EDITORIAL - Noel Hylton: a passing breed

Clarification

The editorial in yesterday’s Gleaner were indeed two separate editorials: one speaking of the Noel Hyton who dedicated more than 50 years to Jamaica’s shipping industry; and the other of Andre Hylton, member of parliament for Eastern St Andrew, and the seemingly abandoned town of Papine. We regret the confusion.

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They are an increasingly rare species: those towering figures of business and commerce or the public service, who become legendary, almost mythical. Noel Anthony Hylton, who turned 82 last August, is one such.

For nearly a half century he has been a dominant presence in Jamaica's shipping industry, 38 of which, until his retirement this month, he spent as chairman and CEO of the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ).

We expect that Mr Hylton's performance, his style of management and his accomplishments will be subject to many and varied analyses - as they should be. But an assessment of Tony Hylton, and people of his kind, deserve more, we feel, than reflections in newspaper columns, or popular and populist journals.

They and Mr Hylton in particular, ought to be the subject of deeper assessments by our academies in a search of best practices in management and leadership - and pitfalls to be avoided - in our quest for development.

Whatever criticisms that may be made of Tony Hylton, it is beyond debate that his positive contributions far outweigh any negative. Few people, these days, think of Kingston trans-shipment port, or any port in Jamaica, without evoking the image of Mr Hylton.

As Charlie Johnston - himself no slouch in the sector - observed, while many contributed, "Tony Hylton has been at the centre of every change and development in the industry" for the past half century.

Indeed, in terms of an appreciation of the economic opportunities offered Jamaica's port industry, Tony Hylton was way ahead of most of us, recognising the possibilities, as Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller noted, "long before there was such an emphasis on logistics".

But it was not only in shipping that Mr Hylton contributed. He served eight years as CEO of Air Jamaica, while still being at the helm of the PAJ. In most of those years, Air Jamaica made profits on its operation, an achievement it found near impossible to replicate.

We agree with Prime Minister Simpson Miller that Jamaica needs more people like Tony Hylton in the public service; sufficient of them that there is no need to work them so long and to stretch so thin, as we did Mr Hylton.

Has the MP been to Papine?

Papine is a bustling market district and commercial hub. The University of Technology and the University Hospital of the West Indies are there. The Mona campus of the University of the West Indies is close enough.

The town is part of the St Andrew Eastern constituency of People's National Party (PNP) parliamentarian André Mario Hylton.

We wonder if Mr Hylton has been to Papine in the nearly two years he has been a member of the House. If he has, he should be ashamed.

Papine is a garbage-laden, vermin-invested dump. The park in the square, developed by Edward Seaga in the 1980s, is now a bad, and, at night, dangerous, apology of its intent.

But perhaps Mr Hylton and Venecia Phillips, the local-government councillor for the Papine division, don't see the squalor, lack the will or the capacity to do anything about it.

The shame is that Papine could be so much more. but that demands effort and thought - if Mr Hylton and Ms Phillips are up to it.

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.