When will the citizens of Jamaica win?
SOMEONE SENT this humorous post to a WhatsApp chat group. “PNP win Monday, JLP win Tuesday, PNP win Wednesday, PNP win Thursday, JLP win Friday. Now who ago win Saturday?” I want to ask another, more relevant question, when will the citizens of Jamaica win? When political parties win an election, only some Jamaicans win.
Often, many diehard supporters of the losing side are left to ‘eat grass’ in the ‘wilderness’. This is why an indeterminate number of Jamaicans cling tightly to politics for their survival. This is why electioneering used to be marred by extreme violence (that bordered on ‘war’), and, more recently, there has been overexuberant activities, acrimony, and even nasty insults.
Jamaican politics is certainly not always about what’s good for the nation; it is sometimes about what’s good for some within the nation. This is why Mr Warmington could boldly and publicly announce, “I’m the minister of works, I’m the member of parliament, no PNP councillor going spend my money.”
Many of us already know that taxpayers’ money is sometimes used to manipulate the citizenry and further the cause of one political party or the other. On occasions, taxpayers’ money appears to benefit the party faithful or certain politically polarised communities. On other occasions, programmes and projects languish for months or years and are timed for completion just before scheduled elections to [try to] impress the voting public. Nowadays, that stale tactic backfires because the citizenry always see through that ruse.
However, Warmy carelessly let the ugly puss out of the dirty crocus bag when he made that damning utterance. It was notable that the audience of Jamaica Labour Party supporters cheered gleefully. They were happy that Warmy planned to withhold government funds from the PNP’s Dr Kurt Waul, councillor-elect of the Old Harbour South division, because it would hamper him, cramp his style, and punish and frustrate his supporters. That’s nothing short of dastardly… and Jamaicans unwittingly pay for that sort of dirty pool.
MINOR VICTORY
The citizenry won a minor victory when Warmy resigned from his job during a meeting with Prime Minister Andrew Holness. We also tasted a small victory when president of the People’s National Party (PNP), Mark Golding, removed Dennis Meadows as the PNP’s provisional candidate for North Trelawny after he (Meadows) publicly stated, “And I speak to the youth man dem on the corner, especially the one dem that call themself choppa. Let me tell you straight up, and me can speak openly, I have no problem with a man if him wah chop because dem chop us during slavery so nothing wrong if we chop dem back ... my only problem with chopping is that when you bingo, and you score, use the money wisely.”
Many of us are wondering how it is that those two could dare utter those damning words in public, knowing full well that they will be recorded. They simply didn’t care because they were accustomed to being imbued with the power that politics provides. They are accustomed to running things and getting the approval of the crowd of their [party] faithful nearby. Well-thinking Jamaicans are therefore wondering what is being said and done out of the public glare and behind closed doors. It leads us to believe that what bubbled to the surface and popped out was only a tiny bit of the festering ooze being hidden from us.
There should be no political advantage to winning an election. The representatives of the People’s National Party (PNP), and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) are both sworn to serve every citizen of this country. However, we all know how that goes sometimes. There are benefits for the supporters of political parties … benefits to the big man and to the little man. That should never be. The only benefit should be efficient administration from the elected officials.
FOCUS ON CITIZENS
We should all win when the politicians become elected officials. They should [literally] forget about politics once they serve, and only focus on all the citizens that depend on them. But there are circumstances wherein politics comes into direct conflict with public service. Those circumstances can lead to, cause, or facilitate incompetence and corruption. Some people in the government service become so deeply entrenched, and complacent that they are literally untouchable. That leads to corruption, unaccountability, and poor service to the average citizen.
I believe that the municipalities should undergo repeated periods of systemic revision. There are too many outstanding matters that never come to fruition. And there are too many instances of blatant incompetence and obvious corruption. I harp on the Kingston and StAndrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), because I know what it used to be like. My father spent almost all his productive years there. He began surveying roads in his late teens. Then he became a building inspector, then a building surveyor, and then the City Engineer. Those were the days when the corporation was a very powerful government entity.
The management worked hard to prevent sloth and corruption. But nowadays, it’s clearly evident that selfish and greedy citizens get away with ignoring the law and are allowed to do whatever they want. Sometimes those flouting the law are allowed to retrofit their permits. No amount of complaints stop the [ensconced] corrupt from helping to destroy entire communities. I hope that this administration will assure that the citizens win by cleaning up the KSAMC.