Transport Minister Daryl Vaz spoke again last week about how those opposed to Prime Minister Andrew Holness continued to envy, or ‘bad-mind’ him, as he put it.

The main subject of that ‘bad-mindness’, according to Vaz, was because of his house in posh Beverly Hills, eastern St Andrew – a mansion – which has been the subject of all sorts of speculation for over a decade now.

The Opposition People’s National Party has long been accused of hitting out against Holness’s modern-day castle – the loudest sounds coming from the party leading up to the 2016 general election, when the JLP won the majority of constituencies by a single seat.

But history will show that the attempts to expose Holness’s piece of real estate had gathered steam a little over three years before, and were started by his own people in the hierarchy of the Jamaica Labour Party.

Remember the feisty leadership contest between Holness and Audley Shaw held on November 10, 2013? The matter of the house blew up when the challenge to Holness was confirmed. As proponents of Shaw at the height of their quest to unseat Holness as Opposition Leader intensified their campaign, it was felt that Holness’s house could be used as a viable piece of equipment to mess his face and his credibility up.

So, the Shaw-backed faction went to work. The members had a straight line to the Jamaica Observer, through certain ‘links’ and they never hesitated to make use of it.

Before long, Holness’s house was the target. Photo editor Bryan Cummings (now deceased) was selected by the Observer high command to go for a free ride in a helicopter loaned to the Shaw cause by a wealthy businessman with deep sympathies for the JLP, for the bird’s eye mission.

Cummings did his job in his usual professional style, and before you knew it, the pictures were published. I remember it well, as the man who wrote the front-page article linked to the photos and supervised the layout of the pages.

After a few days, it appeared to me that little was achieved by showing the photos to the world, and in the same way that the PNP gained nothing by harping on the size and construction of Holness’s house, the Shaw team’s adventure had also flopped. 

I still do not think Holness’s house is an item that people are particularly interested in. Vaz and others should know that by now, as even though the matter was a headline item in the contest, Holness still secured 2,704 votes to Shaw’s 2,012.

What is real, though, is for Holness to come clean on his other personal assets, and not try to defend the indefensible by using the court as an institution for crybabies. He must know by now that once he was prepared to stand for public office, he would have been open to scrutiny. 

Golding did the natural thing

Nonsense was soundly defeated last Friday, when the PNP opted out of a Sunday evening meeting that would have clashed with the anticipated nomination day and election day announcement by Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

The English-translated motto of Kingston College, ‘The Brave May Fall But Never Yield’, also adopted by Tacky High School in St Mary, tells a solid story. This time, though, motto and all, Opposition Leader Mark Golding was forced to yield in the name of decency and safety.

So, the PNP ended up backing away from a potential physical confrontation, had the party decided to go forward with its meeting in Cross Roads, St Andrew, a mere jog of 10 minutes when I was at my physical best, to Half-Way Tree, the St Andrew parish capital, where Holness’ JLP was scheduled to ring bells and make other sounds that would put ear drums at risk.

It mattered not that the police had a week before approved the PNP’s application by its Region Three team to host the Cross Roads meeting, as the evidence has come to me. The police force in this case served as a referee in a mud wrestling match, but when you really don’t need approval from the police because of who you are, then that’s another ball game.

I was stunned too, that when Assistant Commissioner of Police Gary McKenzie was asked by Nationwide News Network, a medium that is anything but an enemy of the ruling party, the senior cop declined to say which party had applied first, suggesting that it was not the business of the public to know that information. He was so wrong.

The thing is, there was no confirmation that Holness would have announced the date for the election on Sunday. It was mere speculation, which could have been avoided if the prime minister had revealed that it was, in fact, a night for the long-awaited disclosure.

Had that happened, another meeting in close proximity to Half-Way Tree by the PNP would not have made sense.

Not so strange, the JLP’s chairman of its communication taskforce, Abka Fitz-Henley, tore into Golding for ‘misleading the public’ about the issue, even citing Golding as someone who is ‘covetous’ of Holness. I’m not sure that he meant to use the word ‘covetous’ in that context, but that was not surprising, as the JLP’s spokespersons were clearly not the best chosen, in the bid to have the ‘masses’ digest the party’s messages.

To have Fitz-Henley, whose accent cannot be clearly associated with any country, Marlon Morgan, who has been arguably trying to project the image of former Ugandan tyrant Idi Amin, and MP Juliet Cuthbert Flynn running the critical communication division, must be a negative for the JLP.

It’s a good thing that the party stapled Robert Morgan’s lips, or else there would have been a real breakout of acute immune run-of-the-mouth syndrome, that would have been so difficult to control. 

The question must be asked: Where in all of this is Ed Bartlett, who heads the tourism ministry, which has outperformed all others? After all, Ed was primarily responsible for winning the west for the JLP in the 2020 election.

Bartlett is articulate, non-confrontational, unlike the younger ones, respectful and knowledgeable. A communication team that includes Delano Seiveright, Matthew Samuda, Pearnel Charles Jr, and Dr Saphire Longmore would have sufficed.

Even the very choosing of Christopher Tufton, the architect of the ongoing destruction of the health sector, as the party’s campaign manager, seems way off.

Time will definitely tell.

Addressing poverty in Jamaica

To be poor anywhere in the world is often equated with being a crime. In Jamaica, it is not hard to see how the saying is not applicable to so many people, which has resulted in several committing criminal activities, in trying to make their lives better.

Many of the policymakers in the private sector and the State apparatus do not understand what poor people have to go through daily. While those in the minority whose financial values have reached incredible heights can afford to have everything at their disposal – including healthy meals, stylish clothing, the finest education, fancy vehicles, unlimited travel overseas and all the accompanying luxuries of life – a high number continue to wallow in poverty, despite what the Government wants to tell you about declining numbers.

Many of whom are in charge of industry, privately or publicly, have no idea of what those without resources have to go through daily. Any incoming administration must address that. We live largely in a capitalist society, and it is clear that such a political system has not served the people of this country well. But is there a will or desire to change at this stage of our development?

Dealing with poverty can begin at the foundation stage – understanding how people who lack the basics survive. When, for example, a politician goes into campaign land, as is happening now, he or she must appreciate the daily grind of local folks. Instead of arranging to stop at posh houses in one section of the community for washroom breaks and meals, that politician should follow the practice of those who do not have it – use a pit latrine, especially when cockroaches are merrymaking; eat from the family pot under the roofless structure just like Audley Shaw and the now deceased Roger Clarke used to do, (with the food that is) and kotch on the shaky stool (not the one used by George Wright) to hold a conversation. 

As for private sector movers and shakers, the time has come for their workers, some of whom they treat like slaves, to be appreciated by offering them incentives and shares in the establishments. Being continuously greedy must be a thing of the past.

Tears for West Indies Cricket

Clive Lloyd, the most successful captain of the West Indies cricket team from 1974 up to 1985, appeared close to tears recently when he commented on the demise of West Indies cricket, being presided over by a set of goons at the management and technical levels.

Lloyd has a right to be so smitten, as he knows more than most former cricketers about winning.

It is a shame to see the West Indies, representing the proud people of the Caribbean, lose 11 of 12 international matches against Australia and Pakistan, all at home, within the space of under two months. History has been made.

If there is no fundamental and revolutionary move within sight, Lloyd will not be the only one who will come close to tears, or shed them uncontrollably.