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| Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller |
Observer column published 9 November 2015 by Jean Lowrie-Chin
I believe that if Portia Simpson Miller had listened
to herself more, and to others less, her administration could have accomplished
much more. Recalling her victory speech
after she won the last General Elections, this column observed in our piece
headlined “The people spoke for Portia” http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/The-people-spoke-for-Portia_10485594 :
‘one should never underestimate the political clout
of that grassroots veteran Portia Simpson Miller…flashing her famous smile, and
hugging her candidates one after the other, we saw a woman practised in the way
of politics, hitting all the right notes ... She thanked among many, "Comrade PJ Patterson", her
helper Marva and Andrew Holness who had called to congratulate her, saying that
"he was very gracious"… The prime minister-designate appealed:
"Work with us as we will be working with you. [There will be] consultation
and dialogue... we will hide nothing from you. ...to all business persons, you
have a Government that you can trust."’
We had
a similar experience several years before when the PM’s handlers had refused to
have her debate, but agreed to have her address the Private Sector Organisation
of Jamaica. At the conclusion of her
speech, she received a standing ovation.
The
Office of the Prime Minister website quotes PM Simpson Miller’s address at the
swearing in of her Cabinet on January 6, 2016: “We
must respect and include the people. We must exercise zero tolerance to
corruption. We must work tirelessly to promote the rights, welfare and
wellbeing of all Jamaicans …I am signaling today that this administration will
take a zero tolerance approach to corruption, and that we will move quickly to
strengthen the existing mechanisms to fight corruption, and will exercise our
minds to finding new and innovative ways to stop the waste of public resources
… I want to remind you that it is about the people of Jamaica, not about
yourselves or a political party.”
Then
I recall her coming off script and saying to her Cabinet, “Get to work now!”
with a passion that could not have been
pretense. What has transpired since then reflects who took her seriously, who
did not, and who could not. Really, when
are we going to ensure that the skill sets of a minister match the demands of
the ministry?
While
we accept that former Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson had a heart for the
people, clearly the systems put in place to ensure the proper running of our
health sector were sadly wanting. Has
this ministry in particular and our Government in general, been hiring
political friends who are ill-suited for the roles they are expected to
play? Is this why the Finance Minister
may be experiencing push-back from his fellow Cabinet members when he tries to
implement governance measures?
The
transferring of Dr Ferguson to another ministry, without demanding immediate
upgrading of the facilities in our public hospitals gives the public no
comfort. The sickening details of the
audit must be addressed and the public must see the honourable PM, her new
minister and the responsible officials touring health facilities. This will give them far more credibility than
the political campaign that they are currently conducting. I believe the Prime
Minister cares – she must now take her own advice, and that of honest
non-political Jamaicans, to do what is right for her country.
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