Government On Collision Course With The People

It was surprising to many how Jamaicans responded to the tax measures announced by the Government in the April supplementary budget. Even the Government had expected some amount of street protest over the gas tax. The Jamaican people have demonstrated that they understand the effects of the global recession and are appreciative of the difficulties faced by the Government in keeping the Jamaican ship afloat.

However, most Jamaicans are disappointed, shocked and angry with the Government over the recently announced tax package, the third in nine months. The Government is now on a collision course with its people. A survey of our history would indicate that Jamaica today possess some of the explosive features of the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865, the social unrest of 1932 and the gas riots of 1999. These features include increased economic hardship, high levels of unemployment, increased social inequality and class division, an unbearable tax burden, recalcitrant and seemingly oppressive government.

What we have today is an explosion waiting to happen, a social unrest of immense proportion in the making. Good sense must prevail. The Government must immediately demonstrate that it hears the people's cry and feel their pain. Before the implementation of any new taxes and the signing of an IMF agreement, the prime minister must immediately convene a national summit consisting of representatives of the Government, the Opposition, the private sector, the unions and civil society with the aim of crafting a shared short- and medium-term response to our economic and social plight.

In the meantime, I am calling on the Opposition and the unions to let good sense prevail and abstain from instigating or organising any mass street protest. The country is presently on the precipice of economic and social collapse; let us not push it over the edge.

Orville Plummer

Don't Create A Reigious Garrison

I am aware that Prime Minister Golding, Pearnel Charles and several other members of the present administration are affiliated with the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It is obvious that the present government is positioning the Seventh Day Adventist Church to play a more expanded and active role in the nation.

The appointment of the head of the Seventh Day Adventist Church as Governor General, the dominant role given by the SDA church in last independence observations, the use of SDA choirs at state functions and the use of Seventh Day Adventist Churches to host official state functions are cases in pointed. I am in strong agreement with the view that as the largest Christian denomination in Jamaica, there should be a more active role given to the Seventh Day Adventist Church in national building. The Seventh Day Adventist Church earns the right to play a more active role in national life. The SDA contribution to health care, education, disaster relief and family life education are commendable and should be emulated by other denominations.

Care must me taken however, that the Seventh Day Adventist Church is not being positioning as the official church of Jamaica. The government must not create a religious garrison, Jamaica has enough garrisons.

Orville Plummer

Gully and Gaza Filling A Vacuum

Mavado and Vybz Kartel and their Gully and Gaza empires took centre stage this week as they commanded the attention of the prime minister, four Cabinet ministers, the Peace Management Initiative, the National Transformation Programme and the media in a high-level meeting at Jamaica House. Much has been said about the impact of the Gully-Gaza conflict and its negative repercussions on our youth, schools and communities.

In dealing with problems, we have a tendency to focus on the peripheral rather than on the fundamental issues. We have a tendency to focus on personalities and symptoms rather than root causes. A closer examination of the Gully-Gaza conflict will indicate that it is a mere symptom of the serious identity and leadership crisis that has characterised the Jamaican society for some time now. It is obvious that there is a dearth of effective leadership at all levels of the society, from the home to the school and from the church and to the Parliament. A significant portion of our youths have no sense of self, their heritage nor what it is to be Jamaican.

In this regard, the Gully-Gaza craze is just another phenomenon that occupies the leadership and identity vacuum in the society. Gully and Gaza are like sponges sopping up the hearts and minds of thousands of young people who are searching for leadership and their identity. Gully and Gaza are playing a similar role to the one being played by the dons, gangs, lotto scam, and skin bleaching. Gully, Gaza, Mavado, Kartel and others of their ilk will continue to capture the hearts and minds of our youth as long as parenting and family life remain weak, churches and pastors remain indifferent and irrelevant, service clubs and uniformed groups remain dormant and political parties and their leaders remain visionless and uninspiring.

Orville Plummer

Crisis Management Plan Needed

Both the director of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, Dr Wesley Hughes, and the governor of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), Derick Latibeaudiere, have indicated, in no uncertain terms, that Jamaica, like most other countries, is in the throes of an economic crisis. This admission by the two technocrats came after several months of denials by the political directorate. The advice from the two technocrats is that the country needs to 'batten down'.

What is absent in all of this is a clear crisis-management plan from the Government. This was most evident last week when we witnessed the BOJ and the Jamaica Manufac-turers' Association arguing over the interest-rate policy and the minister of industry and commerce and the minister of finance giving conflicting pronouncements on the important issue of capital control.

The prime minister needs urgently to call the sector leaders, his Cabinet ministers and the chief technocrats to a national summit geared towards developing a national-response plan to deal with the present crisis and to chart a clear course going forward. Emanating from this summit should be specific and unequivocal answers to the following issues:
1. What are the short term objectives of the Government?
2. What are the major priorities of the Government at this time?
3. What is the policy mix that will be employed?
4. What are the major tasks and responsibilities of the various sectors?
5. What is the responsibility of the citizenry in this crisis?

A crisis management plan is urgently needed before things fall apart.

Lessons From Beijing: Principles For 2009 And Beyond

Our athletes did us extremely proud at the Olympic Games held last year in Beijing China with their scintillating performance. As a nation, we were proud as Jamaica became the toast of the world. As we face the clear and present challenges of 2009 and beyond, there are some valuable principles we can learn from the Olympic experience that we can use as a paradigm for nation building.

1. Recognizing Our Greatness – the performance of our athletes at the Beijing Games has once more reinforced the fact that as a people we are well endowed with extra ordinary talents and abilities. Time and time again this fact is highlighted in a wide sphere of activities and by an array of outstanding personalities. Bob Marley, Byron Lee, and Ernie Ranglin in music; T. P. Lecky and Henry Lowe in Science and Technology; Cecil Baugh, Malachi ‘Cappo’ Reynolds and Edna Manley in the Arts; Father Hugh Sherlock and Bishop Percival Gibson in Religion; Marcus Garvey in Philosophy; Allan ‘Skill’ Cole, Mike MCcallum, George Headley, Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh, Herb Mckinley, Donald Quarrie, Merline Ottey, Veronica Campbell, Asafa Powell, Ussain Bolt and a whole host of others in Athletics. There is therefore no doubt that we are blessed with greatness in all areas of life. The issue is how we move from a nation of great individuals to become a great and prosperous nation.

2. Training and development – The superb performance of our athletes is due in no small way to the expertise and dedication of track and field coaches at the primary, secondary, club and national levels and to the strength of the various developmental meets and athletic programs. This is a clear indication of what our people can achieve when skills and abilities are exposed to training and development. A greater focus therefore must be place on training and development as we go forward.

3. Effective Schooling – The strength of our athletic program lies in the quality of the schools’ athletic program. For the most part our schools have done well in discovering and developing our athletes to become world class and record breakers. Can you imagine what we would achieve as a nation if our schools in general would ramp up their Language, Arts, Science, Technology, Mathematics, Skills and other departments with a view of producing world class citizens? In 2009 and beyond, greater attention must be placed on the teaching and learning processes in our schools and the management of the school plant. We must demand more from our educators and from our students. It is a fact that there is no poor country that is educated and there is no educated country that is poor.

4. Positive Parenting – One of the defining features of the triumph in Beijing is the role played by the respective parents in the success of the athletes. We saw the positive effect on those athletes whose parents journeyed to Beijing to give them support. We gain insights into the success of the athletes when the parents enunciated the values and principles by which they used in the up bringing of their respective children. Discipline, hard work, godliness, ambition, respect, honest and humility are just some of the principles they highlighted. The point must me made that all the parents of the victorious athletes are from inner city and rural areas and raised their children with humble means and in trying economic and social conditions. The evidence is quite clear - if they could, we all can. If we are going to solve our social, moral and economic problems, we must begin with effective parenting. Related social services, NGO’s and faith based organizations must devise effective programs to provide effective support to parents.

5. Community Support – it was a thrill to witness the overflow of pride and joy from the communities from which the athletes sprang. From the ‘garrisons’ of to the deep rural hamlets, we saw the varied degree of emotions exuded by the communities of origin. We cannot forget the festive atmosphere in Maxfield Avenue, Water House Sherwood Content and Troy but neither can we forget the collective disappointment and empathy of the Orange Field community after Asafa failed to medal in the 100m. The respective communities shared in the triumph and disappointed of their athletes. They were at one with their athlete and there athlete was one of them. The primary school teacher, the shop keeper, the taxi driver, they all felt like they had make a contribution in producing an Olympic champion. Jamaica is a collection of communities and if Jamaica is to be developed we must fix the communities. Too many communities across the island are run-down and divided. The community space has become too violent, lewd, x-rated, dirty and detrimental to the development of purposeful individuals. A concerted effort must be made by communities in conjunction with the State to resuscitate the community Youth Clubs, Neighbourhood Watch and other such groups. Every community should engender a climate in which the next world class athlete, farmer, educator, musician or scientist can strive.

6. Team Work – There were two defining moments for me in the Beijing Games. The first was the disappointed of not getting the ‘sure win’ in the Women’s 4x100m Relay after the foul-up in the baton exchange. What was defining for me was the response of the members of the team after the disappointment. There was no rancour or blaming of any one person, instead the team took collective responsibility. What can we learn from this? We have a tendency of narrowly blaming politicians, the police, the government, the church, the education system or the dance hall artistes for the ills of the society. Let us think as Team Jamaica and make 2009 the year for collective responsibility. Ironically, the other defining moment for me was the baton exchange in the Men’s 4x100m Relay. It was a superb example of team work. As Ussain handed over the baton to Asafa on the third and final leg, he shouted “run Asafa…run”, in that distinct and strong Jamaican accent. In fact, Ussain ran the entire last leg with Asafa, cheering him on. The rest is history – Asafa won his first Olympic gold medal, Ussain won his third gold medal of the game and Team Jamaica struck gold with a world record time. This is very instructive, Ussain was interested in Asafa winning a gold medal and equally, Ussain wanted to win another gold medal for himself and for Jamaica. In other words if you do well, I will do well and the team will do well. We need to translate this principle to all areas of national life, in the home, at school, at the work place, in parliament and in communities. For example, if we support the police, the police will be better able to support us and if the police support us, we will be better able to support them. Let us think and act as a team in 2009 and beyond.

7. Individual Responsibility – The performance of our athletes in Beijing was no fluke, accident nor miracle. Individually, the athletes apply hard work, training, sacrifice, self confidence and other such virtues in the ‘Bird Nest’. Too many Jamaicans are waiting on somebody to ‘give dem a ting’ or to ‘let off some ting’ because ‘nuting nah gwaan’. This mentality is aided and abetted by the politics of patronage. We need to remind our people that if they want good ‘dem nose a fi run’ and God help those that help themselves. The State has the responsibility to provide leadership, infrastructure, security, good governance, etc., but every citizen is individually responsible for their social and economic development.

8. Spirit of Excellence – Our performance in Beijing was distinguished by its class and excellence. We did not win just one medal in the Women’s 4x100m final, we won all three; we did not only win medals, we won gold medals; we did not only win gold medals, we set world records. To cap it off, the celebrations that followed each victory were classy and distinctly Jamaican. Imagine what we would become as a nation if we should inculcate and manifest this spirit of excellence in the schoolroom and in the boardroom, in the private and in the public sector, on the playfield and on the road. Let us do away with shortcuts, shoddiness, piecemeal and mediocrity in 2009 and strive for excellence.

9. Nationality Unity – Any objective analysis will indicate that the absence national unity is one of the major problems we face. But every now and then we are given opportunities to come together as a people - Independence in 1962, Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and the World Cup qualification in 1998 are three such opportunities. Our triumph in Beijing is another such great opportunity. The scenes of oneness, national pride and unity are still fresh in my mind. I will never forget the feeling of one Jamaica as people travelled all the way from Portland, St. Mary and St. Elizabeth to join fellow Jamaicans in celebration in Half Way Tree. My fear is that we will miss another opportunity to unite as nation. Unity is not accidental, it must be hoped for, prayed for, planned for and it must be practiced. Our motto, anthem and pledge contain much insight into how this can be done. Our political and religious leaders must exemplify this unity. Let us engage the services of our musicians, athletes, and community leaders in the process. As the Jamaican ship sails in the turbulent waters of national challenges and the threatening winds of global crisis, all hands must be on deck. Let us all become a part of the solution in 2009 and beyond so that Jamaica may advance in beauty, fellowship and prosperity and play her part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race.

EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP NEEDED

It is refreshing to see the unfolding of Barack Obama's presidency in its first few days. It is still early days, but he seems to be a political leader whose practice matches his rhetoric. The earliest actions and pronouncements from the new president have so far matched up to the vision and promises he outlined on the campaign trail. There is much we in Jamaica can learn from the politics of transformation taking place in America being led by Barack Obama. One of the first public acts by President Obama was to institute new limits on lobbyists in his White House and to freeze the salaries of highly paid aides. In announcing the freeze, the president said, "Families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington."

Despite the earlier denials by our Government, we are now experiencing what Labour Minister Pearnel Charles calls an 'economic tsunami'. There are job cuts in all major sectors including bauxite and alumina, tourism, agriculture, banking and finance and even media. What is absent in all of this is the lack of exemplary leadership from our political and corporate leaders. We are yet to hear of any cuts in the salaries and lavish perks received by leaders in the public and private sectors.

If we are called upon to bear the necessary austerity measures in light of the present crisis, we expect our leaders to lead by example. We need to see some sacrifice, even if it is just symbolic.

Black History Month and Reggae Month

Black History Month is commemorated in February as remembrance of important people, events and achievements in the history of the African Diaspora. The commemoration originated in the United States and is credited to black historian Carter G. Woodson who in 1926 started the "Negro History Week”. Black History month in the United this year will take on added significance because of the emergence of the first African- American president in the person of Barack Obama.

Last year, the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports took the decision to twin Black History month with Reggae Month. There is indeed a historically and inextricable link between reggae and black history. There is therefore good justification to commemorate reggae and black history in the same month. Reggae music and reggae artistes play an important role in articulating and advocating the concerns of black people locally and internationally. Interestingly, both the king of reggae, Bob Marley and the prince of reggae music, Dennis Brown were born in February.

Commercially, the linking of reggae with black history provides the Government, the music industry, tourism and other related sectors a unique opportunity to package, promote and market our rich cultural industries. Apart from the commercial opportunities, there are some wonderful educational and social benefits that can be derived from the formal linking of reggae with black history. Despite its early struggles for acceptance in the Jamaican society, reggae is now general accepted by the population and is known global as the definitive Jamaican music form. Black history on the other hand is not well known by the Jamaican population and although we have a population of over 90% people of African descent, black consciousness and black pride are woefully lacking in the psyche of many Jamaicans. The ignorance, disregard and struggle for an unknown identity is a major root cause of much of our social, emotional, political, economic and even spiritual problems.

What is required therefore, is a concerted effort by all stakeholders to promote the knowledge, understanding, appreciation and application of black history by carefully and creatively infusing it with reggae and its popular derivative, dance hall. There are some urgent realities that should be address through this infusion – the inclusion of the teachings and philosophy of Marcus Garvey throughout the educational system; the inclusion of African History in schools to put Caribbean and European history in their proper perspectives; the teaching of the Bible and the doctrines of Christianity in the proper African context; concerted efforts geared towards addressing the causes and practice of skin bleaching; serious and consistent efforts towards addressing the violence and vulgarity in our music and in the wider society; greater use of reggae music in the promotion of nationalism and in advocating for social and economic justice.

The commemoration of reggae and black history in the same month is an important statement that underscores the inextricable link between the two. This marriage is too important to be consummated, climaxed and cancelled in one month. The formal linking of reggae and black history provides some great opportunities towards nation building; great care should be taken to ensure that it is not reduced to a month of song and dance.