Painting house in rainy season

Emile Elias struck a raw nerve and put the Government on the back foot, when he said the cost of hosting the summit had crossed the $1billion mark, and was probably well over $1.2 billion by now. He confirmed what many of us had been suspecting and questioning, in light of the Government’s conspicuous omission regarding the cost of this elaborate international adventure.

Mr Elias’ analysis exposed the carefully designed interlocking machinery and architecture of the Government. A spider web of special multi-purpose companies, state enterprises, statutory corporations and other state entities are tributaries with financial pipelines connected to the treasury to facilitate the massive, vulgar and obscene expenditure taking place. Money is literally flowing like water (quite unlike the stagnant, filthy waters in the overflowing drains in the Beetham) that the berm seeks to conceal.

Mr Manning is fond of referring to himself in the third person and speaks of “the Prime Minister,” as if he is referring to someone else. This simple and amusing quirk characterises much of the Government’s strategic planning for the state sector. It is not the Government that’s spending all this money, it’s someone else! Special multi-purpose companies are no more than artificial parallel ministries that are not subject to the usual checks and balances. Like Udecott, some of them seem to have signed blank cheques from the PM to do as they please.

Clever manoeuvre

The rules, regulations and laws that were enacted by Parliament, since independence, to protect the public interest and restrict political corruption, do not govern these companies. Instead, they are treated like normal private companies governed by the ordinary principles of law. This obscures the fact that the Government is the sole shareholder and owner, spending public money.

A major benefit of this clever manoeuvre is the avoidance of the independent service commissions constitutionally charged with the responsibility for hiring, promoting, transferring and disciplining workers in the public service. These companies can hire party hacks and faithful directly.
These state agencies and companies are mere puppets who dance to the pull of the invisible puppet master’s string. Mr Manning is the ultimate puppet master.

The picture with the PM and President toasting and laughing with Calder Hart, who is the subject of a commission of inquiry, supposedly independently appointed by the President at the behest of the Prime Minister, was worth a thousand words. Mr Manning’s fulsome praise for Calder Hart was a strong signal to the Uff Commission that it had better watch what it says about Hart in its final report.

The spider web is visible, but the spider remains invisible to most. Mr Manning is probably directly responsible for the Udecott fiasco, but will never share the blame, because Calder Hart and Udecott would be the scapegoats. Mr Elias was correct in his analysis when he asserted that the bulk of expenditure for the summit was being indirectly channelled through state agencies and bodies that are kept at arm’s length from the Cabinet, which, at the end of the day, is sanctioning and driving the expensive cosmetic facial for our capital city.

Needs downsizing

The raw reality is not that easy to change, however, and the sudden resurfacing of the person with responsibility for national security, who remains underground while ordinary citizens try to cope with the daily grief of their murdered, kidnapped and raped sons and daughters, will not be forgiven for his incompetent handling of the crime situation. He, too runs his ministry via remote control, using the pliable acting Commissioner of Police as his scapegoat.

Former Prime Minister ANR Robinson, in a memorable contribution in Parliament during the NAR administration, condemned the profligate and obscene spending patterns of the PNM. The world is in the midst of a terrible economic recession, and every nation is tightening its belt. The prime minister of Jamaica recently forced three of his Cabinet ministers to resign, and took a pay cut of 15 per cent to lead by example, because he is about to deliver one of the toughest budgets in Jamaican history. Mr Manning’s bloated Cabinet is also in dire need of downsizing.

We are a small nation with finite, non-renewable resources. We have had the experience of an economic boom and recession. Spending in excess of $1 billion for a facial that will last a few months and do nothing to change the ugly reality of rising unemployment, imminent retrenchment, terrifying crime and rising cost of living, is ridiculous and irresponsible. It is like a family frittering away its savings during the rainy season on painting over its house, when the roof and posts need changing.