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The NaRRA’s brouhaha

There is a chorus of condemnation over the ridiculous budget for renting a building to house the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, simply known as NaRRA.

I don’t know if it’s the ‘boasy’ name meant to make the organisation seem more important than it actually is, but trying to set up shop under such an expensive roof was overdoing it.

As the days ticked off from the initial announcement, the Government said last Wednesday that it had decided to chop costs surrounding the building’s rental. Whole numbers were not presented, though.

But how was it possible for a department – not a ministry – to get approval from the prime minister and others to set up base at that waterfront location for $9.5 million a month at the lower end? Other overhead costs like water, Internet, and electricity, even with solar power in the mix, would have pushed the bill well past $10 million monthly. And there would be hidden costs too.

Even the army man turned ambassador, if his conscience remains intact, would appreciate that settling into such a space would be too expensive. Remember, this agency has been slow out of the starting blocks, and while its members are supposed to be working in the interest of the disadvantaged – like victims of Hurricane Melissa, many of whom are still living inhumanely under tents – that seems not to be the case.

It’s reminiscent of times past when the few masters lived in fine leisure, glamour, and luxury, while the underprivileged survived under tremendously unbearable conditions.

Some people have asked why the building that once housed the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs along Old Hope Road was not chosen. The prime minister gave a handful of reasons, like a leaking roof, but those could have been easily rectified. Even then, there is no need to go that far.

NaRRA should be housed at Up Park Camp, headquarters of the Jamaica Defence Force. Not only would it be far cheaper, but it would allow closer collaboration with the JDF – which, surprisingly, was not thrust to the forefront of the Melissa recovery efforts, unlike previous disasters.

My informants say there is adequate space at Up Park Camp, with unused or under-utilised structures in some areas.

It’s like catering to suffering people from Dubai-like structures… big shots functioning in luxurious glory, while the disadvantaged operate in conditions not suitable for crows.

So far, NaRRA officials have not stated the intended size of its staff, although the information minister pushed numbers between 100 and 120. But with ODPEM running its own show elsewhere and overlapping with NaRRA on some functions, I cannot see NaRRA having more than 50 people at best. Hold on, though. Did I not hear that other projects will be subsumed into NaRRA? Antony Anderson, NaRRA’s head huncho, told the Jamaica Information Service that the Hermitage Dam in St Andrew, Vernamfield in Clarendon, and sewage improvement projects for downtown Kingston would also be undertaken by NaRRA. Oh, what a web of confusion. A way is certainly being cleared to inject more of the political garbage Jamaica does not need.

Why would NaRRA officials even contemplate going high in the sky to settle administrative duties? Most of NaRRA’s boots should be on the affected ground, so even working from home for some officials, or having headquarters in St James, Hanover, or Westmoreland, could have been contemplated.

But the big shots in charge seem focused on First World office layouts, jobs for party faithful, and top-of-the-line vehicles for them to masquerade in.

Late information last Friday stated that Anderson was receiving a basic salary between $35 million and $45 million per annum, plus perquisites – including a performance Viagra (some call it incentive) of 25 per cent of his base salary (between $8.75 million and $11.25 million) – that would make Warren Buffett cringe.

Anderson does not deserve that salary… not in a country under serious financial pressure. But then, all of this stems from the precedent set by Dr Nigel Clarke, the man some called Jamaica’s greatest ever finance minister, when he was anything but that. Wasn’t he the one who raised salaries for parliamentarians in some cases by 300 per cent?

Thanks to the Radio Jamaica/Gleaner Group for its Access to Information request – we would never have received that information from most other media.

Who really thinks for the Government?

Cataract patient’s plea highlights another health crisis

I woke up around 4:00 a.m. last Wednesday in time to see a rerun of Television Jamaica’s Prime Time News, aired live nine hours earlier, and followed the story of a man suffering with his sight.

The taxi operator was engaged in an almighty fight with cataracts. He praised the previous Cuban Eye Brigade for performing surgery on his eyes some time ago, but now more needs to be done.

He said the cheapest quotation he received from an ophthalmologist was $250,000 per eye – and he could not afford it. Time is running out on him. There are reduced Cuban personnel at St Joseph Hospital, where the eye care programme was housed, but the schedule is unclear.

Days ago, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said that 157 doctors and other medical personnel had been recruited from Cuba to work in the health sector. It was not clearly defined whether those medics were here before and have since returned, nor were the terms and conditions of their engagement made clear.

Did Jamaica get permission from the United States to bring the Cubans here? Because that’s how Jamaica is governed now.

Will the eye care programme – which had a reduced number of Cuban staff following their earlier exit – benefit from this new injection of ‘good neighbour’ talent? More information is needed. The health of citizens is no card game. That taxi driver is desperately waiting for answers.

Babsy vs Bennett: Cricket’s leadership Cass‑Cass deepens

Cricket in the Caribbean remains in the doldrums largely because of inept administrators, rather than players who are limited in quality.

A broad look at Cricket West Indies – where a minister of Government in St Vincent & the Grenadines, Dr Kishore Shallow, refuses to give up his conflicting position as president, teaming up with so-called team coach Darren Sammy in their bid to bury West Indies cricket – is not encouraging.

In Jamaica, freshly elected JCA president Dr Donovan Bennett continues to run off his mouth against the Government, much to the chagrin of his friend and party colleague, Babsy Grange, the minister with responsibility for sport.

Dr Bennett claimed the Government reneged on its promise to provide $100 million for cricket development over three years, adding that only $14 million had been received. But Grange hit back forcefully, saying Government support had not waned, noting that $89 million was pumped into improving lighting at Sabina Park recently.

At no time, Grange said, did the Government promise to hand over $100 million directly to the JCA – and I believe her. Leaders like Dr Bennett want money to fall into their laps like manna from Heaven. They do not have the capability or skill to earn money for the sport through various means.

Dr Bennett, now past age 80, has been running cricket for ages and cannot show one legacy project from this administration or the previous one he headed while cloaked as vice president.

Yet he wants to continue wrecking cricket, with practically the same faces teaming up to keep out someone like former Jamaica and West Indies player, and successful insurance bigwig, Nehemiah Perry.

So many who contributed to cricket are tossed aside in favour of halfwits who can mobilise votes – most refusing to use their brains – resulting in undesirables calling the shots. I remember when Courtney Walsh was soundly beaten when he ran for JCA president, opting to improve Jamaica’s cricket, only to be disgraced by the status quo and a fellow who later contributed only to its decline, unable to mobilise business support the way Walsh would have.

I’m not sure how much more cricket can be allowed to suffer with so many underperforming people involved.

Members of the JCA often bad-mouth one individual on the executive as dishonest and untrustworthy, but still vote for him when he offers himself.

That cannot be a good game of cricket.

Crossing the floor: Why Tanyalee Williams’s move isn’t cause for celebration

The People’s National Party is celebrating soon-to-be turncoat Councillor Tanyalee Williams’s decision to jump ship from the governing Jamaica Labour Party into its ranks in the Clarendon Municipal Corporation. But is that a reason to pop champagne corks?

Let me declare that I have never agreed with winning candidates in the House of Representatives or municipal corporations crossing the floor. The majority of people elected a candidate to lead a constituency or division. There is no justifiable reason for an official to then walk over to the other side without confirmation – by way of a vote – from the people who elected her.

It is morally wrong. It is always better for someone who becomes disgruntled or disenchanted with their party to resign and allow a fresh election.

Walking to the other side can only bring confusion and embarrassment, like what happened last Thursday in May Pen.

It should not be a moment of comfort for the benefiting party, because the reverse could happen in an instant after tempers cool and remorse sets in.

Furthermore, the receiving party could have the issue of trust hanging around its neck like a millstone. Caution is urged.

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H G Helps is a veteran journalist