Jamaica land we love...what a lovely thought but let's reflect on that love affair and examine whether its really a love affair or childish infactuation. I was born pre-independence and although I was not old enough to understand the significance of it...it was a time of great joy and anticipation. Jamaicans waxed proudly about being able to chart our own course and build a better Jamaica...remember that song..."We are out to build a new Jamaica" ? What a wonderful thought...what a great sentiment...what the hell happened ? As a boy growing up in the country and going to school in the sixties, I remember being full of hope and some of us couldn't wait to get out of school...there were jobs galore and while there can be no denying that there was discrimination, we were still able to get jobs...I remember my oldest brother working at Kaiser's Spur Tree Office as a Draftsman, another worked at Alcan in Kirkvine, my two older sisters had already left for England. Other siblings worked at different jobs...one was a Salesman for the Machado Tobacco Company, one built roads and so on...there was work if you wanted it.
Were there problems? Of course there were many problems...can anyone tell me at which point since civilization there were not problems...social problems have dogged every society since we started recognising societies. There is the ever present haves ansd have nots...the colour, the class, the gays, the straights, Muslims and Jews, Catholics and Protestants...and I could go on. The thing is, as we develop and understand each other better, those problems ought to be minimized...the catch however is this, whenever you solve one problem, there is always another waiting in the wings to confront you. This is so here there and everywhere...Today in America with their first Black President, many in the Black communities across America are crying foul...they are complaining that Obama is not doing enough to address their problems. The challenge for Obama is simply this, he is the President of the United States who happens to be a man of colour. He is being mistakenly looked at by many Blacks in America as the Black People's President...it just ain't so.
Lets get back to Jamaica where we have serious problems of our own. One of the revolving questions that seem to resurface ever so often is how and when to get rid of the Monarchy as our head of state...albeit a symbolic title. We need our own queen was one of the catch phrases used by the now Prime Minister...by the way, why can't the Prime Minister be referred to as The Hon...what is this Most Honourable title about. Is Most Honourable degrees above Honourable? Since when is it not good enough to be Honourable...Sure, lets get rid of London but don't touch our titles...give me a break! Anyway, back to the mainpoint of this blog, what have we done with our fifty years of independence...? Are we better off...well, in some instances yes but in many others, hell no! In the mid to latter part of the sixties, Jamaica saw unprecedented growth and although there were many dissenting voices, there were gradual changes taking place. Again, like the blacks in America, we couldn't wait, we wanted dramatic changes over night. Unfortunately, the world just doesn't work that way, everything takes time and whenever you short circuit a process the result is usually swift and disastrous...Enter the politics...Having taken us to our Independence, the then villified and ridiculed Alexander Bustamante handed power over to a most affable gentleman .In February, 1967 The Hon Donald Sangster was sworn in as Prime Minister ....unfortunately he died of a mysterious illness shortly thereafter. Street talk in Jamaica still has it that he was somehow rubbed out although there is not one shred of evidence to support it after more than four decades it is still circulating. The post of Prime Minister was subsequently handed over to The Hon. Hugh Shearer who eventually lost power to the fire brand Michael Manley in 1972. Donald Sangster, Bustamante or Hugh Shearer aside, there was a brilliant Politician in no other than a man named Robert (Bob) Lightbourne. The then Minister of Industry, he spearheaded the industrial development in Jamaica with a zeal that was enviable. Indeed, after that most productive period we were visited by no other than the now famous Lee Quan Yew of Singapore. In fact the visit came in 1975 and by then Jamaica had seen significant changes to its social structure...but I will deal with that later. During the haydays of the sixties Jamaica went through the sort of industrial revolution that if it were allowed to continue, we would still be the envy of the region today. Instead we are fast becoming the wart of the region...crime, poverty, boorishness and lack of opportunities are the order of the day. I am not sure what came first but we are now at an unenviable place and we can't seem to find our way out. I remember visiting the mining operation at Alpart as a youngster in Primary School and to a child that was like flying to the Space Station...fascinating it was to see those huge machines moving mountains of earth to be processed for alumina. In fact during that period I think there were more Kingstonians working in the Industry that those who were not. If you will recall there were operations spreading from Clarendon to St. Ann and back to Manchester, St. Elizabeth and St. Catherine...The salaries were better than most other industry and our young men were doing just fine. The roads admittedly were smaller but there were cars galore...Mandeville was a major point of interest and a sort of hub for all of the activities. There were parties and fetes every weekend and Sundays were no exception...and by the way...almost all of those parties were free...no cover, no cash bar, just good behaviour and good fun...those were the good old days...What the hell happened...?
After the boom of the sixties there were still many left behind, some are still there and will always be there. The complaints grew louder and in a somewhat repressive late sixties when the Black Power movement was at it peak in the US we caught the fever here and started to scream for more, more, more. The trouble is that we never did say more of what and waiting in the wings was a tall, charming and eloquent brown man with a name to boot. He saw an opportunity and boy, did he ever grab it with both hands. In a classic display of divide and rule, the new episode started in 1972 after the Shearer led Jamaica Labour Party lost badly to the PNP headed by none other than Michael Manley. There was jubiliation in the land and the people loved him, ah yes! The Messiah has finally arrived...He called himself Joshua and armed himself with a piece of carved wood which I am told was a gift. He called it The Rod of Correction...and we loved it. Little did we know that the rod was to put hardship on our own backsides...Many say and some still believe that he meant well but the truth be told, he was just a misguided opportunist. It is rumoured that his father the well respected Barrister and pre-independence Premier refused to cast the deciding vote to have Michael take over the reings of the PNP which he was instrumental in forming. It is further said that he warned that if his son got his hands on the country, the bitterness will remain in the people's mouths for a hundred years...I was not there but the source of that bit is almost 90 years old and ought to know.
Anyway, Michael was and probably still is the most loved Prime Minister and by extension he had the people at a place where he could have taken Jamaica anywhere but he chose to look ninety miles north and the people didn't want to go there. Oh Ooh! I think we have a problem here...the poster boy is not looking so good and by the mid seventies things had taken a turn for the worse...there was disquiet all over the land. The darling was fast becoming the villian and it didn't look good. The rhetoric spewed unabated and so the war begun. Media in Jamaica is said to be way more sympathetic to the PNP than the JLP but the powerhouse at North Street was having none of the foolishness and the war of words started. There is more...much more but you have to catch the next blog...I promise to continue where I leave now...God Bless and Good reading...
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| Sir Donald Sangster |
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| The Hon Hugh Shearer |
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| The Hon Michael Manley |
