Flash back, PNP on corruption

The day is  Dec 3, 2008 and the Gleaner reported.

Call for Henry to quit over breaches 

Note the word BREACHES 

People’s National Party (PNP) Chairman Robert Pickersgill wants Prime Minister Bruce Golding to demand that Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry resign

Meanwhile, Pickersgill has called for the resignation of the acting managing director of the JUTC, Bindley Sangster, and fellow directors Dennis Chung and Raphael Barrett.

“These persons ought not to carry out further any official duties. They have not lived up to the requirements of directors of a public entity,” Pickersgill said, while noting that Christie found that they did not properly discharge their functions as members of the board’s procurement committee.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20081203/lead/lead9.html

http://www.frequency.com/video/jutc-corruption-pnp-calls-for-jlp/24412140

 

PNP says Mike Henry’s resignation is a belated response to JDIP scandal

The Opposition PNP in a press release has responded to the news that Mike Henry has resigned as Transport & Works Minister with immediate effect, stating that it is a belated response to the “scandalous conduct” of the entire Gov’t in relation to JDIP.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/on-the-ground-news-reports/confirmed-pnp-says-mike-henrys-resignation-is-a-belated-response-to-jdip-scandal/282132651829963

 

 

3 more days before US$6.5M bid security becomes due

Its almost the end of the 12th day and Azurest Cambridge, who had the winning bid to generate 360MW of base power, has not yet submitted its bid security of  US$6.5M to the OUR.

With 3 more days left to go, will Azurest Cambridge be able to find the funds ?

Commonsenseja will be counting  down the days, to Oct 3, 2013.

IMF approves US$30M as Jamaica passes first test.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the first review of Jamaica’s performance under an economic program supported by a four-year, SDR 615.38 million (about US$944 million, the equivalent of 225 percent of Jamaica’s quota in the IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. The completion of this review enables the disbursement of SDR 19.97 million (about US$30.6 million), which would bring total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 156.72 million (about US$240.4 million)

 

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2013/pr13374.htm

Can we get an update from the Social Partners ?

In August 2013, our Prime Minister decided to outsource leadership of the country to the social partners, made of PSOJ and other private sector interest groups.

The have committed to among other things, reduce crime, lower GDO ratio etal. With the Prime Minister refusing to speak to the nation on any of the above mentioned issues, maybe its time we ask the social partners to update us on their plans and achievements thus far.

The one thing I am disappointed out the local media is they report the announcement and then fail to follow up and hold these folks accountable.

 

When Shaw wins who will speak on national issues ?

At the end of the day November 10, 2011 a new JLP leader will be elected at the party’s 70th annual conference . After the high fives and the euphoria is over, the new leader will have to settle down quickly and try to unite the party after a bruising election campaign.

The big question is when it’s time for Parliament, who will be the voice of the opposition ?

Audley Shaw would be leader of the JLP but not opposition leader , while Holness would be the opposition leader, but not party leader.

So while  Shaw can represent JLP ( the party) on matter of party interest he readily cannot represent the opposition and the people’s interest in the party outside of his shadow minister role in parliament, can he ?

I would like someone with knowledge of the working of the constitution explain, in real terms how this work and how is it likely to play out.

I don’t see Shaw sitting back and allowing Andrew to lumber along within the confines of Parliament, so from where I stand it seems there will still be issues until  after the 2016 elections, unless Holness decides to challenge Audley for the next two years leading up to national elections.

The party Secretariat instead of becoming two involved on either side, should now begin to sit and formulate a strategy to deal with something, they would not have had to address before, to avoid us having two opposition with diverging views and strategies.

They must come up with a workable plan to address this new challenge that will face the 70 yr old party.

Interesting times are ahead

 

 

Has Holness become the old Shaw and Shaw a part of Holness ?

The vie for the leadership of the JLP has suddenly energized the once comatose JLP and the opposition has finally found the voice many of us have been asking for a long time.

Andrew Holness after the two massive defeat, must have felt like a schmuck and when Portia Simpson Miller declared him an ” enemy of the state”, it literally knocked the wind out of his sail. Andrew Holness went into hibernation and so did the opposition, only rising to speak now and again, while the PNP continued the hack job, right where they left off in 2007 having been interrupted briefly by the JLP.

This blog subsequently started to examine Andrew Holness and though I realized that he appeared to have the leadership skills Jamaica needed , he firstly needed to present an argument to win an election and I simply could not find that.

I recognized that Andrew Holness and the JLP would be no match for Portia Simpson Miller, PJ Patterson and a slick and an effective PNP election machinery and there-after called for a leadership challenge at the upcoming conference.

This is what I wrote back then, June 25, 2013

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

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.

https://commonsenseja.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/andrew-holness-should-relinquish-leadership-of-the-jlp/

That post was written long before this challenge emerged , because I had come to the realization, that Andrew Holness could not lead the JLP to victory.

Now that the campaign is on in earnest, Mr Holness appears to have surrounded himself with persons from the old school and some of the very same persons who made sure the JLP stayed in opposition for 18.5yrs.  The ” new and different stance suddenly appears to have evaporated and has been replaced by the rambunctious and tracing normally associated with Audley Shaw, WTF.

Now paradoxically Audley Shaw has been surrounded  by the reformist and  young persons in the party and his campaign has been characterized by a calm, calculated and focused approach and devoid of the tracing  we have come to expect from Audley’s camp. In fact Audley’s camp is more behaving like how the Holness camp was expected to behave .

What is interesting is the Audley Camp is far more effective that the Holness camp in getting the message across and have not only been able to capture the attention of the grassroots supporters, but also the monied class.

This is proof that Holness never had to change his approach, what was needed from him all along, was for him to get to reach out to the base of the party and start the process of rebuilding the party, while becoming more vocal on national issues and making the government and the general public hear  his voice.

There is old saying ” fire deh a muss muss tail im tink a cool breeze”. That is what happened to Holness and the JLP simply cannot take that chance with Holness, because if he were to win this leadership race, he would crawl back into his shell, thus allowing the PNP to continue its destructive ways , which is not something Jamaica can afford at this time.

So how did Audley begin acting like Holness and become more effective than Holness was, being himself .

The JLP needs someone to win, you cannot run the country unless you win an election and the truth is, even though we believe holness is a future leader he must win.

The PNP is no different, they all no Portia is a very poor leader, but what she can do and has done is to win an election, thus getting the PNP in power, that is the cold hard facts.

There is no point taking bout how much potential someone has , when the fact is they cannot get in a position to truly demonstrate this.

Robert Rainford should be re-instated as Permanent Secretary !

Calls are mounting for the reinstatement of Richard Azan as State Minister after the DPP rule there was not sufficient evidence to criminally charge him. Those making that call have completely ignored the issue of procedural breaches. In fact these folks have said his intentions were noble and he was simply trying to help  out his fellow Jamaicans.

I am therefore going to use that same approach to call for the reinstatement of Robert Rainford who was fired the same day the DPP ruled on Azan. Mr Rainford was fired for procedural breaches, having posted a $15m bail bond for Carlos Hill, while he Rainford was attached to the justice ministry.

Now let’s examine the facts.

1. Mr Rainford did not act in his capacity as Permanent secretary in posting bail.
2. Mr Rainford acted in his capacity as a private citizen.
3. Mr Rainford case was brought before a disciplinary committee .
4. Mr Rainford was found to have breached some rule(s).
5. Mr Rainford was fired .

Did Mr Rainford act corruptly ?

Did Mr Rainford not break a rule?

Was Mr Rainford intent not good ?

Mr Rainford was only trying to help out a fellow Jamaican in trouble, his intentions were good and he did not intend to benefit from his actions, so why was he fired.

Is this not the same argument the apologist are making for Mr Azan and suggesting that he be re-instated ?

Why is the same not be said for Robert Rainford ?

Is Rainford a comrade ? 🙂

I guess not since he was placed there during the last administration .

Is there some private arrangement between the government and the private sectors?

Their silence on critical issues despite the Prime Minister silence and refusal to speak to the country is deafening, leading one to question if some private arrangement exist.

The dollar is racing to $104 , crime is out of control, lawlessness about and yet, the Private sector for the most part, is not agitating for some sort of direction from the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister or the National Security Minister.

What on earth is really going on in Jamaica ?

Information Minister Sandrea Falconer speaks on Azan issue

The Jamaican Minister of (No) Information, Sandrea Falconer, is suddenly  ready to speak about the Azan issue even though the Cabinet apparently did not meet to discuss the issue. (Yow mi nuh figet nuttin).

At last week’s post cabinet  press conference  the no information minister indicated that she could not comment on the Azan matter as the Cabinet had not yet met to speak about the issue. When asked about her personal views on the issue, she said refused to answer and when pressed she said the thought the question was in-appropriate.

Less than 24hrs after the DPP ruling , the no-information had quite a bit to say, indicating she was very happy with the ruling and that Mr Azan was exonerated and can clear his good name. Wow, how quick one can go from not being able to provide a comment because cabinet had to met to a situation where she can declare a position both personal and otherwise even though cabinet did not meet to discuss the Azan issue.

This is proof of the grand deception by the No Information Minister , who quickly changes positions as she sees it fit and the utter contempt she has for the media and Jamaicans by extension.

Media needs to take note.

 

Integrate Road Safety Within Wider Goals, PM tells UN Forum

More speeches by our Prime Minister

Addressing a UN Forum on Sustainable Transport and Road Safety on Thursday, September 26, 2013, organized as part of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly currently underway in New York, Prime Minister Simpson Miller said “we are here today not only because of the importance of road safety as a public health and safety issue but also because of its impact on the lives of the family members of the victims. As we consider priorities for the post-2015 development goals, tackling road traffic injuries is an important and achievable objective which should be part of the agenda. The most effective way to reduce the appalling health burden of road traffic injuries is to integrate road safety securely within wider goals.

http://opm.gov.jm/integrate-road-safety-within-wider-goals-pm-tells-un-forum/