Scandals, development and jobs

Published: Sunday | April 8, 2007



Lambert Brown, Contributor

Driving in Kingston on Wednesday about 10:00 p.m., there was an unusual pile-up of traffic near Balmoral Ave. The traffic had virtually come to a standstill. Cars were parked all about and a crowd was evident. Over an hour before, a murder had been committed and the crowd had gathered to watch the 'excitement'. We are undoubtedly a people who get easily enthralled by sensational events.

I can recall my boyhood days when human rings would encircle any two boys engaged in fisticuffs in the schoolyard or community. Today, motor vehicle accidents, fire scenes, etc., bring out the inquisitiveness that runs deep in our beings. Generally, we stop at these often-distressing scenes, not to render assistance to those in need, but simply to 'fass'. The truth is our concern tends more to be for curiosity purposes. We just love to 'fass' in other people's business even if this contributes to inefficiencies in rescue or greater chaos at the particular location.

Our politicians and sections of our media understand this side of our people very well. They often exploit it for gain. A young woman gets pregnant. She had won a beauty contest months before and is the reigning Miss Jamaica. All of a sudden we hear about the 'Miss Jamaica Scandal'. Once you describe something as a scandal - even if it is trivia - it is guaranteed crowd appeal and earns media ratings and potentially, votes for politicians. Sensationalism takes over and more often than not, objectivity is sacrificed in the mad rush to satisfy the fast-food mentality that has now created an unholy matrimony with our notorious 'fassness'.

Fast-food mentality

Comments by sections of our media on the recent death of the Pakistan cricket coach are a classic example of the fast-food mentality and 'fassness' struggles to belittle professional police investigations into that tragic event. We are not prepared to be patient and allow the painstaking investigation in search of the truth to go ahead. We want it done in real TV time, otherwise our police force is called sloppy. This, even when they are acting in the same manner as the real-life police do in developed countries.

Recently, I have given some serious thought to two cases of what has so glibly been described by politicians and media as scandals. These two are the Rollins land deal of the 1990s in St. James and the construction of the Sandals Hotel in Whitehouse, Westmoreland.

Let's examine the so-called Rollins scandal. In 2000, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel was opened in Montego Bay. Today, it is a shining jewel in our tourism crown because of the US$100 million investment made by the people to whom the lands were sold by the Government. Hundreds of Jamaicans have been trained and employed by the hotel. Hundreds more were employed in the construction of the hotel. In addition to the jobs created, new developments have come to the Rose Hall area. One such is the Palmyra condominium project now under construction by the same Rollins family. Another US$150 million is being invested in phase one of this project. Eventually, over 1,000 direct and new jobs will be available for our young people. They will be able to contribute positively by these jobs to improving their own lives and that of their families.

Jamaica is earning more foreign exchange, farmers are finding a larger market for their products and transport operators are benefiting more because of the so-called Rollins land deal. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now say that what we casually condemned back in the 1990s as a scandal was in fact great vision. Then, the P.J. Patterson government boldly, with the confidence of their convictions, faced the future full of hope, ignoring the despair, sneers and laughter of those who were brought up on the salt-fish-better-than-education mentality. As a country, we owe it to history and justice to recognise that development and jobs, rather than scandal are the appropriate and authentic label to be associated with the Rollins land deal. Jamaica is distinctively better off today because of that land deal. We owe P.J. Patterson an apology.

I fear that, as it did with the Rollins deal, political opportunism is once again making us short-sighted as a nation in respect to the Sandals Hotel constructed at Whitehouse. There is no doubt in my mind that there were inefficiencies in the construction of the hotel. It appears to me that things were done in good faith to make the hotel into a 'Rolls Royce' but these additional things were not subjected to appropriate documentation. What is called 'a gentleman's agreement' generally in negotiations is sometimes trumped by the insistence on the strictest interpretations of the formal contract. Good intentions sometimes lead to Hell.

In my trade union negotiations, I am very discriminating in respect of with whom I enter into 'a gentleman's agreement'. I have learnt that because a person is very wealthy it does not automatically mean he or she is a 'gentleman' in business relations.

Partisanship

While we await the outcome of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, I hope that the fiduciary responsibility of that committee will lead it to eschew partisanship and deliver a report aimed at promoting Jamaica's best interest. In the meantime, I am of the view that building the hotel on the two miles of beautiful white-sand beach has spurred development in the south-west coast of the country. I have visited and personally seen the smiles of several of the over 500 direct employees at the hotel. I know that the hotel has enjoyed very high occupancy and that business people and the community have been among the beneficiaries of its construction.

Sandals Whitehouse, even with the procedural flaws and out-of-specification furniture, is a winner for the Jamaican people. Jobs and development have come to the south-west coast. Years from now, just like the Rollins land deal, we will, with pride, look back and applaud the vision and foresight which brought development and jobs to the people of rural Jamaica. Charges of scandals are becoming like bounced cheques, looking good on first sight but really worthless when presented and scrutinised against the account of development and lasting jobs.

Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers' Union and can be contacted at labpoyh@yahoo.com.

 
 
 
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