Hand, Foot and Mouth outbreak in Jamaica is now an epidemic !

Dr Fenton Ferguson stewardship at the helm of the health ministry is now northing short of a nightmarish experience for thousands of Jamaicans.

He handled Chik-V poorly and denied there was an outbreak and did nothing resulting in billions of dollars lost in productive hours and untold pain and misery for those who caught the sickness.

Later on our doctors said the health care sector was in crises, with no medication and shortage of almost everything that was required to run a proper healthcare system. Dr Ferguson denied this and instead stated that there was a conspiracy to get rid oh him due to his imposition of the tobacco band.

He later on  commissioned an audit of the system, which was a mirror image of what we were told by the doctors. Now rather than making the report public, he has chosen to hide the report.

Now earlier this week we had a report which said HF&M diseases was found in 6 unnamed schools and within 3 days this number has risen to 53 schools. As far as I am concerned this is a freaking epidemic that must be treated as such a national emergency health plan MUST be activated.

I hear a few Doctors saying this is normal at this time of the year, really, so why I heard nothing last year and the year before and the year before that. Why is it that in Jamaica we are always trying to hide information from the people of deny the existence of a real problem.

The lazy and incompetent water minister says ” I cannot make rain fall” and the lack of water in schools and homes, means the number of cases are likely to explode even further in the coming days.

What is going to be the response of this government ?

Is there anyone who can be held accountable in Jamaica ?

Cameron’s proposal sounds a lot like transatlantic trade !

It would appear to me that the mentality of the British today is not very different from what existed during the time of the transatlantic slave trade.

In the former the UK went to Africa, paid money to the African leaders in exchange for Africans being shipped off to work to enrich the UK Government.

200 years later, they come up with this new plan where some of whom were working and paying taxes in the UK have gotten in trouble with the UK laws are to be sold to their country of origin.

In this new transatlantic trade, the UK will provide money to build a new prison and then give us to money to re-integrate them into the Jamaican society.

In other words, they are be sold back to Jamaica, but in this case they are paying us to take them.

The Jamaican government appears to have agreed on how much they are worth and is willing to ” run wid it “.

Why don’t they keep them their and “re-integrate” them into the UK society.

JLP government had previously rejected this prison deal !

Plans by the United Kingdom (UK) to deport Jamaicans convicted in that country could create diplomatic problems between the UK and Jamaican governments.

The decision by the British government would run contrary to the existing arrangements between Jamaica and the UK.
The Jamaican Government has signalled that it will not accept any plans by the United Kingdom to unilaterally change the deportee arrangements to suit its purpose.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/power/24061#.VgxVnd6cLSg.facebook

How much will that British prison gift cost Jamaica ?

The British media is reporting that cost of the British contribution to this new prison is £25m and not the £27 that was reported earlier. I will therefore be using this number to run a basic financial analysis of the true cost of this gift to the people of Jamaica, as agreed by our Prime Minister.

We have been told the UK government will cover 40% of the total cost of the prison, which would make the cost of the prison £62.5m and the GOJ will cover £37.5m of the total cost.

We have been told that the UK Government will save approx £10m per year when these prisoners have been repatriated to Jamaica starting in 2020.

A report from the correctional services done in 2008 put the cost taking care of each prisoner in the Jamaican penal system at $698,644.87 or US$9580.98 at the US $ exchange rate at the time of $72.92 to one US$.  Without adjusting for inflation and using a projected exchange rate of $130 in 2020, the cost to the Jamaican taxpayer can be estimated to be $1.2455m per year per prisoner.

So the total cost per annum for the 737 prisoners would be in the order of  $918m per year.  This figure does not include cost for correctional services officers ,  other staff, maintenance ,other operational and administrative cost.

British Number

Capital Investment £25m

UK borrowing rate ~ 0.5%

Assume 30 yrs ( Loan term)

Savings per annum £10m

Financial Analysis

1. Simple payback period = 2.5 yrs ( Not bad at all )
2. IRR = 40%, Wow, astounding numbers
3. NPV = £252.94M  ( Positive to very good)
4. BCR (Benefit to cost ratio) = 25.294 (  + and above 1 so very good)

Jamaica”s  Numbers

Capital Investment £37.5m , Deferred Cost £25m

Jamaica borrowing rate = 7.5%

Assume 30 yr  ( loan duration)

Savings per annum (Additional cost) [ cost to house prisoners] = –  J$918m/200 = -£4.59m  (Assume rate of $200 : 1£)

Savings on interest payments  ~ £1.875m £ per annum  [ Based on £25m]

Total savings/cost = -£2.715m per annum

Let’s assume the Jamaica Government was going to underwrite the cost of this prison , because we really need it and let’s further assume that the UK £25M would no longer be required to be borrowed by the government ie its a gift.

The analysis will be therefore based on this figure.

Financial Analysis

1. Simple payback = ???
2. IRR = ??
3. NPV = -£57.07m
4. BCR = -2.28

This deal by the GOJ using the assumptions above is a bad one and gets even worse, if one was to include additional cost for operations of the facility.

Its is my humble view that the GOJ has erred seriously on this one from  a financial standpoint, while the UK government has walked away, the big winner.

The white guys keeps on winning, while the black people keep losing even more to the very people who robbed and raped us for over 400 years.

So we won’t give you reparations, instead we will given you a token gift to build a prison for your people, who we no longer intended to support with UK taxpayers money.

Who is looking after the interest of Jamaicans ?

No reparation, but Jamaica will spend J$6B to save the British taxpayers J$1.8B per year

The British Prime Minister landed in Jamaica today bearing gift for the Government of Jamaica. Dave Cameron has committed to spend £ 27M to build a prison in Jamaica.

This will allow Britain to sent back home over 700 Jamaican prisoners currently serving time in UK prisons. So the UK is committed to cover 40% of the cost of this new prison with the GOJ contributing the remaining 60%.

So instead of reparation money for  slavery, the Government of Jamaica has “bowed” and will spend $6b of Jamaicans taxpayers money so it can save the British taxpayer £10m per year  or J$1.8B per year  !

The British will recoup their investment is under 3 years ie payback < 3 years, which suggest that this indeed a great investment given the very short payback period.

In addition the Internal rate of return that will be made on this investment over the 30 yrs ( Estimated useful life) is 37.03% , which an astounding IRR given the BOE interest rate is just 0.5% PA.

The white people have outsmarted the black people once again.

Great going guys, you have represented the descendants of black slavery very well, job well done !

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34398014

Press Association now getting vocal on being sidelined, writes to PM about being snubbed !

After allowing this present administration to literally have their way , the PAJ has finally figured out that they have been sidelined by the government and are now trying to play catch up

See press release.

http://pressassociationjamaica.org/paj-sends-open-letter-to-prime-minister-simpson-miller/#more-604

Why is the Japan Prime Minister visiting Jamaica at this time ?

The Japanese government will redouble efforts to achieve U.N. Security Council reform on the occasion of the 70th anniversary in October of the establishment of the United Nations, officials said.

The support of African nations, which have a large number of votes, holds the key to the proposed enlargement of the Security Council. But Japan faces difficulty gaining their backing and it is therefore uncertain whether progress will be made in the campaign to achieve the reform.

In the speech, Abe will call on U.N. member states to produce specific results on Security Council reform during the annual General Assembly session that runs through September next year.

The prime minister plans to make other diplomatic initiatives as well.

Arrangements are being made for a top-level meeting of the so-called Group of Four nations aspiring to gain permanent membership — Japan, Germany, India and Brazil — during Abe’s stay in New York. On Wednesday, he will visit Jamaica, a key member of the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, to seek cooperation in Security Council reform.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/24/national/politics-diplomacy/japan-gears-fresh-u-n-security-council-reform-push/#.VgqvvN9Viko

Bobby Pickersgill say ” He cannot make the rain fall”. Why do we need him ?

The most incompetent Jamaican politician to ever enter representational politics, Bobby Pickersgill was reported to have said, giving the continued drought conditions, there is nothing he can do, because he cannot make the rain fall.

This statement rivals one made by his boss ” She was not there as far as I know, she did not start the fire”.

When a politician feels like he/she can make such stupid statements in the public space or any space for that matter and still have a political life, you know how politics is in the “pit toilet”.

Its full time we refuse to accept this kind of behavior and demand better. If things are to get better, the middle class of get of their collective asses and bring their educational acumen to the fore. They mist first begin by exercising their democratic right to vote, based on issues and performance and begin the revolution that is now required.

In Jamaica just over 50% of the voting population votes and these are mainly die-hard voters. The young folks and the middle class rarely vote thus allow the least capable and least competent among us to select those to run/ruin the country for the next five years, while we complain or look for opportunity in the developed countries, where the middle class actually vote and make a difference.

Come the next election the people must tell Bobby his time has expired and he must be placed into retirement because he has done nothing  and will simply continue to do same going forward.

Middle class voices must now be heard in the ballot boxes and less on Facebook/Twitter.

PCB Bank Board Members should be re-instated forthwith !

KINGSTON, Jamaica – The National People’s Co-operative Bank of Jamaica (NPCB) says some reports of misuse of money by its members have “misrepresented” the bank’s true position.

“The members’ deposits have been used productively, making loans to members, cash investments as well as being invested in property, plant and equipment” the NPBC explained in a newspaper advertisement today.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/PC-Bank-says-no-hanky-panky-in-loans-to-members

If this was the case, it means the Minister Derrick Kellier unjustifiable dismissed the board members who did NOTHING wrong.

Let’s let’s at the NHT OUTAMENI SCANDAL. In that case the NHT used $200m of contributors money inappropriately to purchase and asset thta was outside the remit of the fund, yet all board members retained their jobs.

Here the board members did no wrong and were all fired, what is wrong with this picture ?

Are board members now running public bodies or the management team ?

Why is it that when PNP is in power we have all these kinds of problems ?

The PNP should Expel Lydia Richards forthwith !

Lydia Richards made all this fuss on the road, on talk show and when it mattered the most she stayed away and betryaed her people. She stayed away because she knew she could not have won against Lisa Hanna

Haven been beaten badly, she is now on the air talking about a flawed voters list, which even she admits she has not even seen in totality.

The woman is taking the party secretariat to task and alleging voter fraud, which is a very serious allegation, that must be addressed by the party.

People like Lydia Richards have no place in representational politics and as such the party should expel her before the end of this week, because if left alone she can be an even bigger problem.

Can you imagine someone like this being a cabinet minister ?

Ugh !!