Trinidad’s Prime Minister promises more power to the people

Trinidad and Tobago will have a new Constitution in 2014, says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

In her New Year’s message to the nation, the Prime Minister said a new form of governance was on the way.

“It has taken time, but I wanted to make sure that the reforms were born out of the desires and ambitions of the people so that those reforms will last,” she said.

List of changes

1. Right to recall a Member of Parliament
2. Term Limits for Prime Ministers  (Mooted by Bruce Golding, forgotten by the PNP)
3. Fixed elections dates. (Mooted by Bruce Golding, forgotten by PNP)

 

“Every family must feel safe. Too many families bear the tragic memory of personal loss, too many of you are traumatised by fear, too many of us feel resigned to insulating ourselves and denying our families the freedom of movement, which is our right, in order to escape cri­minals and bullies,” said Persad-Bissessar.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/PM-promises-more-power-to-the-people-238314011.html

 

So while Jamaican parliamentarian were busy working on IMF bills and removing power from the people of Jamaica, Trinidad’s parliamentarians were busy working on giving real power to the people of Trinidad, then we wonder why Trinidad is having us for supper

 

Let’s welcome 2014 with renewed hope

With  just a few hours to go, I would like to once again take the opportunity to once again  thank you readers and bloggers for your support in 2013.  There is no doubt that 2013 was a very challenging year and despite the many challenges, we must give thanks that we are alive to see the end of another and look forward to welcoming a new year. Many who started the year with us never made it to the end and thus we must give thanks to the creator.

As we move into this New Year, we must look to make changes in the way we operate if we intended to have a better Jamaica. As I said at the end of 2012, we must demand even more accountability in 2014 and must be impatient as it relates to those bills, legislation that can assist us in  our crime fighting efforts.

We must shun all forms of corruption be it in the public or the private sector  and demand greater levels of moral and integrity from every single public official, elected or not and we must be willing to take to the streets if necessary to demand an end to corrupt activities by our elected leaders

There is no one coming on a “white” horse to save Jamaica, we must get the job done ourselves and we must do everything necessary to save Jamaica as the path we are currently  on is not the one that will ever leader to greater levels of income generation in this country.

Let’s give a helping hand where we can,  because at the end of the day, the Jamaica we help to shape  today, is where our kids are likely to live in the future.

 

Bless .

 

My thoughts for 2013 revisited, how much progress did we make ?

We have come to the end of the year and below is what I wrote Dec 29, 2012. Have we made any progress ?

For 2013, lets begin by holding ourselves accountable, lets us to what is moral right as well as right according to the laws of the land.

• Let’s pay what we owe to the government.
• Let’s pay all duties.
• Let’s give a honest day work for a honest days pay.
• Let’s be fair to our employees.
• Let’s stop throwing our garbage in the gullies, rivers and streams
• Let’s slow down when the light goes from green to amber and stop at the read vs running the red light.
• Let’s waiting our turn in the long traffic line, vs forming a extra lane were none should  exist.
• Let’s be  civil towards each other.
• Let’s focus on Jamaica.

Having now  started the process of holding ourselves accountable and keeping our end of the bargain then we should.

• Hold those around us accountable. – N0thing has changed
• STOP accepting excuses. – We accept it from goj leaders
• STOP accepting mediocrity from our peers. I see no change
• DEMAND accountability from our elected representatives. We continue to fail here.
• Ask tough question whenever you get a chance to engage your elected representative and demand they provide honest answers. Really, try get Portia to speak
• Demand value for money for every project, every job, every task, no matter how small it may be.  No progress
• Stop accepting excuses for poor performance from those we elect to lead us. No progress
• Demand persons in the public sector resign, due to continuous poor performance. Richard Azan epitomizes our failure here
• Demand from our politicians clearly defined and executable plans for your communities, with dates and hold them accountable to those dates. Slippage will occur in some cases, but these should be the exception vs the norm.  No progress
• Demand changes to the existing constitution when you keep hearing,  ” we cannot make these changes because the constitution prevents us from doing the right thing”?   Only if IMF demands these changes
• Question everything, do not accept it because he/she has a Phd an MBA or any other title that appears to make him/her more “learned” that you are. Never accept the following line ” you will not understand, these are really technical stuff so just trust me“. The simple fact is ” if you do not understand it you cannot explain it”, so those who think you will not understand most likely do not understand it themselves and so cannot explain it to you. People are beginning to ask and some folks are feeling the heat, some progress
• Refuse to accept political appointment or jobs for the boys. Persons being selected for public office must have competence in the jobs they hold and must deliver or resign promptly if the fail to deliver. The only way to know of their delivering or poor performance however,  is be aware and or demand to know the specific mandate of the organization of which they are leading and the Key Performance Indicators of the organization. Each year the public must demand a score card which tells how organization has performed against these stated indicators and actions/changes to be made if they are off target. We the public must then demand resignation or termination of contracts of persons who have failed to meet stated targets for two consecutive years.  – I have never seen so much political appointment in such a short time.

For 2013 it cannot and will not be business as usual, radical changes MUST occur, its no ,longer an option.

Let’s drop the political posturing for one year, lets engage all those who are serious about Jamaicans present position and what  to become a part of the change that must occur.

1. Let’s start 2013 by knowing the goals and objective as well as Key Performance Indicators for every goverment ministry for  2013.
2. We also must demand to know the Key Performance Indicators for every quasi government organization as well as every statutory organization, these must be clearly stated along with the time line, when each of the stated KPI will be achieved.
3. The statistical institute of Jamaican  and the PIOJ must be required to provide Quarterly reports on each of the ministries as well as the organizations stated in 2 above. The reports must clearly show, where we are in relation to the stated objectives and the funds expended  throughout the period under review. In this way its easy to spot trends and the informed public can  now demand actions, where the organizations are clearing going off track or commend those who are doing a good job for Jamaica and urge them on.
4. People deliver when they believe they are being closely monitored and evaluated .

Many persons in Jamaica today wants to be associated with success, so can you imagine what could occur if by virtue of the close monitoring that is taking place persons begin to deliver. This will provide the impetus of all other to follow suit because persons want to be part of a success story and should this really catch on, then the sky would be the limit. In such a new environment  corruption would be such a bad word, that persons would never want to even hear it.

The above by friends is all I want for Jamaica for the new year, is it possible, are the stated bullets points achievable and what are the things that could possible prevent them from becoming reality and a new way of life for Jamaica.

We can collectively make it happen, we just have to change our thought process and NEVER AGAIN accept any EXCUSE for FAILURE !

Original Link

https://commonsenseja.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/my-thoughts-for-jamaica-for-2013/

Best and Worst moments of 2103 as seen by Commonsenseja

Not in any specific order of importance

Best moments of 2013

1. Javon Francis heroics on the last leg of the 4x400m at the World Championships
2. Shelly -Ann Frazer Pryce triple gold medal wins at the 2013 World Championship
3. Usain Bolt  triple gold medal wins at the 2013 World Championship
4. Jermaine “Tuffy” Anderson goal in the world cup qualifier vs Costa Rica
5. Tessanne Chin winning the voice.
6. Timar Jackson being on being rewarded 2014 Rhodes Scholar.
7. Jamaican welcoming 2 million visitors
8. The introduction of low sulphur diesel to the trade.

 

Worst moments of 2013

1. The reappointment of  Richard Azan to the transport ministry after he had resigned over corruption charges.
2. The continued role of Scean Barnswell as Mayor after being charged for corruption.
3. The refusal of the Prime Minister to speak with the Jamaican population
4. The Prime Minister horrible interview in China
5. The Prime Minister at a panel discussion in Brussels.
6. The robbery of the Minister of National Security and subsequent events thereafter
7. The significant rise in major crimes and the impotence of the National Security Minister to get things under control.
8. The failure of the Jamaican parliament to pass crime bills, which could assist our crime fighters.
9. CBS feature of Jamaica as the lotto scam capital of the world
10. Peter Bunting feature/starring role in ” American Most Wanted”

 

I need two more good moments to get to ten 😦

 

How about your best and worst moments.

Security crises in downtown Kingston as nurses have become the target of gunmen

The country continues to sink further into chaos as news have emerged of of spate of robberies targeting nurses who work at KPH and Victoria Jubilee hospitals.

It has gotten so bad, that nurses are refusing to show up for work out of fear of being a victim of crime.

Jamaican gone !

Jamaicans should resist any additional tax on fuel !

The GOJ appears set to add GCT to fuel products as they seek to improve its revenues.

Any additional tax on fuel would not only be ill advised, it would certainly mean the certain death of manufacturing in Jamaica.

Our manufacturers and consumers are already struggling with high electricity rates due to high fuel prices and thus this GCT on fuel would mean another 16.5% increase in the cost of electricity given that fuel cost is a pass through cost.

I am prepared to take to the streets of Jamaica(once I am here) to resist any such tax and urges the GOJ to find ways to reduce waste vs trying to extract more from an already burdened population.

The Government need for example to cut its slate of consultants by 75%, get rid of JEEP, look at ways to reduce leakages in the public sector.

The GOJ should cut international travels by 50% and remove all those unnecessary party hacks it have filling post created in the public sector, just to facilitate their entry.

God dammit man I have had enough of these f@#’king tax increases, for which I have not been able to see any tangible benefits.

Fed up !
.

Merry Christmas

It is  time of the year again, when we all take a break from the hustle and bustle  to relax with our families and closest friends. Commonsenseja would like to take time to thank you all for your comments, your support and for simply reading articles and comments on the blog. At this time of the year , I would like to express warmest wishes to you and your families.

It has been a very difficult year, but despite that, we are still hearing and for that we must give thanks. We should also take the time to reach out to the less fortunate amongst us and give a helping hand in any way we can, as this is the season for giving.

Wishing you all a blessed and peaceful holidays and hope you will all have a prosperous 2014 when it comes along.

Commonsenseja will take a break for Christmas day and will return on Boxing day.

 

The sins of that Government Senator

A litany of corrupt actions that have resulted in some employees at the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) collecting millions of dollars annually – some as much as three times their gross salary – has been uncovered by the state bus agency’s new board. And the JUTC chairman, Douglas Chambers, says the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) is embracing and encouraging this dishonesty.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/130431_-UAWU-embracing-JUTC–corruption-#ixzz2oOrKMlK2

What is the senator in question position now that the very same action is being taken and the JUTC is being headed by PNP operatives.

( It was said Chambers was JLP and his death may have been as a result of the actions he was taken to weed the JUTC of corruption).

 

More information for you to digest.

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00100337/00060/2x?search=jamaica&vo=12

This document is hard to navigate but do the following

Click on the document, which will allow you to be able to zoom in, then use the up down, left, right arrows to view various parts of the document.

You off course can do further checks in these archives.

 

Jamaica is the 2nd poorest country in the english speaking Caribbean

The recently released data 2014 World’s Development report ranks Jamaica as the 2nd poorest country in the Caribbean in terms of Gross National Income per captia.  I have taken the data and broken out the data to show countries from the english speaking Caribbean and was not surprised to see the levels to which this once wealthy country has sunk.

Ranking	Country	GNI US$
1	The Bahamas	21,280.00
2	Trinidad and Tobago	14,400.00
3	Saint Kitts and Nevis	13,330.00
4	Antigua and Barbuda	12,640.00
5	Barbados	12,616.00
6	Grenada	7,110.00
7	Saint Lucia	6,530.00
8	Dominica	6,460.00
9	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	6,380.00
10	Jamaica	5,140.00
11	Guyana	3,140.00

 

 

 

 

Now the full data can be accessed  here.

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTNWDR2013/Resources/8258024-1352909193861/8936935-1356011448215/8986901-1380046989056/WDR-2014_Complete_Report.pdf

 

 

Trinidadian Prime Minister host post cabinet press conference and offers consumer 20% discount on food items

TRADE Minister Vasant Bharath yesterday told Newsday the steps to give consumers a 20 percent Yuletide reduction in the price of flour, oil and rice today and tomorrow are proceeding “very, very well”.

The discounts were announced by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at last Thursday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), St Clair, where she hoped it would give consumers “ease, joy and relief”

READ that second paragraph again, ok I will highlight it.

The discounts were announced by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at last Thursday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), St Clair, where she hoped it would give consumers “ease, joy and relief”

Notice the Trinidadian Prime Minister who also happens to be a woman actually speaks at post cabinet news conference to her people in Trinidad.

Over here in Jamaica the Jamaican Prime Minister does not even turn up at post cabinet press conference and does not speak to the Jamaican people and we are all asked “ kibba we mouth an nuh seh nuttin”.

 

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,188271.html