SSP Diaries | Time for more action, less talk

Heat! There has been no easing of temperatures for the better part of this year, there has also been no significant rainfall. The Mona Dam today is at 40 per cent capacity, whatever that means because accumulated silt over years must have seriously reduced the actual amount the reservoir can hold.

It is getting hotter and hotter each day as far as I am concerned and I found myself becoming more and more ‘miserable’, fatigued, drained of all energy. I am now left wondering; I am in reasonably good shape and health for my age and suffering under present climatic conditions, how then are our aged, infirmed and children doing?

There has been much talk about the new school term and teachers being encouraged to try and make classrooms more habitable. How are they going to do this when even in cooler times they were hot because of overcrowding? Our aged, indigent, poor, homeless, mentally challenged ... what is being done for them in these dire circumstances? We need to hear more from everyone. These conditions are not going away, they are here to stay, severe climatic conditions are the new norm.

BUILDING ON YOUR OWN

I recently spoke with a friend who was restoring an old residence in honour of his grandparents who were deceased. He had retained the services of a foreman, whom he was told was a qualified individual having done all the formal courses required to operate at that level. Seeing that my friend could not be on site every day, he gave detailed instructions, in keeping with the approved plan.

Let me cut a long story short. In two weeks learned foreman did everything that he was not supposed to do, hired a back-hoe and tore down walls that should have been retained, put up a wall similar to the leaning Tower of Pisa, did no more than three hours work per day (as observed by the neighbours), had no control over the other workers, allowed the site to become a centre for consumption of copious quantities of ganja.

Having lost a substantial sum, he took the foreman to task demanding that work schedules, attendance register be put in place and a Gantt Chart done. The project has been ongoing for approximately six months now, the foreman was never able to produce any of the basic requirements one would expect of such a person. He was fired by week four and the project has continued over much reduced days when my friend can be on site!

It’s an experience he never wishes anyone to have to go through. How do you stop this? Persons have qualifications on paper, coming highly recommended yet are unable to do anything except falsify wage bills. Those who cannot hire established contractors to do their projects are at the mercy of the dishonest and incompetent. The established in the business are not likely to want to take on small projects. The system of checks and balances by the relevant authorities needs to be widened to cover all types of constructions and ensure the competence of individuals. All citizens must be protected from such vipers. Has anyone else experienced this?

DICHOTOMY?

During our working years we are encouraged to make provisions for retirement. This has always been sound advice. While working, insurance coverage is an essential item or safeguard and, in most cases, we can afford coverage to varying extents.

Come the day for retirement when health coverage is more critical than at any other time, one finds that the premiums demanded are not normally in keeping with one’s pension. This is made worse by the fact that premiums for the pensionable seem to be increased at a much faster and higher rate than those in the working populace. Whereas salaries are likely to increase every so often at the workplace, pensions are a rather stagnant affair.

I posit that pension schemes, in an era of increased longevity, be reviewed on a frequent basis so those in receipt can also continue to enjoy their well-earned years. It is said that the true measure of a nation is how it looks after its senior citizens and the aged. We can do better and ought to do so. It is not only the workforce that contributes to the building of a nation, but the pensioners also play a vital part as well.

BUILDING A SERVICE-ORIENTED NATION

Our teachers, nurses and other health professionals are leaving us in droves, bound for greener pastures where it’s perceived there are better working conditions. This is no new trend; it has been a part of our economic cycle ever since Independence and perhaps even before.

Successive governments have been unable to stem the tide for any appreciable period. Our teachers and health professionals have therefore continued to be in high demand in North America and the United Kingdom, in particular. In more recent times their demand has come from places like Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Demand seems to be growing, not abating.

I am rehashing a suggestion made many times over. Why don’t we put things in place to produce persons to provide critical services in economies requiring them? This would mean producing more doctors, nurses, teachers, domestic helpers, landscapers, etc., where applicable bond them for a period, if necessary, before allowing them to proceed as an export service.

Other countries already have a niche in the form of seafarers, for example, though in recent times I note the efforts of the Jamaica Maritime Authority and the Caribbean Maritime University, in this respect. In this way I believe we would be able to better satisfy our needs and at the same time, the needs of others and through well-developed mechanisms, eradicating frustrations and earning valuable foreign exchange. It’s time to stop talking and do something positive to address the problem.