Don Robotham, Contributor

Jackie Knight-Campbell (left), special events consultant for Juici Patties (left), and Douglas Orane, chairman and CEO of GraceKennedy, were among the many private sector figures who gave their support to a private sector-led peace protest at Emancipation Park in May 2005. The rally failed to garner mass support.

Shocking allegations about some members of the previous People's National Party (PNP) government have come to public attention. The Cuban light bulb saga threatens to out-Trafigura Trafigura. Nobody wants to jump to conclusions and to try anyone in public. But very serious allegations have been made which require urgent answers.

One report in the press stated that the former Prime Minister has asked for a report from her colleagues by week after next Monday. Nearly two weeks - to do what? We need answers now.

The issue before us concerns the energy-saving light bulbs supplied free of charge to the Jamaican Government by the Cuban government in 2006. The value of these bulbs has been estimated at between J$1 billion and J$2 billion. According to information published in the press, the distribution of these bulbs involved the Universal Management and Distribution Company, which was incorporated shortly before the bulbs arrived.

It is alleged further, that another company, named Caribbean Communications Media Network, also incorporated at roughly the same time, became involved in the process. The allegation is that approximately J$114 million has been paid out by government without any evidence of a proper tender and contract-award process.

The issue is made even more complex by reports that all Members of Parliament who sought to obtain these bulbs for their constituency were also required to pay approximately J$3 million each. It is not clear to whom these additional funds were paid, if they were indeed paid.

Very serious matter

Former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller should not pull a Trafigura 'I-don't-know' response. The public needs answers now. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

However, the really serious allegations going the rounds are that the principals in these companies have very close ties to a leading member of the PNP. If these allegations are true, it is a very serious matter indeed.

The PNP, at the highest level needs to make a statement right now, and I mean today, stating clearly who the principals of these companies are and what connection, if any, such persons may have to leading PNP members. Anything less than a frank, full and prompt account will not do. The entire good name of the PNP is at stake here. Don't even think about pulling another 'know-nothing' Trafigura non-response. It will not work.

Some weeks ago, I pointed out that "over a period of 18 years, a lumpen army, large and small, has come to be dependent on the State for contracts, board appointments, jobs, security protection, insider information, contacts and privileges. Retaining control over the State is a matter of life and death for them." For this, I was roundly abused in some quarters. Well what do the 'tracers' have to say now?

No excuse

There can be no excuse for ripping off the State. The argument frequently heard when the PNP was in power was that they were only doing what others had done before them. Usually, this was given a racial cast. It was said that all the large fortunes in Jamaica from slavery onwards had been obtained illicitly with the assistance of hefty government contracts, and that all that was happening was that the friends of the PNP were simply following a well-trod path.

The difference, they insisted, was that previous parasites on the State were white, Chinese, Syrian and light-skinned while they were black. According to these 'black princes', when it was a matter of ethnic minority business parasitising on the state, there was no problem. But if black business persons did the very same thing, there was an outcry. In other words, the claim was that what one was objecting to was not corruption in general; what was bugging people was black corruption only.

No substance

This argument had a sufficient grain of truth to give it a superficial plausibility. But in reality, it had no substance. Without doubt, others from ethnic minorities had benefited greatly from state contracts. But anyone who imagined that the reason for the fortunes of some of these well-known families was corruption of the State is simply ignorant.

This wealth was acquired by shrewd and tough business acumen combined with hard and imaginative work. These people burned the midnight oil for years on end before they achieved what they have. They saved and re-invested their profits and did not foolishly splurge it on 'bling' as some in the black bourgeoisie are inclined to do. It took many of them several generations to reach where they have and there were many serious bumps along the road.

Yet, for largely racial reasons, the myth persists in Jamaica that the light-skinned upper classes are simply a bunch of latter-day pirates. This is simply a self-serving justification used by the corrupt to justify their corruption.

Such persons use legitimate grievances about wealth inequality and racial privilege in Jamaica not to reduce inequality for the mass, but to justify their attempts to acquire illicit personal wealth in as short a time as possible, by any means necessary.

This mad rush to acquire wealth no matter how, has been the downfall of the former PNP regime. This is not simply because this approach fostered corruption. More important, it led the PNP to turn its back on the economic and social sufferings of its mass base and concentrate only on the enrichment of a small group of black princes. This was and is such a despicable exploitation of a genuine cause - that of the development of a real black bourgeoisie in Jamaica.

Instead of developing broad programmes to lift the entire small- and medium-size black business sector and its labour force to a higher level, cronyism and favouritism became the order of the day. It wasn't even a matter of being PNP. One had to be a member of the charmed circle of insiders in order to be let in on the deals of the day.

Now the chickens are coming home to roost on this wretched policy. More cases are likely in addition to the current one. At the same time, the issue of the needs of the small- and medium-size sector which is the same as the issue of the black bourgeoisie, remains unaddressed.

CENTRAL ISSUE

We should not allow the reality of corruption to distract us from this central issue. One of the main reasons for the political and economic instability of Jamaica is the fact that the Jamaican capitalist class continues to be largely drawn from the light-skinned elite. As that failed May 2005 protest of the PSOJ against crime at Emanci-pation Park proved, this business elite is viewed with great suspicion and even outright hostility by the mass of Jamaicans. This is largely because of race. If our bourgeoisie were blacker, this issue would be taken off the table and both our economic and our political life would become infinitely more stable.

The potential to address this problem is right there before us. Jamaica is probably the only country in the Caribbean to have such a vibrant Black bourgeoisie in the making, many of them women, as recent studies have documented.

We have an extremely hard working and talented group of black businesspersons - I call them the Hagley Park Road sector, after the area in which many of their businesses are located. Most of these persons toil against great odds to keep their business alive and to expand and develop. Many have had bitter experiences of discrimination on racial and class grounds when seeking credit and involved in other legitimate business pursuits. Largely for racial reasons they were excluded from the informal social networks in which the really big deals were made. Overcoming immense obstacles, some have done well but need help to do even better this group tends to be PNP, the vast majority do not have access to the sort of special privileges as in the light bulb case.

While prosecuting those who indulge in corrupt practices to the fullest we should also adopt a more positive approach as well. We must open the door wide to help the mass of honest small and medium entrepreneurs so that the corrupt minority does not swamp us all.