Devon Dick
It is the first anniversary of the 2007 general elections and the nation is in the dark about the source of funds and the sums used to finance the campaigns. In this age, in a civilised country with the threat of money laundering, civil society sees no evil in the present secrecy arrangements.
I read in a Sunday Herald publication that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP) admitted that they accepted money from Cash Plus and Olint to finance their election campaign. The respective spokesmen declined to disclose the sums.
It is strange that the then governing party, PNP, would accept money from Cash Plus and Olint when its own minister of finance was so strident against these two companies and there was a cease and desist order against one company. The PNP was saying one thing and doing another. The JLP would have information about these companies that ordinary Jamaicans would not have. I was made aware from September/October last year of some of the things that have since proven true. To accept donations from Cash Plus and Olint was worse than accepting money from Trafigura.
Government regulatory agency
It is amazing that the Financial Services Commission (FSC), a Government regulatory agency, was warning Jamaicans about doing business with these and other entities that do not disclose their financial records and are not registered with the FSC, yet our two main political parties were reaping benefits from them. If it were in the United Kingdom or the United States of America, the leaders who received the money and had knowledge of it would have resigned. In addition, the present minister of finance, when he was Opposition spokesman for finance, gave an endorsement of such enterprises in his budget speech. Some church leaders were principals and participants in foreign exchange trading clubs. A football entity headed by a former prime minister negotiated a sponsorship deal with Cash Plus and it was expected that ordinary Jamaicans should know that Cash Plus was little more than a pyramid scheme?
Investors have been called foolish. However, a Gleaner editorial (August 13) stated that one foreign currency trader said that only 20 per cent of the funds would be traded and the other 80 per cent would be placed in safer investments.
Financial statements
It is sad that investors are being chided for not looking at or seeking financial statements. However, persons can look at the same financial statements and come up with different conclusions. For example, some people believe that, based on the balance sheet, the Brazilian company Infiniti, that will be taking over the sugar industry and part of Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, cannot deliver, while others examining the same balance sheet believe they can. Did not Michael Lee Chin examine the balance sheet before he lost hundreds of millions in Trinidad? Didn't Joe Lewis examine the Bear Stearns balance sheet before he lost billions in that company? The truth is every investment carries risk, some more than others.
Investors were gullible
It is fashionable not only to claim that investors were gullible, but also greedy. There were certain elements of both. However, there are persons who tried those things because of hardships and the Government should be sensitive to those who might lose their homes. In addition, foreign-currency trading has two systemic problems. One is rogue traders and two is that the trading platform allows persons to trade up to five times the money he or she has. Both need to stop and make foreign currency a less-risky business.
In the meantime, the JLP and the PNP should return the monies they received from Cash Plus and Olint for the elections. This could be used to help repay the 'foolish' investors.
Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church and author of Rebellion to Riot, the church in nation building. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.
