Diana McCaulay, Contributor
LAST weekend, the People's National Party published in the press what purported to be a list of their achievements as the Government of Jamaica over the past 11 years.
The four-page spread was captioned: "We have the leader...we have the vision...others talk of change...we deliver!!!" I read every word of those four pages, musing on Jamaica's future and mine.
Aspects of coming back to Jamaica for Christmas have been difficult. My eyes dart from the ubiquitous squalor of Kingston to the luminous beauty of a tropical December. I can't decide where the truth lies. I'm overjoyed to see my friends and family; I remember cold Seattle nights when the only time the 'phone rang was when my name had appeared on someone's mailing list.
My apartment in Jamaica seems like home, except it's devoid of signs of me, because all my stuff is still in boxes. I fall asleep early at night, but then I'm woken up before midnight by the din of sound systems and barking dogs.
In the mornings, the sun slants through the windows inviting optimism, but my neighbours are either burning rubbish or using a lathe. Exit lazy good feelings. Enter irritation.
I drive to a restaurant on Holborn Road and discover it's almost impossible to do so without going via Papine, courtesy of all the No Right Turn signs, which everybody is ignoring anyway. So I turned to the Government's assessment of its own performance to seek their vision and find the signs of hope. I looked first for the section on the environment. No such section. I did find a few environmental items; the completion of sewage plants in Ocho Rios, Negril and Montego Bay, and the banning of leaded gasolene. But it's very clear the Government has no environmental agenda.
In fairness, I told myself, that's also very true of the Jamaican people, and the Government might be reacting to the people's imperatives. So I looked at the sections on the economy and crime, sure these would be issues Jamaicans were immensely concerned about. Well, the economic sections would have been hysterical, if they hadn't been so sad. Get this. The Government is patting itself on the back because the Jamaican dollar has been liberalised and is being "freely traded worldwide!" People are queuing up at the cambios in Miami, I'm sure, BEGGING for Jamaican dollars.
Then the Government says it has "rescued" vital financial institutions from collapse, thereby saving the deposits and investments of thousands of Jamaicans, ignoring the fact that this is being paid for by thousands more Jamaicans through their taxes.
As for crime, no satire could improve on the Government's actual statement, so I'll just repeat it: "Continued determination of this Government to tackle crime and violence has avoided a much worse situation than presently exists".
Now how does the Government know that, unless they control crime and are deciding what level of mayhem to allow?
'Achievements'
Most of the so-called achievements fell squarely into one of five categories:
1) Things the Government had nothing to do with, such as the medal haul of Olympic athletes, and tourism awards.2) Various launches and plans. The one I liked best was: "...domestic telephone will shortly be fully liberated." I had this image of a telephone instrument in a wooden box, with Minister Paulwell poised over it, chisel in hand.3) Vague claims impossible to verify (Intensified programme aimed at penetrating Caribbean and Latin American markets; encouraging retooling and modernisation through increased capital investment; domestic crops showing steady growth; reorganising or streamlining the public service).4) A few quantified activities, usually with no basis for comparison either with previous years or other Caribbean islands. (Completed 3,746 "housing solutions". That's just over 400 houses per annum - if indeed a housing solution IS a house - hardly cause for dancing in the streets).5) A few substantive achievements, mostly related to transportation (the white buses are a CONSIDERABLE improvement) and roads.The four pages of hyperbole gave full rein to our propensity for applauding good intentions. It was little more than a wish list, with the usual confusion of activity and result. It was just not good enough. After 11 years we are entitled to much more than hopes, promises and purple prose from our Government.
A safe and peaceful holiday season to all my readers, a wish that, sadly, has a particular ring of uncertainty for all Jamaicans.
NOTE: Contributor Dawn Ritch is on vacation
