Roger clowning around with cassava initiative

At the change of every administration in my lifetime, the incoming prime minister has always sought to extend a hand of friendship and cooperation to the leader of the vanquished parliamentary Opposition.

Words - because our politicians deem them inexpensive - are liberally used to describe how, for the benefit of the country, both Government and Opposition need to work together. The Parliament is told about the critical importance of bipartisanship in conceptualising and implementing policies which will make Jamaicans better off.

The first interview with assorted media houses also sees a new prime minister exhorting citizens to, regardless of which party they supported in the election, unite behind the Government.

So, for a moment, you're fooled into believing that this time around, it's truly what's best for Jamaica that will define the actions of our legislators, especially the ones on the government side. But quicker than it takes sperm to fertilise an egg, the unity charade is broken, having crashed head on into the obstacle of political one-upmanship.

On one hand, the Government rejects sound ideas from the Opposition. On the other, the Opposition rails against sensible policies put forward by Government simply because of the need to register political points. In all of this, Jamaica suffers.

The recent announcement by Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke that his ministry would be renewing efforts to increase cassava cultivation is reason for any Jamaican to be disgusted with our politics.

Here we are in 2013, being told by Minister Clarke that increased cassava production forms part of a thrust to improve the country's food security and, ultimately, reduce our food import bill. This is the same Roger Clarke who, on April 16, 2008, led the heckling of then Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton when he announced plans to increase cassava production in the country.

PNP ABOUT-TURN

According to Dr Tufton then, the Jamaica Labour Party administration intended to plant and process more cassava and, in so doing, reduce the consumption of more expensive imports like rice and flour. Tufton became the butt of jokes and was given several cassava-inspired nicknames.

On April 28, 2008, then Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller gave an interview in which she said she did not "support Tufton's idea of singling out cassava as the primary staple". Five years later, and the administration that she leads is telling the country that increased cassava cultivation is part of the plan to reduce the country's hefty food import bill.

This is but the latest issue which highlights a lack of genuine cooperation between Government and Opposition on proposals which can take the country forward. If Roger Clarke had only seen the wisdom in Tufton's plan in 2008, he may very well not have had to trouble himself with using scarce resources to increase cassava cultivation in 2013. He could have been expending those resources on something else.

What Roger Clarke has done through his lack of vision in this regard is waste his time and taxpayers' money. Perhaps if he, as opposition spokesman then, had thrown his considerable weight behind Tufton's plan, the increase in the cultivation of cassava could've been sustained beyond the period 2010-2011.

Roger is a very nice man. Many of us wept in sympathy when he bawled like an infant with gripe, having lost his bid for re-election as vice-president of the PNP on September 20, 2003. We were happy for him when that master political strategist, P.J. Patterson, placated him with the title 'vice-president emeritus' a day later.

Roger is extremely sensitive about claims that his stewardship of the agriculture ministry has been more trimmings than beef. He carries himself like a minister who has overseen unprecedented success in the portfolio. While I agree he's a far better human being than many we've been forced to refer to as ministers of government, Roger's record in and around the agriculture portfolio is spottier than a teenager with acne.

His lack of support for a cassava-production plan, only to now be embarking on a similar plan himself five years later, is another mark against the so-called 'Red Poll Bull'. And while he can easily move on from exercising bad judgement, the country, unfortunately, has no such luxury.

Selah!

George Davis is a journalist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and george.s.davis@hotmail.com.