Ronald Thwaites | Move into specifics on Heroes Park

Government took no chances last Thursday at Heroes Park after the previous town hall meeting sponsored by the RJRGLEANER Communications Group some weeks ago. On that occasion, sharp critical focus was directed to the half-baked plan put forward by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), whose chief executive, at the time, tried bravely, but haplessly, to assuage the concerns of a public, largely made up of residents of Allman Town, Campbell Town and Woodford Park, who will be affected, together with some thoughtful professionals, who raised broader national concerns about the project.

This time, the bruised egos of the officials had to be assuaged. An antidote had to be crafted. So, bus loads of JLP faithful were brought in from anywhere they could be found; the enclave of Southside, miles removed from any connection with the development area, all crowded the tents at Race Course. Police were thought to be required in abundance and the media engaged to faithfully (and uncritically?) record the carefully choreographed proceedings.

The five short-listed designs for a grand new parliament building were on screen. As customary, in a nation where we offer the plebs more circus than bread, the lavish outsides of the proposed buildings were shown, but not the insides. Are we going to configure a chamber where two 'warring tribes' continue to glower at each other across a restraining median and self-congratulate ourselves by casting scorn on 'opponents', same time as we all represent mostly the impoverished and cynical people who are largely kept back by our own inability to cobble consensual policies to lift the spirits and garner the energies of all, and not just some?

TRIBAL SPIRIT

That same tribal spirit was cultured, paid for and flowered at the town hall meeting. It was to the credit of the prime minister and ministers Chang and Williams that, at least verbally, they would have no part in what their satraps served up to them.

How inside the new and expensive hall of the people is configured will be immensely symbolic and should be indicative of our vision of an inclusive Jamaica. Andrew Holness says the new structure will be a "manifestation of our sovereignty". Well, yes. And what will that manifestation represent? Extravagant show-off or modest functionality? Should becoming First-World, spiritually as well as economically, imply 'boasiness' and dash?

And what will the new parliament building cost, and how will we pay for it? Ambition and aspiration are different from 'high-chestedness'. If we are going to use our money, have we even begun to put aside something each year in a budget which Nigel Clarke tells us can't even do without a cent of the exorbitant fuel tax without compromising already-meagre social expenditure? Also, there was not a word about if or how the Chinese, with whom we have signed a memorandum of understanding, fit into this.

COLD COMFORT

Then there was the confirmation that there would be relocation of residents and businesses on the 300 acres around the park. That will involve huge, settled communities. Thanks for the promise that no one "will be made worse off". That, however, is cold comfort when not a word followed as to how thousands of persons will be transitioned to expensive high-rise apartments. But at what projected cost, bearing in mind a very high unemployed and, at best, minimum-wage-earning population, "none to be left behind"? And no response to the prudent suggestion that the National Housing Trust be mandated, for the first time, at last, to really invest in urban renewal and "DO SOMETHING" (A. Holness) now to provide loans to residents to improve their own dwellings.

Let two things be clear. Having a functional parliament building in the context of an Emancipation Park-like atmosphere will be a great improvement. Congratulations will be in order when this original Norman Manley concept becomes a reality. The parousia may well come before we ever see the cluster of 14 ministries.

And everyone sees the justice in urban renewal for the surrounding communities of Allman Town, Campbell Town, Woodford Park, Fletcher's Land and Torrington, which have been culpably ignored by successive governments over generations. As a representative of some of those areas, I acknowledge that much more strident advocacy was needed to pressure for improvements.

A month or so ago, the chairman of the UDC told me that there had really been no advance in the planning of the Heroes Park development since the Wolmer's meeting, save for the design competition. Time now to move way beyond that and into the specifics.

Sadly, the cheering and jeering of last Thursday night did not take us much further.

- Ronald Thwaites is member of parliament for Kingston Central and opposition spokesman on education and training. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.