Mark Wignall | Answers on the power cut

Last week, the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz spent a few days docked in Jamaican waters. 

If a situation ever arose that while the carrier was on its way to Kingston Harbour, our local diplomatic service found that the USS Nimitz could not enjoy dockside facilities here, we would have to pretend that all is well and not say anything to the mighty Americans.

The 100,000-ton sea vessel is nuclear-powered, meaning that it can go to sea without the worry of refuelling. It can reach a speed of 30 knots. At sea, it is supported by other vessels in a group. Fully loaded, the carrier has every type and range of weapon on board. From ICBMs to anti-aircraft cannons, it is the ultimate fighting machine.

For example, it can dock in the Caribbean and wage war in parts of Europe and the Pacific, and is capable of carrying a crew of 5,000 men.  

While the vessel was still in Jamaican waters, the island experienced a total power outage in excess of 12 hours. Not partly. Total. Speculation ran wild. First, our neighbour Cuba is under relentless pressure from the US and Cubans are currently, deliberately being underfed. The all-island outage was like a mighty machine with enormous electro-magnetic capabilities. That power was used in a powerful pulse against us, went one of the unsupported accusations.

It was speculated that in the planned attempt to extract the remnants of the Castro family from Cuba, a power outage would be  part of the process.  What took place in Jamaica was a dry-run. I am certain the Chinese are looking on. 

Even if much of the string of speculation had any truth to it, our government laughing at those indulging in more fancy imaginings is quite standard. If key members are trapped based on what they know but cannot say, then we are forced to comfort them and play the game with them. Whenever the United States deploys the CIA or its offshoots to a bit of covert action overseas, certain moves cannot be hidden because we have seen it before. 

The Government of Jamaica owes us an explanation as to the exact causes of last week’s all-island outage even though we know that Dr Holness and his team would prefer that we rolled over and went to sleep on it.

THE FOCUS ON NaRRA

According to PM Holness, the expenditure to be rolled out under NaRRA (National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority Act) will not just be huge, it will be generationally impactful.

In the same manner that sections of Portmore have been commercially modernised, it would be good if sections of downtown were similarly focused on. A case can be made that we have stepped backward with downtown from the 1960s to now. 

Before New Kingston and Newport West came about, many Jamaicans worked downtown and used sections of uptown for R&R. When I worked at a shipping company known as the United Fruit Company, some of the best eateries for lunch were nearby. These were not ‘greasy spoons’ where third-rate meals were served. 

Prime seafood, juicy roast beef, and tasty curried goat were just a few of the meals on the regular menu. At a bar named Navy Bar, at the rear on a rise was a spot with six tables, where I had some of the best meals.

But of course it had its downside. A thug closely allied to the PNP and the late Michael Manley known as ‘Feather Mop’ (George Spence) was having a drink at Navy Bar one afternoon. As he was seated on a barstool, a young gunman entered and shot him multiple times. Death was instant. 

The thing is, while criminality had infested politics at that time and all through the 1970s, there was something about downtown Kingston that was worth saving and growing on. 

I can understand the PM urging his potential voters to come with him where he wants to go in seeing NaRRA not just as an act for development but the best that it can be, especially if quality road fixes are a part. 

As we know, the hurricane season is back on us again even though it seems as if Hurricane Mellissa just painfully kissed us goodbye.  It is quite good and most pleasurable that we are now flush in the heart of the greatest show on Earth, the FIFA World Cup, or as a friend of mine calls it, with Trump inclusion, World War Cup. 

The American Declaration of Independence speaks about the “pursuit of happiness”' Jamaica's Constitution lacks that even though it speaks to life, liberty, and the freedom of movement. World Cup football gives us that thing that the constitutional entree guarantees us. Add to that our athletes burning up the track and the happiness is almost set in stone. 

You were saying, PM?

Mark Wignall is a political and public affairs analyst. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com