Animal Farm: some contractors more equal than others

The following is a contribution from a deregistered contractor who has requested anonymity.

The wonderful Brand Jamaica is elusive for Jamaicans. We have not only lost our beaches, children, culture and pride, we are losing our God-given right to earn a living.

The construction industry has been rigged from left to right for years without anyone exposing it for what it is: a channel used by politicians, managers and others in supreme positions to furnish campaigns, lifestyles and allow offices like the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) to unleash its wrath on anyone it chooses based on opinions.

In excess of 80 contractors could have had their registration withdrawn for years based on things that 'appeared' to be and based on unfounded suspicions. While some contractors are feeling like they have been left to eat grass, the Chinese are gifted with free - no visa - transit into the country right about the time when this great logistics hub is about to be developed. How timely can this one-way, no-visa strategy be?

So, while the 'Government' secures Chinese beneficiaries, who is considering the deregistrations of all these contractors who clearly will not benefit from this 'great' logistics hub opportunity?

The prime minister keeps chanting that Jamaicans should go and acquire skills so they cannot complain when labour is imported, when we all know that Jamaicans being unemployed is not always down to lack of skill, but the vast restrictions against Jamaicans, yet waived for international contractors and consultants.

The National Contracts Commission (NCC) registration process leaves nothing to chance for the common Jamaican contractor, yet the National Works Agency (NWA), which is the main implementing agency of Government, has officials who do not even have the qualifications being required themselves.

People are talking about bureaucracy and red tape, but we all know that it's the hard-working, honest Jamaicans alone who are really held at bay by these so-called policies that are in place.

We talk about development, but development for whom? Is it for these contractors whose children cannot get a university degree because their fathers cannot acquire contracts?

The story came out in the Observer the other day about one contractor who a minister said was "way ahead" of the others in a bid. The contractor won the contract, the minister said, after all the "yardsticks" had been measured. He said they had to go through about 20 processes.

Yet after the Cabinet briefing announcement that they had won, the contract was not awarded to them - even now. What kind of media do we have that they have not even engaged the NWA, the NCC and the OCG on this matter to explain how this could have happened?

People need answers

Where is the leadership and quest for accountability on matters such as these? These are questions for which young people need answers.

Why is the OCG left to its own opinions and suspicions on matters that impact people's lives and the development of the country? Is there a proper structure in place to govern the conditions or circumstances under which a contractor's registration can be revoked, and for how long a period?

Imagine that Senator Sandrea Falconer herself was able to issue a release outlining how things went wrong, and that was that. Who will hold the OCG, NCC and NWA responsible? Who will ensure that the development opportunities that are being generated in the country benefit our fathers, mothers, young men and women?

This logistics hub will only become another measly chance to 'mek a change' and 'eat a food' instead of a development opportunity for Jamaicans to earn a living. Sickening!

Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.