be the second city in the world (after somewhere in Indonesia) to experience greatly heightened temperatures in the next decade. Other cities will follow. Let’s find out more about how and why Kingston was singled out.

And today, in Kingston, there was hail. Yes, hail in the tropics. Please see the photo below from a tweep for the evidence of this.

I’m not handing out bouquets today. Next time…

Today on television, the Commissioner of Police complained that the Opposition Spokesman on Crime appeared to be “celebrating” the rising murder rate. No one is celebrating, Mr. Commissioner; but it is Mr. Chuck’s role and responsibility to point these things out. Or would you rather he said nothing, while the death toll rises? And is your way of “dealing with” gang violence in western Jamaica engaging in shootouts that result in the deaths of the alleged wanted men? Is that our strategy now, Minister Peter Bunting? That’s it?

My condolences to the families of all those who died, listed below – including the alleged gangsters, who will not get their day in court.

Rochel Davis, 25, Ocho Rios, St. Ann

Rohan DaCosta, 30, Montego Bay, St. James

Brad Gray, 25, Montego Bay, St. James

Killed by the police:

André Cox, Norwood Gardens, St. James

Odane Scott, Norwood, St. James

Unidentified, Grange Hill, Westmoreland

Related links and articles:

http://www.caribjournal.com/2013/10/05/dennis-chung-behaviour-and-economic-growth-in-jamaica/ Behavior and economic growth in Jamaica: Dennis Chung op-ed/Carib Journal

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Brand-Jamaica-needs-backative-_15209544 Brand Jamaica needs backative: Melody Cammock-Gayle column/Jamaica Observer

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20131007/lead/lead1.html Energized: 360 MW third-ranked bidder questions OUR’s due diligence, claims it has cash ready for bond: Gleaner

http://www.smh.com.au/business/energy-world-does-fine-line-in-hot-air-but-not-much-lng-20120928-26qvt.html Energy World does fine line in hot air, but not much LNG: Sydney Morning Herald

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/ruling-expected-in-case-involving-dutch-national-and-national-security-minister Ruling expected in case involving Dutch national and National Security Minister: RJR News

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Bread-sold-by-the-slice-_15053101 Bread sold by the slice: Jamaica Observer

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2013/1009/The-Caribbean-makes-strides-in-reducing-HIV-AIDS-in-babies The Caribbean makes strides in reducing HIV/AIDS in babies: Christian Science Monitor

http://www.westernmirror.com/index.php/permalink/6329.html No shipping port on Goat Island! Letter to the Western Mirror

http://www.iriefm.net/news/headline/environmental-group-yet-be-updated-goat-islands-project Environmental group yet to be updated on Goat Islands project: Irie FM

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/report-on-environmental-and-feasibility-study-on-goat-islands-ready Report on environmental and feasibility study on Goat Islands ready: RJR News

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20131006/out/out1.html A feast of birds! Sunday Gleaner/Outlook

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20131007/lead/lead7.html Bring reform to DPP’s office: Gleaner

The Mayor of May Pen is one of several politicians with cases in court.

Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington.

A Raspberry Pi based audio transmitter at Jamaica Start Up Weekend. (Photo: Twitter)

One of the heavily tinted busses seized by police on Monday. (Photo: Jermaine Barnaby/Gleaner)

Shanique Myrie gesticulates during an interview with the Sunday Observer in her West Central St Andrew neighbourhood. (Photo: Jamaica Observer)

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller on the tarmac at the Norman Manley International Airport. I wish she would ditch those sunglasses, now. (Photo: Jamaica Observer)