Daniel Thwaites | Butch’s beaches

Butch Stewart is a Jamaican icon, a living legend. He’s done very many good things for the country and I don’t take the view – not for a minute – that his pursuit of his personal fortune is at all a problem for the rest of us. Quite the opposite. He is a titan of commerce, but more than that, a public-spirited man: a Jamaican nationalist through and through.

So in what follows I hope my readers see that there’s no grounds to be upset with Butch, but there’s great reason to be upset about Butch’s beaches, the politicians who have been entrusted with administering the Jamaican state.

Naturally, there are bumps along the way in any serious man’s path, so I’m not speaking here about any and every irritant associated with the Butch empire, only to a general attitude of positivity towards the man’s accomplishments. Not to specifics, where people (sorry, this is Jamaica: ‘persons’) will always find room for quarrel.

I mean, I do have my own little item of vexation. I’m not above it. It stems from the effective enclosure of the Whitehouse beach, a place that had once been open and available to the public. After it’s development into a resort, I was walking across from the adjacent fisherman’s beach with my son, only to be stopped by a guard who told me as I came close that “yuh cyaan’t walk ‘ere!” I actually hadn’t planned to walk across, but having been told I couldn’t I now had to prove the point. So after laying out a few Jamaicanisms to get suitably warmed up, I let guardie know about BC Norman Manley having preserved my PC right to use the BRC beach and that he should call the BPRC manager right away if he was in any BPBC doubt.

He just let me through.

I am, of course, an ordinary Jamaican. But I shudder to think what would have happened, and what probably happens daily, to other Jamaicans who aren’t quite as feisty and mouthy when faced with a badge and a weapon. It’s not a minor point, but all the same, it’s a personal complaint that doesn’t colour my understanding of these things, especially now that I’ve aired my grievance.

But you get the point about Butch’s beaches. That which was public had been effectively shifted to another purpose.

Know what? Lemme hasten again to emphasise that I’m an overall supporter. Any business serves a private good, of course, but also a public one. How many jobs has Butch created? Countless thousands. How many Jamaicans of all backgrounds, many from humble means, have been able to pursue their dreams of self-improvement through his various organisations? Countless thousands. Trust me, I’m a big fan.

PUZZLED

But! I stand puzzled by the announcement that the Sandals Foundation “donated $500,000 to each of the 63 members of parliament (MPs) in the House of Representatives” to provide care packages as part of the coronavirus effort. I’m not puzzled by the donation from the patriot, but puzzled by the Parliament’s wholesale acceptance. All 63 look like the biggest set of beaches that Butch owns.

PM Holness was careful to add that he had the agreement and endorsement of the Opposition. He made the announcement, in Parliament, on May 5: “The arrangement is that the grant will go to the Consolidated Fund and then it will be channelled to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), and then it will be paid over to you [MPs]”

Raatid! But what is dis? It want crowd! Seriously, what’s going on here? And what precedent does it set?

Mind you, this gift is significant in terms of the additional funds for COVID-19 the MP now has, but as we know, it’s a drop in the bucket when compared to need. Similarly, it is significant in terms of the public coverage it immediately received, and therefore a genius move in terms of return on investment, but a drop in the bucket when compared to need.

The nicety of the gift being from the Sandals Foundation instead of a personal cheque being drawn by Mr Stewart was immediately lost in the translation. It’s not clear to me that it wasn’t meant to be lost. In any event, how much sunshine is there really between Butch, the loveable hotel mogul, and the Sandals Foundation, his baby? Probably not too much.

Don’t get me wrong: I like the effort and I respect the example. I trust I don’t have to repeat that one more time for you people (persons).

DO A BETTER JOB

So I immediately thought of writing a cheque for $63 to the Consolidated Fund with directions to give each MP a dollar. Dem cyaaan’t nevah seh mi nuh gi’ dem nutten! And if dem try chat to me I will remind dem!

Needless to say, there are very many charities that could do a better job than MPs at distributing care packages to the needy. That, in fact, is the speciality and skill of the charity. And while the distribution of scarce resources is a necessary side-skill of the politician, it’s targeted generally to the greedy, not the needy, COVID notwithstanding. And only the foolish and imprudent politician will target those who are most in need rather than those who have supported them, will continue to support them, will be convinced to support them, or somehow can help them return to office in the next election.

The mismatch between the distributors and the stated purpose of the donation is quite extreme. And before I’m accused of having too low an opinion of politicians, I don’t. But I hasten to remind you of the adage that “yuh mustn’t give hungry man yuh food fi carry”. It’s worth bearing in mind when, by design, our political system is administered by ‘hungry’ men and women.

What is more, need is not evenly distributed geographically, nor is the constituency, a political administrative unit, the obvious borderline on which to base poor relief.

Two additional points.

The Gleaner has been a consistent enemy of the CDF. I was on the fence, distressed by the unresponsiveness of the state bureaucracy in addressing the immediate needs of people (sorry, ‘persons’), but also cautious because of the evident opportunity for misuse and the unfair advantage it gives to incumbents.

This seals the deal for me. When with this precedent the CDF becomes the channel for potential state purchase, it’s gone too far. The whole CDF structure has to go. It’s a sleeper poison in the system, and we’re not just at the beginning of the sipple slope, we’re water-skiing like a tourist after he’s had some of the Jamaican good stuff.

Then, oh yeah, by and by, perhaps people noticed that Sandal’s promotional literature announced that tourism arrivals would recommence on June 4, a matter of great importance for the country, and the kind of thing I would have expected to hear from the health or tourism minister. Not so. On such an important question that will affect the health of us all, those beaches take a back seat.

And although it is obviously not what is happening here, this new development has the distinct potential to be quite the novel virus in our brittle little system of governance. It is, to date, one of the most blatant and public examples of paving a cyaaaapet for state capture by oligarchs.

Not one MP refused the gift. The snivelling Parliament was supine. Soh dis is ah weh de ting reach? The little beaches are in no position to look a gift horse in the mouth, even if, who knows, the horse is preparing to kick.

- Daniel Thwaites is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com