Gordon Robinson | The essence of communication

It’s time for another visit to favourite Fantasyland, Apocrypha, where all politicians are friends and Oma D’unn solves political problems by parable.

His latest customer was Energy Minister Darelaw Vase. After retirement from politics, Oma who, like a moon, was bright only in the dark, found popularity for his folksy advice trending so well that he formed a consultancy firm called Oma Unsacked. Darelaw had been ticked off at Apocrypha’s sole electricity provider ever since its damage response to a harmful hurricane had been so poor that citizens were left in the dark for months. So, now that Government’s license was expiring, Darelaw served a termination notice.

The licensee, Junk Power Supply (JPS), publicly interpreted the termination notice as a nationalization threat and took umbrage. Darelaw asked Oma what he could do to make JPS understand all he wanted was change.

Oma advised him to buy a parrot. Darelaw still looked confused so Oma told him the story of two airplane passengers.

“On reaching his plane seat, a man is surprised to see a parrot strapped in next to him. He asks the female flight attendant for a coffee where upon the parrot squawks ‘And get me a whisky, you cow.’

The flight attendant, flustered, brings back a whisky for the parrot and forgets the coffee. When this omission is pointed out to her, the parrot drains its glass and squeaks ‘And get me another whisky, you twit.’

Quite upset, the young lady comes back, shaking, with another whisky but still no coffee. Frustrated, the man decides to try the parrot’s approach, ‘I’ve asked you twice for a coffee. Go get it now or I’ll slap you.’

The next thing they know, both he and the parrot have been dragged from their seats and thrown out of the emergency exit by two burly Stewards. Plunging downwards, the parrot turns to the man and says, ‘For someone who can’t fly, you’re a lippy sunuvagun...’”

Darelaw remained flummoxed so Oma explained to him that, sometimes, especially when sensitive government/private sector negotiations are involved, the art of communication doesn’t depend so much on what you say as how you say it.

Back home at JamRock ranch, Energy Minister Daryl Vaz found himself in a similar conundrum. Circa 2001, driven by bad economic conditions of its own making, Government divested Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPSCo) to foreign private interests whilst keeping a minority shareholding which it subsequently further reduced.

It was a huge mistake. Energy monopolies are bad ideas to begin with but, in small, island States, energy monopolies should be owned by the State so it can protect citizens from commercial exploitation. Why was the national asset sold? The sale proceeds were used to help fund the recurrent budget. So we sold a national asset to pay salaries.

What the actual Fudge?

Then the error was compounded by terms of the operating license agreed by a Government, as international beggar, and Japanese and Korean corporations as bottom-line fanatics. In those initial license negotiations guess who got thrown under the energy bus? We the People of course! JPSCo can treat us like ATM machines; are guaranteed high profit margins; and never legally liable for any damage its operations cause.

But spilt milk and all that... We are where we are today.

So, now an initially agreed 25 years of electric slavery is ending, Government has no option but to successfully renegotiate terms with the current licensee or change licensees. But the notice to the current licensee was seemingly worded by some bright lawyer steeped in precedent over craft who copied the License verbatim without creative thought about what Government really wanted to communicate. Perhaps a cover note (or a revised draft) expressly relying on the specific license condition rather than quoting it verbatim would’ve been more strategic. Whether license conditions or licensee would change is then left up to JPSCo.

So even though no-one can challenge Daryl’s intent or purpose, JPSCo has an opportunity to get on its high horse; turn a simple heads-up into a “grave concern”; and make negotiations difficult by accusing Government of communist tendencies. But even graduates of the Ray Charles School for the discerning can see Government wasn’t signalling a State takeover. Not even Opposition Spokesperson Philip Paulwell could find anything adverse to say so contented himself with grumbling about timing.

Lookie here: JPSCo shouldn’t have been privatized. The economic conditions resulting in that panic stricken decision were avoidable and could’ve been avoided by fiscal responsibility. But fiscal responsibility, to paraphrase the Emperor, was then but a fleeting illusion to be pursued but never attained.

Daryl is 100 per cent correct to issue an ultimatum to JPSCo to serve Jamaicans’ interests or go away. Let’s see if upcoming events allow him to stick around to implement it.

Peace and Love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com