Old BC – always faithful
FASTEN YOUR seatbelts because The Old Ball and Chain is on one of her public affairs rants. Old BC: Old Grey Balls thinks he’s the only one with concerns. But he keeps on bleating about Constitutional Reform when Jamaica’s biggest problem is staring us in our faces. Anyone who denies corruption has become a way of life in Jamaica is living in a fairytale. We see it every day in public and private sector agencies. There’s no reward for those who submit to proper process. How did this become so commonplace? How do we reduce (or eliminate) it? Rather than addressing corruption frontally, we succumb to and participate in it.
Old GB: It became commonplace because Jamaica’s colonial Constitution permitted it. People practice corruption because they can.
Old BC: Maybe. But until we choose to deal with the consequences of honesty it won’t change. Are we prepared to wait our turn in a line? Are we prepared to do without corruption’s spoils? Are we prepared to work hard to earn an honest living? Are we prepared to lower expectations regarding our living standards? Maybe we can only afford to buy a second-hand car; or maybe we have to take public transport; maybe, instead of that mansion, we live in a studio apartment. People can’t be corrupt in a society where no-one is willing to facilitate corruption.
Old GB: Okay. But how can unwillingness to facilitate corruption be instilled in an undereducated population?
Old BC: Until we set up systems within each organisation, private and public, to hold employees accountable it won’t change. Until employees are employed in a transparent way it won’t change. MPs are highly paid employees. Yes, employees who should be held accountable like any other employee. Qualifications for all jobs, public or private, should include character as well as ability. If I had a shop I wouldn’t employ someone with a reputation for stealing. I’d be begging for trouble.
Old GB: But a MP’s sole qualification is popularity. Then MP becomes Minister. Then Ministers force square lackeys in round government agency holes. Only Constitutional change can correct that governance flaw.
Old BC: I don’t care how it gets done but Boards, Agencies, staff, including CEOs who don’t possess the professional and personal expertise to run organisations, shouldn’t be so routinely appointed. Why are Ministers appointed despite lacking knowledge or experience in relevant portfolio areas? When corruption is found in agencies why is it allowed to continue until there’s a crisis? The public is expected to trust financial institutions with what little savings they’ve acquired only for savings to magically disappear. Buildings are erected without thorough, honest inspections and without any visible permit enforcement. Old GB: Okay but…..
Old BC: Oh be quiet. If you say “Constitutional reform” once more…. A moment’s silence from you, please, to mark the death of discipline, integrity and pride in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Instead, it’s each person for self getting as much as he can for as little effort as possible. GREED. Why live in a mansion eating lobster paid for by an unearned share of someone else’s work when belly can full in a small home with a tin of sardine bought by fruits of own labour?
Old GB: SARDINE? Ugh. Hated it as a child! Mummy tricked me after Yuri Gagarin became first man in space by crushing sardine between buttered bread and telling me it was a “Gagarin sandwich” that Yuri ate on the rocket. Can’t you use a more palatable example like salmon?
Old BC: Sigh. You are hopeless. Who you think can afford salmon? And, for pity’s sake, resist the urge to tell me another thousand times the story of your Geography teacher and salmon.
Old GB: That’s a funny story!
Old BC: Stop changing the subject. It’s time Jamaicans reject corruption. Demand Government stop attending prayer breakfasts and start leading the country by example. How? By rewarding hard work instead of Party loyalty. By liberating taxpayers’ funds from MPs’ control and handing them to appropriate agencies. By holding all employees, especially themselves, accountable!
Old GB: Jeez. Why don’t you say what you really mean?
Old BC: You’re not as funny as you think. And this is NOT a joke. We must always be faithful to Jamaica. Not politics. We must fearlessly break the back of corruption. We must put substance above image.
By now readers know I’m expert at having the last word.
Old GB: Yes Dear
Peace and Love.