Mark Wignall | What a nerve!

This comes with the most bold-faced audacity; The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) claiming seven per cent increase in electricity rates. What makes this so jarring to the nerves is what went down before. As I previously stated, JPS is 80 per cent owned by Marubeni of Japan and Korea East-West Power (EWP), huge entities with healthy balance sheets. The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and other minority shareholders have the other 20 per cent.

After Cat 5 Melissa brought destruction to western Jamaica, the Asian giants let loose with loud, open-handed slaps across our faces, as the conglomerate indicated no intention of dipping into its pocket to fund the JPS damage from Melissa. That bill was US$350 million and the best they could offer is utter disrespect towards Jamaica. Silence.

But that was not the first, great embarrassment. Maybe, with the best fiscal judgement, we had little choice but to sell controlling interest in JPS in 2011. And then, at that time, we cemented our role as providing doormat services to the private owners of the power providers.

Anyway let’s fast-forward. With 19 odd per cent ownership of JPS, the GOJ put forward a US$150-million loan. Minister Daryl Vaz stated the government has signed off on the US$150-million loan to JPS. To my knowledge, the government has still not advised the people of Jamaica what all the terms of the loan are.

While we are told the term of the loan is five years, I am still awaiting the terms of the interest rate. We have been told the loan is secured by JPS assets; what assets does the JPS own that total US$150 million?

Another useful question to ask is, of the assets that exist that total US$150 million, are they free and clear or are they pledged to other creditors? Minister Vaz made reference to the government obtaining preferred shares if the loan is not paid in a timely fashion. Good enough, but the government of Jamaica is already a nearly 20 per cent owner of JPS.

The questions seemingly beg themselves. Is it prudent for the government to acquire an additional ownership interest in the JPS, especially considering that we may get the smelly end of the stick all over again? What impact does the loan have upon the licence renewal in 2027? The GOJ has to be careful here. If the loan has a five-year term and the licence renewal is in 2027, the renewal must be resolved before the term of the loan expires. That signals a big problem ahead.

And, this has to be asked again of the perennially busy Minister Vaz. How can the government’s US$150-million loan fix US$350 million worth of damage?

It has never been a secret that multinationals get the very best of us whenever sale agreements are signed. Those one-sided deals are often the only reasons for those ‘agreements’. I say this tongue-in-cheek but, maybe if we had been horrifically bombed as the Japanese were twice in 1945, we would have since grown to the point that we would now be the economic giants and owners of key utilities and would have learned how to get the best of those with whom we sign binding contracts. We would be the Singapore of the west, having earned our way to that lofty status

And we would be making electric cars, earthquake-proof skyscrapers, and mastering ship building like the South Koreans. And we could throw in semiconductors, smart phones, cameras and other high-value gadgets that millions desire and want to buy from the Asians.

We would not now be thrashing and fidgeting and bellowing and complaining over that seven per cent hike in rates.

MISUNDERSTOOD CURFEW

‘Joe Dog’ was an acquaintance of mine from Park Lane off the sometime troubled Red Hills Road. He was a ‘man of influence’ from the area who had friends in Common and Gully Bank, areas with notional attachments to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). And, as with young men like Joe Dog, existing on the edge, they lived and died quite often by the rigid terms of others and with the brawling, gun-toting violence that the times had signed up for. It was back in the early to mid-2000s.

We would speak somewhat often but surprisingly not so much about the never-ending conflict between Park Lane (pro- JLP) and Hundred Lane (pro- PNP) but about how youngsters in garrison pockets had to live by violence and meet their end, never on their own terms, even as the party politics was no longer of any use to them. Two days before Joe Dog was shot dead, he was nervously sipping a Guinness I bought him.

A few days ago, I was at a spot within the borders of the recent curfew but I must confess that I did not know a curfew was on until I saw police cars stopping route taxis. So much about the Park Lane-Hundred Lane conflict runs from nothingness to misunderstandings to imaginings.

Years ago, I was in the company of some young men from one of the factions. A 18-year-old said, “… Dem a wicked ova so …” as the reason for another outbreak of gun violence. The others nodded in agreement. And, because the reasons made such little sense, it relied on a foolish foundation to support one young man subjecting another young man or woman to that final, explosive sound of death.

AND IT STILL PAINS

I was by Rose’s empty stall. Next to hers was another vegetable vendor. “A looking for Rose.” I said. The lady told me she didn’t come out on that day.

I bought ginger, a few oranges, flaked pepper seeds and two starving tomatoes. “Pepper is $4,000 per pound. It can’t sell”, she said. We began to talk about Cat. 5 Hurricane Melissa. She had relatives in Westmoreland and friends in St Elizabeth. At that stage, her face fell and she grew silent for a while. “One a mi fren was in a shelter during Melissa. A piece a concrete drop on her and kill her.”

From what she explained to me, at a part of the roof where the timber joined the concrete wall, the constant 185 mph winds ripped and roared endlessly, and violently rumbled and a part of the concrete fell. She also related to me another horror story about a far-off relative of hers whose body was buried in rubble for three days. After the passage of Melissa.

In addition I got less than a handful of string beans and three carrots, and a small avocado for five bills. Not knowing what appropriate words to use, I lightly and awkwardly kissed her on the forehead. In response, she hugged me and then I headed to my car.

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