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Continued season of discontent
BARBARA GLOUDON
Friday, November 06, 2009
"The worker is worthy of his hire," it says in Holy Writ. Well, it should be interesting to see what would be writ about the storm now raging over the wage packet of the now-defunct Governor of the Bank of Jamaica. Former Finance Minister Dr Omar Davies has hinted at other reasons besides the money issue for the parting of the ways between Mr Latibeaudiere and the Government.
Well, even if there is, Dr D, it is the money which occupies public attention and has provoked the biggest suss in town for this week. The PM's denouncement of the former governor's contract as "unacceptable, embarrassing and repugnant" is going to be very hard to top.
To a pensioner at the cash register in the supermarket, trying to decide which to leave out of the shopping basket - two ounces of cheese or three eggs - the bounty which Mr Latibeaudiere reaped is insulting, to say the least. As to the nurses, teachers, police persons and others locked in combat with the Government pleading its inability to pay, this is no joke.
Just the other day, Minister of Agriculture Christopher Tufton, in defending the decision to pay sugar consultant Aubyn Hill $2M a month, spoke of value for money. The gist of the minister's submission was that it was not so much what you are paid, as what you give in return. In that context, the next round of the Latibeaudiere rumble may well be, did the government get its money's worth from the governor's costly stewardship? It is not too fanciful to imagine indignation on a leader's part provoked by the fact that while he is "bussing his shut", taking flak from the people, someone who has to answer to him is drawing down gazillions of dollars compared to his five or so.
The same goes for the relevant leader in the finance portfolio being less than sanguine at the realisation that while he is struggling to get by on a few paltry millions, one of his employees is laughing all the way to the bank with a wagga-wagga salary. In the circumstances, is Mr Latibeaudiere surprised that a day like this would come? On the street, people are asking how come it took the government so long to declare his contract "repugnant".
The other question out in the street too is, by how much will the salary and allowances of Mr L's successor be trimmed to avoid "vulgar excess"? For surely, he cannot travel the same "discredited road" which the PM denounces so roundly. And maybe most important of all, will it be policy from here on out to make public, at time of signing, the details of emoluments for high-level officials?
According to one who describes himself as "a people's historian", Latibeaudiere is not the first BOJ Gov to be embroiled in kass-kass over his cost to the nation. Time to visit the archives, I'm told, to trace the journey of the Bank's governors from the time when as part of Independence, the post was established, until now. I'm told it makes interesting reading.
As to the departure of Police Commissioner Lewin, some cynics are saying he left long ago. According to the PM, we are to accept that he wasn't worthy of his hire either.
Poor Jamaica!
MAIL BOX: Responses to last week's column on the HELL in Hellshire Beach, include the following:
"I am British born of Jamaican parents. We visit home up to twice a year. The Hellshire Beach story is heartbreaking. Love the place but deplore the lack of sanitary facilities. We choose to eat at Prendy's not only because of the great food, but because it has bathroom facilities. The lack of proper amenities and the "come ya fe eat" (the touts) is offensive. Something should be done."
"As crazy as I may sound, I believe Jamaica will only return to a sense of law and order when the current lot of politicians is replaced by people who believe in law and order. It's not only Hellshire Beach. Look at what is happening to Red Hills Road up to Worthington Road because of conflict between two little lanes - one representing the P and the other the J."
"Re Hellshire touts, my wife, my kids and I were thoroughly cursed by some of the thugs for parking (unknowingly) in a space reserved for one cookshop while we went to eat at another. When I refused to pay for parking, I was told to "lef de place". It ruined my love for Hellshire."
"Hellshire could be a paradise which could generate jobs and earn foreign exchange for the country but the guns and drug trade is another symbol of corruption."
"The problem didn't just happen. It's been there for 15 years. Obviously you haven't been visiting on a regular basis because you would've seen the problem before this. Squatting should be stopped from the first shack is constructed on the land. Try to stop it now and the people will block the road and tell you it is their land and they have to earn a living."
"So now that we've identified the problem, as Mrs G says, what's next? Fix it up, Mayor Hinds."
THE BATTLE CONTINUES: Strange - but not surprising. We haven't heard "a peep out of a puss", as mi granny would sey, from the Portmore municipality, the St Catherine Parish Council, the relevant ministry or ministries (Agriculture and Lands, Tourism?) or the Urban Development Corporation which has responsibility for Hellshire. What now?
On to another environmental puzzle. Remember all the promises made after the last big flood rains and storms, particularly about action to save the river beds and hills in the Hope Valley and surrounding areas? Not only are there little or no signs of promised conservation and resuscitation, but even as we read, a bulldozer is ripping the fragile terrain apart on one hillside to facilitate more steel and concrete. Experience has shown that the land can hardly bear this kind of abuse. Come the next heavy rains, surprise, surprise, prepare for landslides.
THERE'S HOPE: Hold on to this small ray of environmental hope. The Nature Preservation Foundation, which is doing its best to save Hope Gardens, appears to be doing a valiant and fairly commendable job in the management, operation and re-development of the gardens and zoo, according to its mandate. I've been told that the Sunken Gardens and the Pavilion are especially worth going to see. Go nuh!
[email protected]
BARBARA GLOUDON
Friday, November 06, 2009
"The worker is worthy of his hire," it says in Holy Writ. Well, it should be interesting to see what would be writ about the storm now raging over the wage packet of the now-defunct Governor of the Bank of Jamaica. Former Finance Minister Dr Omar Davies has hinted at other reasons besides the money issue for the parting of the ways between Mr Latibeaudiere and the Government.
Well, even if there is, Dr D, it is the money which occupies public attention and has provoked the biggest suss in town for this week. The PM's denouncement of the former governor's contract as "unacceptable, embarrassing and repugnant" is going to be very hard to top.
To a pensioner at the cash register in the supermarket, trying to decide which to leave out of the shopping basket - two ounces of cheese or three eggs - the bounty which Mr Latibeaudiere reaped is insulting, to say the least. As to the nurses, teachers, police persons and others locked in combat with the Government pleading its inability to pay, this is no joke.
Just the other day, Minister of Agriculture Christopher Tufton, in defending the decision to pay sugar consultant Aubyn Hill $2M a month, spoke of value for money. The gist of the minister's submission was that it was not so much what you are paid, as what you give in return. In that context, the next round of the Latibeaudiere rumble may well be, did the government get its money's worth from the governor's costly stewardship? It is not too fanciful to imagine indignation on a leader's part provoked by the fact that while he is "bussing his shut", taking flak from the people, someone who has to answer to him is drawing down gazillions of dollars compared to his five or so.
The same goes for the relevant leader in the finance portfolio being less than sanguine at the realisation that while he is struggling to get by on a few paltry millions, one of his employees is laughing all the way to the bank with a wagga-wagga salary. In the circumstances, is Mr Latibeaudiere surprised that a day like this would come? On the street, people are asking how come it took the government so long to declare his contract "repugnant".
The other question out in the street too is, by how much will the salary and allowances of Mr L's successor be trimmed to avoid "vulgar excess"? For surely, he cannot travel the same "discredited road" which the PM denounces so roundly. And maybe most important of all, will it be policy from here on out to make public, at time of signing, the details of emoluments for high-level officials?
According to one who describes himself as "a people's historian", Latibeaudiere is not the first BOJ Gov to be embroiled in kass-kass over his cost to the nation. Time to visit the archives, I'm told, to trace the journey of the Bank's governors from the time when as part of Independence, the post was established, until now. I'm told it makes interesting reading.
As to the departure of Police Commissioner Lewin, some cynics are saying he left long ago. According to the PM, we are to accept that he wasn't worthy of his hire either.
Poor Jamaica!
MAIL BOX: Responses to last week's column on the HELL in Hellshire Beach, include the following:
"I am British born of Jamaican parents. We visit home up to twice a year. The Hellshire Beach story is heartbreaking. Love the place but deplore the lack of sanitary facilities. We choose to eat at Prendy's not only because of the great food, but because it has bathroom facilities. The lack of proper amenities and the "come ya fe eat" (the touts) is offensive. Something should be done."
"As crazy as I may sound, I believe Jamaica will only return to a sense of law and order when the current lot of politicians is replaced by people who believe in law and order. It's not only Hellshire Beach. Look at what is happening to Red Hills Road up to Worthington Road because of conflict between two little lanes - one representing the P and the other the J."
"Re Hellshire touts, my wife, my kids and I were thoroughly cursed by some of the thugs for parking (unknowingly) in a space reserved for one cookshop while we went to eat at another. When I refused to pay for parking, I was told to "lef de place". It ruined my love for Hellshire."
"Hellshire could be a paradise which could generate jobs and earn foreign exchange for the country but the guns and drug trade is another symbol of corruption."
"The problem didn't just happen. It's been there for 15 years. Obviously you haven't been visiting on a regular basis because you would've seen the problem before this. Squatting should be stopped from the first shack is constructed on the land. Try to stop it now and the people will block the road and tell you it is their land and they have to earn a living."
"So now that we've identified the problem, as Mrs G says, what's next? Fix it up, Mayor Hinds."
THE BATTLE CONTINUES: Strange - but not surprising. We haven't heard "a peep out of a puss", as mi granny would sey, from the Portmore municipality, the St Catherine Parish Council, the relevant ministry or ministries (Agriculture and Lands, Tourism?) or the Urban Development Corporation which has responsibility for Hellshire. What now?
On to another environmental puzzle. Remember all the promises made after the last big flood rains and storms, particularly about action to save the river beds and hills in the Hope Valley and surrounding areas? Not only are there little or no signs of promised conservation and resuscitation, but even as we read, a bulldozer is ripping the fragile terrain apart on one hillside to facilitate more steel and concrete. Experience has shown that the land can hardly bear this kind of abuse. Come the next heavy rains, surprise, surprise, prepare for landslides.
THERE'S HOPE: Hold on to this small ray of environmental hope. The Nature Preservation Foundation, which is doing its best to save Hope Gardens, appears to be doing a valiant and fairly commendable job in the management, operation and re-development of the gardens and zoo, according to its mandate. I've been told that the Sunken Gardens and the Pavilion are especially worth going to see. Go nuh!
[email protected]