EDITORIAL - Now that WADA is here

With a team from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the island for an audit of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), we concede that an en bloc resignation of the JADCO board would be impractical at this time.

So, they should stay put for now. But not for long.

Our suggestion, therefore, is that this exercise should happen soon after the WADA mission completes its work and Mr Carey Brown, the new JADCO executive director, settles into his post. Mr Brown, and a new board, would then oversee the implementation of any recommendations from WADA.

This newspaper has made no secret of its view that many in the old centres of power have been hoping for some opening from which to challenge the legitimacy of Jamaica's dominance in global athletics.

The recent rash of positive drug tests by some Jamaican athletes provided an opportunity to engage in a hatchet job. The context and timing of these results, or global data of drug testing of Jamaica's elite athletes, mattered little to those who facilitated the hatchet wielders.

Unfortunately, the naysayers were provided unwitting support by an arrogant JADCO. Instead of cogent, analytical, data-driven, contextual responses to its critics, the JADCO board resorted to vacillation and hubris. They gave the impression that Jamaica had something to hide.

That attitude has its basis in an archaic concept of governance, in which the Official Secrets Act prevails and transparency deemed too dangerous to be embraced by stakeholders. We are afraid that this is an encrustation that is not easy to prise away. That is why we feel new people, with a modern approach to governance, should lead the agency.

And if they are decent about it, the current board should not put Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller in the uncomfortable position of having to contemplate its future. They have had the benefit of our advice.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.