It’s World Wetlands Day, if there are any Jamaican wetlands left by the time I finish writing this blog post. They’re disappearing fast (only two per cent of our land space). So hardly anything to celebrate.
Transparency? NOT: The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has decided to keep the Jamaican people in the dark on details of their assessment of Energy World International (EWI). If you recall, the somewhat mysterious EWI rather crept in the back door as the preferred bidder for the 350 megawatt power plant; construction is due to start this year. National Integrity Action, the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition and the Opposition are not pleased. The Energy Monitoring Committee says it has outstanding concerns to discuss with the OUR, including “focusing on the financial capability of the Preferred Bidder.” Hmm. Rather important! Need more information on EWI? Their website is here: http://www.energyworldcorp.com/index.html.
The “Association of No”? The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) seem to have a default “no” mode whenever the Ministry of Education puts forward a proposal to them. This time it’s the Jamaica Teaching Council Bill, which would regulate and license teachers. However, JTA head Dr. Mark Nicely has said the teachers are open to dialogue, and has put forward some suggestions. I think the Minister needs a break…
Another back in the fold: Mr. Ed Bartlett has returned as Opposition Spokesman on Tourism. He is needed, as there are several issues in that sector. I wonder what Mr. Bartlett did about the jet skis when he was minister? And what about the craft vendors, their stalls piled high with (hugely similar) wood carvings and T shirts, who look so lonely with no customers?
Popping up all over the place: I went to a Corporate Mingle sponsored by Wealth Magazine on Friday night. Terrific energy and connections made, and kudos again to the wonderful CUSO International and JN Foundation – two of my favorite organizations. For me it was somewhat spoilt by the appearance of the Minister of Youth, Lisa Hanna. After being told how beautiful she was, she then enlightened us on how many thousands of young people are being trained by the National Youth Service (something her predecessors have been telling us for many years now). Then at today’s “Grounation” at Liberty Hall as Reggae Month begins, we have Transport & Works Minister Omar Davies giving a lecture (sermon?). Pity we haven’t had a peep out of him on the transshipment port proposed for Goat Islands – or any other issue, since he went on sick leave last year. I’d like to have a break from politicians at any and every social/cultural event, really.
It’s nice to celebrate Bob Marley but really, do we need a Reggae Month? Every month is Reggae Month in Jamaica (although I confess it was nice to hear some Dennis Brown playing somewhere nearby, this afternoon…) I’ve got nothing against it but feel it is sort of unnecessary.
The “microphone in face” syndrome: Our Prime Minister still seems to be suffering from the trauma of having a microphone “pushed in her face.” She told the Jamaica Observer that the media is trying to “trap” her (I suppose that’s why she has that startled look when journalists approach). Why can’t the media treat her like they treat President Obama, she asks querulously? Just not fair. Perhaps it’s because local media are often desperate for information, feedback…any kind of communication that is not a prepared speech or photo-op.The journalists are doing their job, Ma’am. That is, trying to get information without “spin.”
And why does our Prime Minister take every little criticism so personally? Politicians usually develop a thick skin. Not everyone will love you, but that’s the way it is in public life, isn’t it?
Ballooning debt: Opposition Spokesman Audley Shaw is not wasting any time on addressing the issues, including the growing debt that is exacerbated by the continuously sliding exchange rate (now at around J$108=US$1). Financial secretary Devon Rowe says the public debt increases by 0.5 per cent with every one per cent slide in the dollar; and that it is expected to end the financial year (March 31) at J$1.9 trillion or 129.9 per cent of Gross Domestic Product – a small improvement over the 2013/13 fiscal year.
Former Prime Minister Golding, I see nothing sensational or “populist” about protesting the crippling bank charges, which the three big banks say is now providing them with more income than interest. But I wonder if certain overseas-based banks would enjoy such a wide spread in interest rates and such huge charges back home? The National Commercial Bank’s Patrick Hylton considers the complaints “much ado about nothing.” Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC Jamaica) has sold out to Sagicor Group. Humph.
“A zone of peace”: So Latin American and Caribbean leaders, in yet another new grouping called CELAC, have declared the region to be a “zone of peace.” They sound a bit like a bunch of old hippies, but somewhat ironic considering that the highest crime rates are in our hemisphere. The Cuban Government rounded up a bunch of malcontents and journalists and threw them in jail just before the meeting in Havana, as is their tradition, but our leaders did not seem to mind much. The United States and Canada are not members of the group, which is intended to be an alternative to the Organization of American States. Did they miss much? I don’t know, but I hope the CELAC folks all had a jolly good time. Peace and love, man.
The Year of the Horse: Happy New Year to Chinese friends and readers! It’s the Year of the Horse, and according to an ad from China Harbour Engineering Company, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, it’s a year for “self improvement and swift victories!” So, galloping on…
What’s the UDC up to? First the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) closed Little Dunn’s River, a popular bathing/relaxing spot for Jamaicans (yes, Jamaicans!) on the north coast (it’s now reopened due to media/public pressure). Now it has closed the Two Sisters Cave in Hellshire, St. Catherine to the public for “efficiency” reasons, and will only be open by appointment to groups of “at least fifty people.” Are they serious?
The jet skis: It seems clear that TPDCo (Tourism Product Development Company), the Ministry of Tourism and the police dropped the ball. They were not enforcing or monitoring the enforcement of regulations supposedly governing the activities of jet ski operators, when a tourist was hit and killed by a jet ski driver in Negril last week. I understand that the police took a long time to arrive; and that they stood around watching while vacationers and others tried to revive the man. An ambulance never came. The hospital is about an hour’s drive away, and I am told the tourist was dead before he reached there. I thought our tourist industry was so precious? Why are emergency services in the town almost non-existent (for locals and visitors?)
I am still waiting to read a decent newspaper editorial that will make me sit up and think. It’s been weeks now…
“Big ups” to a group of wonderful Jamaican women:
Commissioner Tracy Robinson, who has just been appointed as the Thematic and Country Rapporteur for Bahamas, Honduras, Nicaragua and Suriname; Rapporteur on the Rights of Women; and Rapporteur on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Transsexual Bisexual and Intersex Persons at the Inter American Council on Human Rights (IACHR). Ms. Robinson is a Lecturer in Gender and the Law, Constitutional Law and Commonwealth Caribbean Human Rights at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica and First Vice-President of the IACHR.
Jamaica’s only female jockey Georgina Sergeon, who is back in the saddle this weekend after suffering serious injuries in a fall from her horse two years ago. Good luck, brave girl!
The new President of the Young Entrepreneurs Association is Ms. Erica Wynter, Chief Executive Officer of C & E Innovational Services Limited. Wishing you all the best!
Valerie Viera heads the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, a government agency that supports and mentors micro-businesses and entrepreneurs (it was at JBDC that I met Nakia Jackson, the cook shop operator who was killed by the police last week). 29-year-old Rachel Anderson, who operates Myrtle Farm Industries in St. James, says she would have given up without Ms. Viera’s encouragement. She rears and plans to export ornamental fish.
22 civilians have already been killed this year in incidents involving the police. If we continue at this rate, we will surpass last year’s figure of 258 Jamaicans killed in 2013. And teachers at Kingston’s Dunrobin Primary School are grieving over the murder of their colleague Janice Atkinson-Reid, who was found murdered in her Portmore home on Wednesday. As always, I offer my deepest sympathies to all who mourn.
Gevin James, 29, Montego Bay, St. James
Killed by the police
Ryan Gibbs, 25, Crescent Road, Kingston
Gilbert Gillings, 28, Crescent Road, Kingston
Rayon Spence, 30, Bethel Town, Westmoreland
Petchary's Blog 
……and they’re trying to sell it to the Chinese! Pretty soon, they’ll own Jamaica
LikeLike
Sigh. I don’t know.
LikeLike
OUR is not acting like it’s ours…..
LikeLike
Ha ha, Dennis! No, it doesn’t seem to be.
LikeLike