Devon Dick | Reflections on Easton Douglas

Easton Douglas was the first Cabinet minister to ask me to sit on a government board. It was while he was minister of housing he wrote a letter inviting me to serve the National Housing Development Corporation, now Housing Association of Jamaica.

This was in the early 1990s and I was surprised by the appointment offer. So I made a telephone call to him because I thought he had made a mistake, thinking he did not know me and my skill set. I suggested that my brother Ainsworth, who is a commissioned land surveyor, might be the person he meant to invite. Furthermore, it would have even been better had he asked my wife to sit on the housing board since she is far more knowledgeable about housing construction. Douglas responded that the reason he asked me was not about my competence in housing but for me to bring ethics to bear on the decision-making of the board.

As I served on the board it became apparent that such a person is necessary to deal with complex issues in order for right and fair decisions to be made. Perhaps Douglas was the one who inspired Portia Simpson Miller to make a policy that on every government board there should be a minister of religion. Hopefully, when the history of government boards is written it will show that because of the presence and participation of members of the clergy on government boards there was better governance, more accountability, and far less corruption. Easton was the first to make me realise the importance of ethics in governance as it relates to government boards.

INTERJECTION OF ETHICS

With the scandals surrounding some government boards, it is clear that there needs to be an injection of ethics in decision-making. Do Cabinet ministers consult with members of parliament to get a wide cross section of persons with different skill sets, especially those strong on ethics? Are civic bodies and leaders consulted about possible good board servants? I remember in the 1990s Barbara McCalla, actress and lawyer and of impeccable integrity, asking how persons get on government boards. She was capable and willing to serve. How many more persons are like that and are never given an opportunity to serve? In fact, the opposition party could be allowed to name one representative on each government board. In my experience, what is discussed at government board meetings is no state secret. Even if a person were opposed to a policy, it would be good to hear an alternative position and it would be harmless to the discussion.

Furthermore, the presence of a member of the opposition could help prevent corruption. In a situation where a minister of state wanted a board to implement projects in areas, that in his view would give the governing party an edge, having a member of the opposition present on that board would cause the minister of state to think twice about making such a request. It would not be the done thing. Douglas' point about ethical decision-making on government boards is still relevant.

After Douglas left the housing ministry, I lost track of him until he became chairman of the National Housing Trust (NHT). This time we had a disagreement. Boulevard Baptist, as developer, erected five two-bedroom town houses in Barbican as a commitment to help ease the housing shortage. We borrowed money from NHT to do the housing project and tried negotiating a lower interest rate. Easton took our request to the board but we did not get the desired interest rate. Naturally, he would not go outside the decision of the NHT board.

Easton Douglas was a man for ethics on government boards.

- Rev Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew. He is author of 'The Cross and the Machete', and 'Rebellion to Riot'. Send feedback to columns@ gleanerjm.com.