Orville Taylor, Contributor
SEE I told you! You did not get everything for Christmas. Maybe the fat man got stuck in traffic or he could not pay the new toll. Really? I saw him in Portmore.
Then again, he was black with a poorly fitting terry cloth suit, cotton beard and sweating like a 'businessman' under scrutiny from King Fish. So it might not have been the real Santa. The only real Santa in Jamaica is Santa Cruz and although we still have a few days left in the festive season we need more realism, truth and transparency in our official lives. My Christmas wish was for some answers and I got none.
Anyway, Christmas came and went and some of us got presents. First of all, it seems that Raymond Pryce from the Consumer' Affairs Commission (CAC) got his job back. I initially thought that he had resigned out of principle and was not 'constructively dismissed'. So then to turn tail and "tek back di wuk" does not seem the manly thing to do. As I indicated two weeks ago, I am still unconvinced that the whole truth has been revealed. Flawed methodology or not I want an explanation for the numerous complaints by the buying public about inflated prices.
In the same breath there must be a deeper investigation into the utility companies. The discrepancies in the electricity bills where consumers have received significantly higher figures than the average should not merely be explained. Mechanisms should be put in place to guarantee that this does not re-occur. Inasmuch as one major utility company declares that it would rather collect than disconnect I know of at least one individual who was disconnected three times without there being any noticeable consumption on unoccupied premises. This victimisation of the consumer must stop. I really hope that the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) is actually looking out for 'our' interests.
FIERCE NATIONALIST
Apparently, government is now trying to protect its interest in the national airline. Now, I am a fierce nationalist and love to fly Air Jamaica and am constantly 'bigging' it up when I am in 'foreign.' Driving along the 826 or Palmetto Expressway in Miami I always shout like a 'Gladys' when I see the Air Jamaica billboard. Of course the Hispanics in the other vehicles usually look at me as if saying, 'idiota o loco!' Still, despite Air Jamaica having the most positive image in its history, it is making as much money as a jerk pork vendor at a Rastafarian convention.
Nonetheless, patriotism apart, this is catastrophic. Cash-strapped for years, an air of optimism was created when the financial messiah wearing 'Sandals' and all, took it over in 1994. Well, 10 years later it has a 'Butch' of a debt and the Chairman has lost his own investment. With a debt burden of $42 billion and losses of $34 billion since privatisation the only place I have seen so much 'det' is on the memorial pages. My beloved Air Jamaica is on its 'det bed' and only 'Massa God' can save it. So we have a new chairman, the ubiquitous Dr. Vin Lawrence of Urban Development Corporation (UDC) fame, whose successes include the World Junior Championship in 2002. The government has basically retaken it, like a jealous "Missa tecki back," risking 'styes' on the eyes. Certainly, I can't blame the government because if I am going to fail I prefer to do it without any help. Yet, this is not an indictment against Butch's stewardship, at least not yet.
FINANCIAL SINKHOLE
Rather, it is a call to inquire into the causes of this financial sinkhole into which Air Jamaica has sunk. Despite the 'compromises' that its workforce has made, why couldn't a superior airline product make money? With flights that always seem full or overbooked where does the ticket revenue go? (Well, maybe it is just my imagination since I have not researched it.) Is it that we just cannot afford to have a national airline? Why is it that Singapore Airlines, which I am told, is of comparable size, is doing so well? By the way, what is the situation with the former employees' pension funds? This Air Jamaica episode has far too many questions to answer. Believe me, this enormous debt is a knockout.
On the subject of knockouts, Glen Johnson had a storybook year. He unexpectedly won two fights including a knockout of Roy Jones Jnr. (No relation to Marion, who is facing a knockout of another sort). Then, against all odds, he emerged as the World Light-Heavyweight Champion, out-pointing the American, Antonio Tarver. Tarver had won in the interviews, the media and (American) public opinion but lost in the ring. Johnson's victory was my Christmas present. Two weeks earlier, Jamaican-born Danny Williams had the 'Klitschko' knocked out of him in the eighth round. As Williams fell to the canvas after being beaten like an apprehended pickpocket, the hope for a Jamaican champion disappeared like the investment in Air Jamaica. Well, Johnson was no 'Jamaican-born'. He is Jamaican, with an accent as thick as cold 'Cawnmeal parrige'. In fact, his name is really Glengoffe (pronounced 'Glengaaf'), like the district above Lawrence Tavern and adjoining Grateful Hill.
Speaking of 'Hills', who was Aubyn fooling when he suggested that he left NCB because he needed more time for "personal interests." Well, unless his 'personal car' has a licence number starting with Six Yankee Juliet ('6Y-J'), and wings, he sent us wide or bowled us a 'Chineyman'.
Anyway, we only have a few days left and I wish that we will make fewer mistakes in the coming year. My New Year's resolution is to give less trouble. Really? If you can believe in Santa you can believe that.
Dr. Orville Taylor is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona.
