Councillor Bell must face heat over conflict claims

For too long, those who fall under the microscope of the Integrity Commission have flirted with rules and regulations. When they are found with one hand in the cookie jar, they produce all sorts of excuses for their shortcomings – excuses that often mock the Commission itself.

Ian Bell, Councillor for the Beecher Town division in the St Ann Municipal Corporation, and easily the most vociferous of the five councillors on the Opposition People’s National Party side within the 16-seat organisation, is now under the spotlight for conflict-of-interest accusations.

In a nutshell, Bell participated in meetings of the Commercial Services Committee and deliberated on his wife’s application for the rent or lease of a space in the Ocho Rios Transport Centre – a facility managed by the Corporation. His wife ultimately received approval to establish a gaming lounge at the location.

It is basic governance that anyone in Bell’s position should recuse himself from such deliberations – even more so when the matter involves his spouse acquiring something through the very Corporation he has served for years.

Whoever chaired the meeting should also be reprimanded for failing to insist that Bell step aside during those discussions.

There is too much corruption in this land, and PNP representatives – who often serve as watchdogs of the State – should not place themselves in positions where they criticise the Government while clandestinely flouting the laws they work with, hoping not to be caught. Examples must be set.

To the nation’s benefit, the PNP has not condoned Bell’s action, and that is refreshing.

Government officials have been embroiled in many conflicts with the Commission, and even those who clearly have no case often use the cover of the courts to push for innocence, despite overwhelming evidence that they were out of line.

But that’s Jamaica.

There are rumblings not far from St Ann about a high-ranking official allegedly agreeing to a deal that allowed a woman close to him – extremely close – to operate a beach-related property. If true, it would be wrapped in shame.

Cornwall Regional billions lost while doctors wait for pay

As is customary, not a week passes without something untoward occurring in the health sector.

The latest situation surrounds the mysterious “illness” of public-sector doctors, who felt unwell last Friday because a certain prescribed medicine called Money Needed could not be administered by the Minister of Health, Dr Christopher Tufton.

But this need not have happened if the Ministry had not wasted so much money on the refurbishing and overhaul of Cornwall Regional Hospital – a project that ballooned from $5 billion to $25 billion in four years.

You must wonder why it has cost the treasury so much to spend on Cornwall Regional, and why money owed to doctors – most of whom work unthinkable hours – cannot be paid. Surely, some of the funds poured into Cornwall Regional could have been used to compensate doctors for their long hours of commitment.

Doctors claim they are owed $31 billion in overtime pay. The Government says it’s around $23 billion. One thing is not up for debate: money is owed, dating back to 2021.

That bill will climb even higher, especially with the Government’s foolish decision to bow to a global bully by dispatching committed Cuban medical personnel back home, adding further pressure to an already strained system.

An enquiry must be conducted into the operations of Cornwall Regional, and the question of why costs ballooned so dramatically must be answered. Skullduggery cannot be ruled out.

The doctors’ claim for overtime payment is before the Industrial Disputes Tribunal and should be treated with urgency. My opinion of the IDT is not encouraging; in my time representing workers as a union delegate or executive, the IDT’s actions have often been questionable.

Dervan Malcolm’s funeral: A reminder to honour people alive

It was not a smooth ride to attend the funeral service for broadcaster and journalist Dervan Malcolm, held Saturday, October 3, at Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew.

When you knew someone well, attending such a funeral is always sad, as most funerals tend to be.

The service ran smoothly, except for one “tribute” from an individual who appeared confused about where he was and kept focusing on himself.

The most outstanding tribute came from broadcaster and businessman Irvine Clare Sr, head of Team Jamaica Bickle – an organisation that does so much for Jamaicans at home and abroad.

Clare told the audience via video that while it is good to speak highly of Dervan’s work on Earth, it would have been far more fitting for those praises to have been given earlier — while he was alive, able to accept them, and perhaps benefit from the encouragement. In other words, honour Dervan while he was alive.

It was a profound statement, because mere minutes earlier, I learned of the death – and simultaneous funeral service – of former top-notch videographer Kanute Fraser, elsewhere in St Andrew.

Fraser was my close friend, but our lines of communication got disrupted a few years ago. He kept asking friends for me, and I was doing the same, but we never reconnected.

I dreamt last Wednesday morning that we were doing another assignment at a race track in Westmoreland – he shooting video, me interviewing officials – yet it never dawned on me that anything was amiss.

I heard he had fallen ill, though I was unaware of the severity. So when Gary Allen of the Radio Jamaica Group told me his funeral was being held at the same time as Dervan’s, I was in shock. A later glance at an electronic funeral programme saved by broadcaster Dwight Fraser made it even more devastating that I never got the chance to congratulate Kanute on the professional, positive way he always approached his work.

The lesson is simple: along the way, there are always hints to reach out to people we love or “check for,” instead of saying we will link Tom, Dick, Harry, or Lucy “soon.”

Fraser was not as popular as Malcolm. He was one of those quiet workers who meticulously aimed to be the best at what he did – and succeeded. But the promise to keep in touch never materialised, and Fraser never got his props, never his just honour.

So, as Clare said, let us try to stay in touch, praise people when they deserve it, and contribute – even in small ways – to the betterment of others when we can.

Jamaica’s stance on the UN walkout raises hard questions

It is uncertain whether Israel got the message, but the walkout by 77 nations when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rose to address the United Nations General Assembly was a deafening signal that the country must stop the atrocities it is committing – especially against the people of Palestine, many of whom are children. Those in Lebanon and Iran have also suffered at the hands of Netanyahu and his troops.

Jamaica’s foreign minister, Kamina Johnson Smith, when asked at a recent town hall meeting in New York why Jamaica did not walk out, said Jamaica was not a “walk-out country.”

Permanent Secretary Sheila Sealy Monteith even suggested Jamaica had never walked out of an international meeting.

In her words: “The minister had already commented about the approach that is used by Jamaica, that we don’t walk out… I don’t recall any situation… It has not been the norm for us to walk out.”

But there was a walkout. Johnson Smith grabbed her handbag and walked out of the 118th Session of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States in Brussels on December 6, 2024, following a dispute over yielding the floor to the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Minister Ingrid Ebouka-Babackas, who was chairing the meeting.

So, unless Johnson Smith was having a bout of amnesia when she spoke on September 25, 2026, that fact cannot be altered.

If Jamaica is not careful, it could soon be linked to Netanyahu’s bloody regime as an exceedingly close ally that appears to support the many acts of genocide committed by the Jerusalem butcher and his subjects. The whispers are already around. Listen for the shouts.

H G Helps is a veteran journalist