'There is a hole in the bucket'

Errol Hewitt, Contributor

"The work of each person will become openly known for what it is; for the day of Christ will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done."

1 Corinthians 3:13 (Amplified Bible)

Passing the buck is often so very humorous if it were not so time-consuming, expensive, frustrating and, at times, even disastrous. Dr Horace Chang, the minister of water and housing in the central government, was recently quoted in the October 19 issue of The Gleaner saying that the continued existence of squatter settlements in hazardous and inappropriate locations was clearly the failure of the parish councils. Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie, head of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (read parish council), agrees, but points to the incapacity of parish councils as largely due to the inadequacy of central government's support in equipping them to do their duty.

The strong inference is that the parish councils, as with their maintenance of markets, are eager to act positively to keep their constituents safe and secure, but are unable to do so because of the insufficient financial and technical support from central government. The heart of every member of every parish council in the island goes out to every single constituent, and is eager to express this passion for its people in every tangible way possible. But their meagre resources hinder this noble expression of love and concern.

Would that somehow this passion for the people which resides in the breast of 'his worship the mayor', and his councillors, would infect the heart of central government, and thereby enable the parish councils to get on to do what they do best - caring for the people! Of course, the Cabinet ministers in central government must, no doubt, have the same thoughts - how can we get anywhere with these bungling parish councils which have no idea how to utilise limited funds efficiently?

It seems that, as far as the parish councils are concerned, the answer is where the discussion started, i.e., with Dr Chang and the Cabinet of the central government. We have come full circle, and this game never seems to end; nor, as usual, does it seem that a positive solution is being seriously discussed - which is the core of the matter.

Where will it end?

We cannot be sure that the mayor expects a further response from Dr Chang or some other honourable member of the Cabinet, but if there is a response, then he (McKenzie) would likely present the same argument in a different form - curried turkey neck instead of stewed, but still turkey neck. Historically, our experience suggests that around and around we will go in never-ending circles only interspersed when similar tragedies unfold, at which point the speed increases and the rhetoric intensifies and then settles into the familiar rhythm once more. The games - and there are several of them - seem not geared to solving problems or moving us forward (which is what we expect from our leaders); instead, they seem oriented only to keep the players as they are, where they are. It seems to follow that where they are must be cosy.

Childish charade

This Alice in Wonderland-like childish charade in an adult and evil world, in a country beset with critical problems - poverty spreading like a bush fire, the masses in dire straits just to survive, in the midst of very observable affluence in increasing numbers with palatial residences at home and abroad - is most fittingly described by a nursery rhyme:

"All around the mulberry bush,

The monkey chased the weasel ..."

It's like a maypole dance gone wrong which ends with everyone snarled helplessly to the pole. The problem is that, as long as this 'passing-the-buck' game continues, the problem worsens until inevitably one day:

"The monkey stopped to pull up his sock,

[or whatever and then]

Pop! goes the weasel"

The inevitable

The prime minister now knows, and so should his Cabinet and every parish council in the island, that there are divine rules, such as 'every truth shall be revealed' and, in this instance, 'there is a day of judgement' when Nicole or some other agent visits, and "the rain descends, the stream rises and the wind blows and bear upon the house and it falls with a great crash." [Matthew 7:27] The result? "Pop! goes the weasel".

Death and destruction in our midst. But, as is now an integral part of our culture, no one is found to be accountable and, like watching a three-card juggler, our focus is diverted as the 'buck', i.e., the responsibi-lity, is passed around with an aplomb and expertise that come from much experience.

In the end, hardly anything meaningful happens but, importantly, the system and its players remain intact. As Harry Belafonte summaries, "There is a hole in the bucket ..." which no one is about to fix.

What's it all about?

For decades we have seen this wasteful game being played out regularly with no one responsible for roads (neither parish council nor central government) and, therefore, no one volunteering to fix them. Complaints against the creeping commercialising of residential communities, the resulting plummeting of the value of homes and the negative ripple effect within families, dashing the hopes of its members, are met inevitably with many physical and rhetorical contortions from the politicians. In the end, there is no conclusion, no one is responsible, but the agent of destruction to one community sets its sights on another with the same results.

How on earth could anyone - a parish council headed by a mayor or central government headed by the prime minister - allow a huge and major hardware business to be sited at the intersection of two of the Corporate Area's most continuously busy roads, where already two large petrol stations provide 24-hour service? We are not only speaking of many customers and their vehicles but also of various-sized trucks and other load-bearing equipment in the heart of an already continuously busy confluence of major streams of traffic. Surely, this could not have been an objective decision or in keeping with any sensible regulation! How did this happen? Who did it? Why? How come?

We invite dense fog into the matter if we ask whether it's a parish council or central government issue. As usual, there are no answers. As usual, no one is responsible. As usual, no one will attempt to rectify this or the squatter settlement immediately across from the University Hospital on lands planned for the expansion of the hospital services. Bizarre things often happen in a country known internationally to be one of the most corrupt on this earth.

Where the buck is supposed to stop

'Passing the buck', i.e., shifting the responsibility from person to person, is universally supposed to finally stop at the desk of the head of Government. In today's Jamaica, that is the 'Driva', the prime minister, Bruce Golding. An intelligent, articulate man whose speeches leave one in no doubt that he very intimately understands Jamaica's problems but his image has been badly tarnished by the now infamous 'Dudusgate' affair and the long list of pre-election and post-Dudus promises still unfulfilled. His technical denial in Parliament of involvement in the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips [MPP] issue when, in fact, he had sanctioned the whole thing, shocked most Jamaicans.

The so-far known details of the MPP matter reveal a puerile and amazingly naive attempt to influence the United States government in an area where that government's strong commitment is known all over the world. The bungling and inept way in which the process was handled and the continued stonewalling of the facts, which has forced the public to demand a public enquiry, have indelibly tarnished his credibility.

The damage done to the country's image on the international scene has cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars and embarrassed Jamaicans at home and abroad. His promise in Parliament to consult with the Opposition on the terms and members of the Commission of Enquiry was not kept, further diminishing his credibility. The governing party, the Jamaica Labour Party's credibility and image have been severely damaged in not dealing resolutely with the problems its leader created for the country, and in inferring that no one else in the party is able to take over its leadership and the post of prime minister.

So, as with everything else in our country, we have come full circle as we cannot answer where the buck stops, i.e., who is finally responsible for anything in this country. Truth is, it is we the people who have to be responsible and really take authority. And we the people include the Jamaicans in leadership roles in the private sector - the landed gentry. It includes the Church and Christians who, as the body of Christ, must bear the burden of government on its shoulders. Are we all up to the task? If not, there is obviously no one else!!!

"Half a pound of tuppenny rice

Half a pound of treacle (read bissi)

Mix it up and make it nice

Pop! goes the weasel."

Errol Hewitt is an information and communications technology planning consultant. Feedback may be sent to estahewitt@gmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.