Delusion (Vision) 2030

In today’s  Sunday Gleaner ( June 30,2013) Claude Clarke is once again at his best in a rather engaging article entitled  Vision or Mere Fantasy.

Honestly, I don’t think I could add anything further to this article, its absolutely brilliant.

Whenever I hear pronouncements on our governments’ ‘vision’ to make Jamaica a developed country by the year 2030, I am reminded of the old Scottish joke in which someone asks for directions and receives the answer, “If I were going there, I wouldn’t start from here.”

But while it may be laudable for governments to set ambitious goals, we also expect them to operate within the realm of reality, not in a land of fantasy. This element of fantasy may, however, be what explains the unusual concurrence between our two political parties in designing Jamaica’s flagship development plan, Vision 2030. The goals are clearly unattainable and the means of reaching them are absent.

 

What makes Jamaica’s ‘Vision’ so remarkable is that for many years, our capital city, Kingston, along with places like Port-au-Prince, Baghdad and Bangui, Central African Republic, has been numbered among the 30 least liveable cities in the world. Yet our ‘Vision’, without a clear strategy to grow the economy or build social capital, suggests we will be among the most liveable places on earth by 2030.

Now here is something that I have been saying since the letter of intent was signed and to which Claude Clarke has alluded to.

Regrettably, the growth strategies provided by the Jamaican Government in its Budget and the IMF letter of intent reveal nothing capable of accomplishing this. What we got is a plan to reduce the cost of government for the purpose of paying down our debt, not a plan to reduce costs that flow into Jamaican production.

 

I encourage serious folks, who really have an interest in Jamaica first and politics second to read this article.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130630/cleisure/cleisure2.html

 

Kittisians protest against their government, Jamaicans remain silent !

On Wednesday, June 25, 2013, an ocean of white showcased the camaraderie, calm and determination of thousands of citizens of the federation of St. Kitts and Nevis who descended on the capital, Basseterre in a soul stirring and euphoric afternoon of prayer and protest against what some now refer to as a “galloping dictatorship.”

 

Those who converged at Independence Square identified with one another. Their everyday experiences drove them out of their homes and onto the streets of historical Basseterre. The steadily increasing cost of living, the blatant acts of corruption in government, the inability of the current administration to minimize crime, the siphoning off of prime lands to foreigners, repeated lack of interest in tabling the integrity in public life bill, opposition to term limits for a sitting Prime Minister, astronomically high electricity costs, the strategic acts of political expediency by the government to remain in government by delaying for some seven months the motion of no confidence are some of the underlying reasons the people showed up to march.

Bold for emphasis.

http://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/75539

There very same issues are facing Jamaicans at home, but we remain comfortable knowing that PNP is at the helm and the view by the diehard and die poor [is ]they should remain in that position for a long long  time.

So while Jamaica continues it experiment with socialist trying to become capitalist  and failing badly in the process, the rest of the  Caribbean  and Latin America are not so patient and are taking steps to move forward in the hopes of bringing prosperity to their countries.

 

Is the Prime Minister headed for Trinidad next week ?

The Trinidad Express reported the following :

Beginning on Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013, the Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC, MP, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, will be host to 14 Heads of Government of CARICOM Member States, five Heads from the Associate Members , and three Special Guests namely, the Presidents of the Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Venezuela. We would also be joined by the Heads of Regional and International Organisations.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Venezuelas-President-Coming-to-TT-213349981.html

Extremely weak police investigation and “skilled” criminal lawyers stymies crime fighting efforts

Jamaican criminal lawyers appears to be very good due  mainly to extremely poor investigation, crime scene protection and evidence gathering by the local Jamaican police force.

The end result of all of this means, many criminals who should be behind bars are walking the streets of  Jamaica ,having been freed in the Jamaican courts, to commit even more crimes.

The Minster of National Security and the Commissioner of Police, needs to step their efforts to recruit, train and retain a crack group of very skilled police investigators who can bring iron clad cases before the courts, thus making it  virtually impossible for these criminals to walk free.

The big stick approach by the cops serves only to harden criminals, turn the society against the cops and allow these lawyers to punch mega size holes in the few cases that actually makes it to the courts.

It is important that the issue of sterilization of the crime scene,  protection  and storage of the evidence gathered under sterile conditions as the need arise. It is very important that we address the issue of collection, transportation, storage and testing of human biological samples as well as any other evidence found at the scene of a crime.

Far too often members of the public can go to a crime scene and collect bloody clothes, shoes and even murder weapon (in some cases) long  after the police have “completed” their crime scene investigation, how on earth is this possible.

No amount of anti gang legislation, lotto scam legislation or any other legislation will bring about the desired results until we take steps to address the investigative part of policing .

We will see no significant decline in murders or will we be able to truly dismantle the many criminal networks in Jamaica until we address this issue and finally our top notch lawyers will have to work for their money vs running rings around our ill-prepared cops.

This I believe will reduce the number of police killings, increase murder conviction and create the climate where the public will begin to trust the cops and pass on information necessary to aid the crime fighting efforts.

Jamaicans love affair with the PNP will continue to keep us poor !

The Jamaican voters love affair with the PNP, will condemn Jamaica to the bottom of the pile in the Caribbean and Latin America. This party has never done enough to take this country on a growth path and its tenure has always been characterized by rampant corruption, waste and economic decline and this term will be no different.

The party does not seem to have the capacity to grow the Jamaican economy and Jamaicans will continue to see a decline in their living standards as long as they keep putting back this party in power.

People outside of Jamaica continue to be amazed at our choice of leadership and are getting more an more annoyed with our choices, given that each time PNP is in power , they face an increase in migration to their countries in search of a better life.

 

Courtesy : Jamaica Observer

How did a drug trafficker cronies get a copy of his deportation order, hrs after it was signed

The issue of how drug traffickers and their cronies can get copies of confidential documents is once  again a major issue and this time is not Dudus.

A week ago I reported that the cronies of the Curaco national went to the home of a relative of the National Security Minister with a coy of the deportation order, signed by the minister. This very serious matter rising to the level on grave national security concerns, yet it has largely been under reported and not commented on by either the Minister of National Security of the police high command.

I am hoping that someone from either office will comment on this very serious breach, it should NOT be allowed to just slip.

 

No Oxtail or Chicken, what went wrong ?

The poor who the PNP and Portia claims to love had their eyes set on consuming vast portions of Oxtail and chicken once the PNP were returned to power, but that hope has now turned been turned out to be a nightmare.

Can you imagine someone turning up at a shop in the PM constituency to purchase half a tin of canned beef (bully beef) and a portion of elbow macoroni for dinner.

Folks I kid you not its happening today as we speak. I did mention before that persons from this same community have also resorted to buying a $5.00 squeeze of toothpaste.

This is certainly not what they had expected but its what the PNP government had brought Jamaica to, many are now on their hands and knees, but it still not hurting enough as yet.

Andrew Holness should relinquish leadership of the JLP

Who is charge of the JLP and who should the public be listening to?

This pathetic bunch of wannabee leaders  cannot seem to agree on a damn thing and is making the incompetent PNP look like great leaders.

On almost every “freakin” issue that has come up in recent times, the leadership of the JLP cannot seem to have a coherent position, with each person giving views diametrically opposed to the other.

Take the case of the COE into the Tivoli incident back in 2010 and the subsequent releases from the JLP.  Dr Horace Chang the JLP General Secretary  has said the JLP will NOT participate in the COE but instead will be a watchdog as it seeks to protect the interest of the people of West Kingston.

Andrew Holness the JLP leader is reported to have said (via the Jamaica Observer) that the (same) JLP has not yet made a final decision on its participation in the COE, so who is really in charge?

If Andrew Holness cannot take charge of his dysfunctional party then he should step aside and allow someone with “balls” to take on the leadership. At a time when the ruling PNP is floundering like a fish on shore and gasping for air, the opposition JLP is offering no leadership to the country and cannot even act the part of a good opposition.

I do hope that Andrew Holness will be challenged at the party’s annual General Conference and loses or he steps aside before the conference  and allow the party to elect a real leader.

PSM as bad as she is (and she is really a poor choice for a leader), has more “balls” that Mr Holness.

Andrew Holness cannot and should not be allowed to be leader in the run up to the next election as the JLP will be decimated and will be condemned to the status of opposition for sometime to come and Jah know say we simply cannot allow that to happen.

PNP is bad for Jamaica and in just 18months in the new term we  can already see the complete chaos and destruction that comes with their leadership and as such we simply cannot allow them another bite at the cherry come 2016.

Let’s get the ball rolling, Andrew must go now !

 

Cracks in the PNP or political gamesmanship ?

Yesterday the Gleaner headline blared

PM, Party Exec Stand By Teachers

Comrades, including leader of the People’s National Party (PNP) Portia Simpson Miller, came out in defence of teachers during the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Spaldings, Clarendon, yesterday.

During the meeting, some members of the PNP’s executive called for the current impasse between teachers and Education Minister Ronald Thwaites to be addressed, given the important role educators play in society.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130624/lead/lead4.html

The question that comes to mind right away will be ” was Ronnie sent out to test the waters and see what the reaction was and if it did not go down too well, then Queen Portia would step in to calm the troubled water”.

The other question would be was Ronnie acting like a Cowboy doing his thing without the backing of the cabinet. Recall Minister of Mis-Information Sandrea Folconer had said Ronnie had not discussed his decision at any cabinet meeting.

Today’s Gleaner , Tuesday June 25, 2013

We Stand With Ronnie, But Dialogue A Must – PNP

Education Minister Ronald Thwaites is insisting he did discuss the vexed issue of teachers’ leave entitlements with the Cabinet before he made his pronouncements in Parliament.

Thwaites’ insistence comes after members of the People’s National Party’s (PNP) National Executive Council (NEC), including party president Portia Simpson Miller, came out in defence of the teachers during a meeting in Spalding on Sunday.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130625/lead/lead8.html

 

Are there cracks emerging in the PNP and the party is trying desperately to cover it over with wall paper?

Dr Peter Phillips we also understand is having serious issues within the ranks of the party and their is growing tension in the camp mainly having to do with the implementation of the IMF plans.

Interesting times are ahead.

Industrial actions once again on the rise.

The Jamaican industrial scene is one again very tense as workers seek to eek out as much as they can given the tough economic climate that is causing them much grief.

The current heighten tension on the industrial scene reminds me of the 1990’s and the horrors that took place around that time.

My understanding is the situation is likely to get worse as the IMF conditions begins to bite and there is a good chance that a General Strike could be in the making.