Can you ever make a transgression as a PNP member and face punishment ?

It seems , no matter how immoral, illegal or poor ethical conduct is displayed by PNP members it is never enough to get one expelled from the PNP.

The PNP had a grand opportunity to get rid of Shernet  Haughton , but as it always the case with this party, they find a creative way to retain errant members. The woman displayed one of the most blatant case of political nepotism ever seen in Jamaica for a long time,  but this was not enough for the “integrity commission ” to expel her from the party.

Shernet Haughton today remains a member of the PNP and we were told last night, she will not be allowed to contest the elections on a PNP ticket as a form of punishment. This morning we heard her lawyer suggesting , that she may now run as an “independent” candidate, while still being a member of the PNP, wow , very deft move by Shernet.

Now we know Jamaicans , despite what they say, love corruption especially the ones that result in they “eating a food” off the councillor and no doubt will vote for her to be returned as their councillor. It is therefore very convenient that Shernet will be allowed to be a member of the PNP and run as an “independent” candidate. I guess this will allow her the opportunity to “switch” sides when it becomes convenient  because Jamaicans have very short memory.

Why would anyone outside of Jamaica take Jamaicans seriously when it comes unto corruption, the rule and law and probity.

PNP continues to be the best party to ruin Jamaica moral compass, integrity and ethics, but somehow it seems as if this is what the people want because no matter how bad it gets, they find comfort in a large percentage of the population.

I weep for Jamaica

Will JPS provide more details on its deal with New Fortress Energy

I have been trying to find out more about the announcement made by the JPS that the have signed long term LNG supply contract between themselves and the USA based Fortress Energy. Well, my research has shown that Fortress Energy  is supposed to be a part of Fortress Investment Group inc, even though I could not find Fortress Energy on their web page.

I decided to dig a bit further to determine if Fortress Energy has a license to export LNG from the United States Department of Energy, but was unable to find that name. No company in the USA can export domestically produced LNG from the USA without this being approved by the USA DOE.

So unless JPS wishes to provide us with more information than it has done so far I am struggling to understand this particular deal, which was just announced. Now I am not suggesting that the deal is really not a deal after-all, because Fortress could be the middle man, who is actually doing negotiations with an authorized exporter and we just were not made aware of that.

Can the JPS therefore offer some clarity in relation to this new development

USA DOE AUTHORIZED LIST OF LNG EXPORTERS can be found here.

http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/05/f22/Summary%20of%20LNG%20Export%20Applications.pdf

I did eventually something Fortress New Energy and they were recently looking for a project manager.

http://careers.fortress.com/careers/JobDetail/West-Palm-Beach-Florida-United-States-Project-Manager-Fortress-New-Energy/3312

What did Commonsenseja say about the UC Rusal Ethane fired plant.

On Sept 23, 2014 I gave a review of the announcement that was made by ESET about 350MW of new power for Jamaica and during that piece I made a particular point. I said the following

Point 4

US Rusal Ethane fired power plant. I think this is a none starter for two main reasons

1. US Rusal is not going to be making any further investments in Jamaica.

2. Ethene as a source of fuel for a power plant is a major challenge, as the process to transport from where its manufactured to point of use is not mature process given the extreme conditions that it requires. It is typically used where its processed and frankly  I do not see UC Rusal being involved in this process at all, so I would say this particular proposal is akin to flying a kite

https://commonsenseja.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/energy-path-set-eset-a-brief-analysis-of-what-has-been-presented/

ESET gave an update recently and this is what they said.

But at the end of May 2015, “Rusal told ESET that they were having difficulty settling partnership discussions with American Ethane”.

That feedback came after ESET requested information from Rusal relating to the partnership arrangements, shipping, receiving, methods of transporting ethane and the arrangements for construction.

They advised that they were not yet able “to settle with American Ethane as developer and as gas supplier” and needed more time to either complete the discussions or consider other proposals for Alpart.

Capacity Unknown

Here again, the power plant’s capacity is unknown.

“Rusal will inform us once they have settled their energy plan which, they have informed, is being revised,” Lawrence told the Financial Gleaner.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20150626/bauxite-energy-project-delays-wont-derail-three-year-electricity-programme

I do not consider myself to be a any sort of “prophet” but I do take the time out to analysis what is being presented to the populace and will challenge or test the information if I am able to determine that something is just not right.

I will continue to take a critical look at this project, which even though 12 years late can bring about significant changes in the Jamaican landscape. We however need to be very careful of the pronouncements that are being made before deals and signed and sealed.

Who in the PNP Cabinet is actually doing any sort of work ?

I decided this morning to take a critical look at PNP cabinet after more that three years in office and my assessment of each of the various ministers, then juxtapose that to the position the country finds itself in today.

1. The Prime Minister says she is working, working, working, but unless she is working on a subway underground, their is absolutely no evidence to support her working, working statement. This Prime Minister has spent more time and money travelling than any other Prime Minister in modern Jamaica, yet there is not much to show for this “investment”.
2. The Minister of Announcement, Phillip Paulwell has made quite a bit of announcements thus far, but as is usual with this non-performer, 95% of his announcements never materialized. He screwed up the energy project, he said we would have rare mineral, but what is really rare is getting anything substantive in the ground from this broadcaster. I think he would be a better fit in the Information Minister, where all he would need to do is make announcements and nothing more.
3.  The Minister of Industry and Commerce seems to define “logics” and continues to use the buzz word “Logistics hub”, which has come to define his ministry. Some Crown and Achor guys comes along and suggest that despite having their biggest project only worth US$25,000, they can bankroll a project for US$5B. The entire cabinet buys this hook, line and sinker and like Paulwell, within days of his announcement questions were raised and eventually the entire project was to become still born. Under his watch Jamaica registered a 7% reduction in FDI, which underpins the great work done by this minister thus far.
4. The Minister of No Water and Environment, despite being given the easiest minister, continues to show the country that he is a perennial  failure no matter where he is placed. Robert continues to be the worst performing minster this country has ever seen and the fact that he remains there gives an indication of where Jamaica is headed. Robert Pickersgill has reduced the ministry to being a second Met office, giving us weather data but zero plans on what his ministry plans to do to fix the problems, which gets worse every year. He deserves a prize for being one of the most incompetent ministers every to be part of any cabinet in Jamaica .
5. The Minister of Foreign Affairs appears to be totally clueless in his role and apart from his staunch defense of our Caricom partners, has done next to nothing to improve Jamaica’s imagine either in the Caribbean or on the international scene. I think he needs to be retired to Jurassic Park in the public interest. Under his watch, all I have seen is more Jamaicans becoming boat people, following the Haitians, as they make a desperate bid to flee Jamaica.
6. The Transport Minister Dr Davis is a good as being lost in this ministry and apart from the projects that were already negotiated under the previous administration, has brought nothing new to the table. The road network across the country is a mess and we cannot blame the IMF. The NWA does not understand road design and so roads become river beds during periods of rain fall and then get into a state of disrepair in no time. Despite the flawed designed the Minster who happens to know nothing about construction continues to resurface these roads instead of fixing the real problem. Clearly he is out of his league and needs to be retired in the public’s interest.
7. The Minister of Misinformation certainly appears to be doing less work than when she was in the private sectors, which can be seen from her substantial weight gain. She gives more misinformation than any other ministers I have seen in this post and seems less knowledgeable than most. Her role has been relegated to reading transcript, without being able to add anything of worth to what she reads, making her press conferences nothing but  a mere ” news reporting”.
8. The Local Government Minister has his hands full just trying to deal with the land “fill” and despite all the reassurances seems unable to manage just over 100 acres of land. This Ministry might as well be renamed, the  “Ministry of Waste”.  The country is dirty and stink and the level of garbage piling up all over the country is unprecedented.
9. The Minister of Education is really trying to make a difference, you can see that this minister actually wants to do a good job, but is being starved of need resources to carry out his job.
10. The Minister of Justice has managed to do what no other Justice Minister has done and that is pass this much bills albeit dictates of the IMF. He has sought to decriminalize  ganja and that is a welcome move. Mark Golding is one of the few bright sparks in an otherwise dull cabinet.
11. The Minister of Security seems to have a hard time distinguishing between security as in the nations security and security as in a financial instrument . His constant reference to statistical data is better suited for financial security and not people and hence is inability to make any sort of positive impact in this area. This Minister needs to be moved to the Finance Ministry or Industry and Commerce, where the incumbent is totally clueless.
12. The Minister of Finance is totally fixed on pleasing his masters at the IMF and could not give a hoot is everything is destroyed in his quest to be the best Minister of Finance working for the IMF. At the end of the 4 yr extended fund facility Dr Phillips will be like a “deer in the headlights”, having no plans on how to actually grow the economy and no doubt will be taking us back to the IMF for yet another round of austerity to poverty.
13. The Minister or Agriculture and Social Security has reduced the ministry to one of seasonal work in USA and Canada and should be renamed the Ministry of  Agriculture and Farm Work. It seems the majority of the effort is to send Jamaicans to work on farms in USA and Canada vs improving the farming technology and output in Jamaica. As for Social Insecurity, its their for all to see, just look at the number of Jamaicans now taking to the streets to beg to earn a living.
14. The Minister of Youth and Culture heart is in the right place, but that does not deliver results. If one should examine what is taking place with the youths in Jamaica, one would say this minister has failed the youths badly. Sexual predators and attaching themselves to schools, to day care centers, to government run children s homes and when “caught”, they simple move to next one without any fear of being caught. Where is the registration process, where is the fit and proper testing that is being done to ensure sexual deviants are not in or if they do get in can never get a job in child care ever again in this country. The number of missing children in Jamaica is alarmingly high, but nothing is being done about it, expect for the constant cry by Betty Ann-Blaine, I think she should be appointed to this ministry.

So the PNP is failing from the cradle to the grave, but somehow the majority of the voting population simply loves them and continues to award mediocrity with victory at the polls

So in summary, I believe this administration instead of working to move us from Poverty to Prosperity is actually working on Austerity to Poverty .

If the later is the measure of success of the PNP administration, then I believe the are doing an outstanding job and they are right on track. Should they win in 2016, they would have certainly accomplished that mission.

Same sex Marriage is USA may be a blessing in disguise for Jamaica

The idea of same sex marriage is repulsive and the US supreme court ruling that now makes it legal for same sex couples to marry in all 50 states as come as a moral blow for many. I have once again decided to take a very different approach than most people.

It is a know fact that same sex couples cannot have children , that is they cannot procreate, which is the main reason why God man and and woman, and is the reason for marriage.  If there is a significant population of the USA, that are gay and want to get married, it means they are not likely to have kids.

Any population which experiences over 10 – 15 years of falling birth rate is most likely to get into trouble. As the population gets older and retires, these workers needs to be replaced by younger people . If the USA economic growth continues to be strong it means mover jobs will be created. If more jobs are being created each year and the birth rate continues to decline, there will come a point in time, where companies cannot find workers to fill these positions.

This will lead to a change in immigration rules as to remain growing and competitive, the USA will need to import more workers that it does today, to fill these positions. With an economy that is not growing and is unlikely to grow, this could represent a grand opportunity for Jamaica in another 10 to 15 years.

It means therefore that we need to invest heavily into education and even more in the technical training as that is where the USA will need people to work in order to keep the manufacturing sector going.

So same sex marriage as morally bad as it is, does have the potential to throw up opportunists for Jamaicans is little over a decade, but we must start the work now in order to fully benefit.

Bless up

Can we really trust the decision making process of the PNP Cabinet; Logistics hub screw up

” Dem dweet again, dem  mismanage even mismanagement “

That was the expression that greeted me, when I got news that Jamaica largest ever infrastructural development project was still born.

Some-how the PNP seems able to select the least experience, least knowledge, least capable both financially and otherwise to manage their biggest projects.

Phillip Paulwell the Minister of Announcements selected little known EWI to undertake the largest every energy project in Jamaica and then ended up in the dumps.

Anthony Hylton – Minister of Non Achievement did one better, he announced a project that was almost 6 times the size of the one by his colleagues minister, again choosing the least capable firm(s) and that too ended up being still born.

In both cases the Jamaican cabinet supported both projects despite the misgivings not only by those with intimate knowledge of what it takes to execute both projects, but by civil society who were concerned about the manner in which the project were being handled.

In both cases the public was right and cabinet was wrong.

Public 2

Cabinet 0.

Now the Jamaican people were able to see what was wrong in the direction the government was going based on the information that was available and berated the government for doing so. If the cabinet can screw up so big on such major projects, can we really trust their collective decision making process ?

We have these guys leading us, travelling and having meeting and signing agreements on our behalf most of which cannot be made public. Given the major screw up by these two cabinet ministers and by extension the entire PNP cabinet, I think its time for us to see every single agreement they claim to be signing to benefit this country, as it it very clear that they are all clueless and may very well be signing away our rights without us knowing.

Incompetence in the halls of the PNP now appears to be the order of the day, with no sanction for these major blunders which is not only costing us millions, but is destroying our reputation on the international scene.

Its no wonder FDI plunged 7% as no one wants to deal with a bunch of incompetent novices who signs on the dotted lines as long as you the ” investors”  says this is  US millions investments that will bring many jobs, then ask questions later.

Why the diaspora has made Jamaica economic situation worse vs better

I know I am going to get in trouble for this one, but I am willing to go ahead and make the point for what its worth.

It has been said that remittances is Jamaica’s  largest foreign exchange earner, contributing over US$2B per year .( I would like to make a point here. The term foreign exchange earner is really a misnomer for remittance , given we really do nothing to earn this money).

The money that comes in from remittances is largely ” free money” sent home by Jamaican nationals living overseas to support families back in Jamaica. In some cases families have put up the funds to send one of their own overseas with the hope that they will in turn send back a portion of their earnings to support them back in Jamaica.

Here is the problem I have with remittances and why it really has not helped Jamaica, in fact I will posit that it has made things worse for Jamaica.

I find that when people work hard for what they want they tend to do the following

1. Make better decisions on how they spend their money
2. They make better investment decisions
3. They waste less.
4. They are more frugal and circumspect
5. They are more responsible
6. They “floss” less

On the other hand, when the money is ” free” and the recipient  has done nothing to earn it, the opposite of items 1 – 6 is true.

If Jamaicans knew they would not get income for their poor decision making process, it stands to reason that they would make better decisions and where they are not sure, seek answers from those who have more knowledge that they do.

Jamaican voters cast their votes based on long standing political loyalty to either the JLP or the PNP and have been able to get away with it for a long time, due to ” free” money from overseas, which tends to somewhat “insulate” them from their poor decisions election after elections.

So on one hand, those in the poorest communities in Jamaica vote on the assumption that the PNP is likely to support them when they win, so they continue to vote that way. The others will go out and vote for more of the same type of poor governance as their is no consequence to their actions, knowing that they will be getting some of that US$2B that is likely to roll in again this year from relatives and friends overseas.

If people had to vote based on the outcomes of the economy ie on the basis that their existence and livelihood is on the basis of the outcome of economic growth and nothing else, I guarantee you that PNP would never serve more than a single term in office unless they are able to generate economic growth,

Today they don’t have to,  no one is starving or is likely to starve because we can all screw up our voting process , take no responsibility for putting in novices to run the country, because we can always call Jay overseas and ask him to top up the money he used to send to Western Union because prices have increased. These people see zero link between their bad decisions and the state of the economy and really don’t care, because money will some how come in from overseas.

This US$2B does not really help the economy in the way it should, as it largely wasted in booze, hair and other areas of non essential spending and is one reason I strongly believe why voters refuse to take greater care for whom they cast their votes as in the end, the income they receive is not as a  result of the output of their efforts or that of the Jamaican economy.

Now, not that all remittances are wasted as  some of that does go into education, the problem is those educated by this hardly have a different outlook on life from a Jamaican perspective.

Bless up

Civil servants misguided faith in PNP voodoo economics comes back to bite them

When one fails to use history as a guide for moving forward, you are bound to make serious mistakes and is more likely than not to fail.

The civil servants signed a “historic” MOU with the PNP government, where they agreed to another two years of wage freeze. If the trade unions believed that the PNP government could have turned around the economy and generated growth enough to pay them an decent increase, then they are either in denial or needs to have their heads examined.

History has shown the successive PNP governments have all failed to bring about any period of sustained growth in the country, even when every other country on the planet was growing by leaps and bounds. I am not sure what more proof our people need to show that the PNP simply does not understand how the economy works.

The over reliance  now on ” whitemen” out of United States to tell them how to grow the economy is yet another failure of the PNP. The IMF in its over 50 yrs history has no sucess story, it has never taken any country from austerity to prosperity, instead what we have seen is austerity to poverty.

If one were to look to every country which has gone to the IMF and has followed the program to the book as clueless Jamaican politicians have done, not a single one has had any success. In the Caribbean, one can look at St Kitts and Nevis, which happens to be under a program and who had higher Debt to GDP ratio than Jamaica. Their numbers are coming down, but the program they are following was more suited for the people and their was less reliance on the IMF.  Their signature Citizen for investment program for example, if the IMF had its way that would have been gone.

St Kitts and Nevis residents pay zero income tax, if the government had not stood up the IMF would have forced them to change this long standing policy. So the country has been able to take IMF money, pay back some  loans earlier than expected and their economy is growing thanks to the leadership in that country and NOT the IMF.

The public sector unions , most of which are aligned to the ruling party has done a great disservice to the public sector workers and it amazes me that a group of people could have allowed themselves to be hoodwinked into believing the PNP can grow an economy which can then give them a livable wage.

In life they say to get what you work for and I seriously believe that is what is taking place now and they will have no choice but to accept the 7%, because the PNP are clueless about economics and  they have no other plan for the sorry state of this economy and the faithful public sector workers shepherded by the PNP affiliated unions, will be like a lamb to the slaughter.

When loyalty trumps engagement of the brains, bad things happen to those who choose loyalty to party over country.

Toll rates go up by 10% come July 4, meaning more pressure on public sector workers.

Come 2016 these very folks, will once again go out and vote for more of the same, then suffer in silence .

Welcome to Jamaica, a country than runs on charity and remittances . Members of the diaspora, have largely contributed to the economic problems in Jamaica, I will tell you why in a subsequent post.

Why does black people find it so easy to forgive white people, but not their own ?

A whiteman goes into a church, worships with black people for one hour, then murders 9 of the worshippers. Within 24hrs of being caught, the black communities tells this murder, that they forgive him.

Had the shooter been black, he and his family would have been hunted down and I am sure their would have been a deadly reprisals because that is how we deal with black on black violence . There would have been no speedy forgiveness I promise you that.

Now I am not suggesting they go after the white murder, instead I am pointing out the hypocrisy of bllack people and why it is so hard for them to be taken seriously .

I hear no cry for the death penalty, there is no hate crime legislation on the books in this state, so this murderer may escpae the death penalty

We shall see how it all plays out in the end

PNP have a knack for screwing major projects

It seems as if this party has no idea how to address major investment project. Phillip Paulwell and Anthony Hylton have so far made a mess of the two major projects that can bring about major economic benefit to Jamaica.

Its amazing that the Jamaican public have accepted a level of mediocrity never before seen in this country and levels that would NEVER be accepted by any other country on the planet.

I am not however surprized, given the very low expectation we have of PNP cabinet members and the party itself, so failure is not considered failure and is instead accepted and that was the expectation.

What a sad state of affairs