Mark Wignall | Young Seiveright on the move again

Delano Seiveright is not a man who relishes the idea of sitting down and waiting for things to happen.

From the get-go, he has been an action man, and once he became elected to a constituency that at times was troubled and more than involved in violence, he knew that there was no resting place there.

But, of course, he knew that he had to be all-inclusive, an official who would draw in Kingston Mayor Andrew Swaby, representatives of government agencies, including the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), which is playing a key directional role, and private-sector stakeholders on a walk-through to identify trouble spots and accelerate corrective action where he saw fit, as he did last Friday.

Years ago, I was opening the door of a well-known furniture store when I was forced to freeze. Right at the door was a crumpled-up young man with about 70 per cent of his face badly burnt. When I questioned him, he said they had tried to ‘dun’ him, meaning that they were trying to send him a message. He had been badly burnt with petrol. Leave here, don’t come back. That was the message. Humans deserve better treatment than that.

There is a certain ‘uptown’ look, or gentrification, attached to New Kingston, where some people believe ‘little people’ don’t belong. It goes without saying that “businesses, employees, residents, and visitors to New Kingston have reported threatening and uncouth behaviour, petty theft, garbage being scattered, property damage, and confrontations involving people apparently experiencing serious mental health or substance-abuse challenges. There have also been occasional reports of people walking naked through sections of the district.

“This situation cannot stand,” Seiveright said.

It takes little for me to find agreement.

“Friday’s tour focused on Knutsford Boulevard, Grenada Crescent, Trinidad Terrace. Police Inspector Florezel Thompson and his team from the New Kingston Police Post participated in the tour and are assisting with public order and safety issues.

Seiveright stressed, however, that enforcement alone would not resolve the challenges.

“Compassion and public order are not mutually exclusive. People who need treatment and support must get it, but businesses, workers, residents, and visitors also have rights. We cannot normalise disorder,” he said.

According to Seiveright, “... follow-up is being pursued with Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton and relevant agencies to strengthen mental health and substance-abuse treatment, outreach, and rehabilitation support.

“New Kingston Civic Association President Dayton Wood is also closely involved, representing concerns from businesses and other stakeholders.”

Seiveright said, “Improvements are already becoming noticeable in sections of New Kingston” but stressed that the intervention cannot become another short-term clean-up.

“We are seeing early progress, but there is much more to do. New Kingston is too important to Jamaica’s economy and Kingston’s international image for us not to get this right. The focus now is sustained action, a cleaner, safer, better organised, and more attractive New Kingston,” declared Seiveright.

“Priority actions include more consistent street sweeping, drain and gully cleaning, repairs to damaged and uneven sidewalks, addressing overgrown tree roots, tree trimming, further streetscaping, improved street lighting, and beautification.

“Activities affecting public spaces around Emancipation Park and environmental and public-order concerns in the Dumfries Road area were also examined.”

Seiveright comes with a wealth of experience in the tourism industry, the perfect ministry in which to have spent his formative years as a young politician.

I COMMEND MINISTER SAMUDA

More than $500 million is expected to be invested in the development of the Queen Heights water system in St Ann North Western as part of efforts to address water- supply challenges.

I do not get the feeling that Matthew Samuda is anything but a liked man, but as the minister in charge of that troubled ministry, he has a huge job ahead of him, and many people would like to hurl invectives at him if that is how they feel.

He said the project would be implemented by the National Water Commission (NWC), with plans to advance it to the procurement stage next year.

He made the announcement while addressing the commissioning ceremony for the Discovery Point-to-Mount Boon pipeline project in Discovery Point, St Ann.

Samuda said the project “must undergo several processes before implementation”, noting that significant work remains before it reaches the construction stage.

“He, however, gave the assurance that the Government is committed to advancing the project “[and] getting it done as soon as it’s possible”.

Samuda said the Queen Heights development forms part of a broader programme of water infrastructure upgrades in St Ann North Western, where addressing the constituency’s various water-supply challenges is expected to cost more than $2 billion.

The very few times that I have spoken to the minister, he has come across as willing to listen even though, at those times, he genuinely could not assist.

While community water projects are key, the big projects in the west, and the expansion of the Hermitage Reservoir and Mona storage area, must be laid out.

Ever since the 1990s, when I was doing research on specific farm products, small and large farmers have been championing the cause of ‘throwing’ water from the Black River up into the hills of Pedro Plains. It still continues.

The presentation, as set out by Samuda, went into great detail to capture the range of problems facing the island, and that was supported by his statement that the scale of the challenge reflects decades of underinvestment in critical water infrastructure.

Let me state that again: The scale of the challenge reflects decades of underinvestment in critical water infrastructure.

There are deep-rural areas like Carron Hall, Guys Hill, Goshen, Bonnet, and others that urban communities have never heard of. Well, news flash: They must get water too.

The younger set of ministers in the JLP are exhibiting that the power of a minister lies in intellectual strength and effectiveness on the job.

Years ago, I knew of some men who used their individual ministries to sundown in.

These dinosaur types entertained late into the evening and would not leave the office until the appropriate female company had arrived. During those times, the prime minister had to make do with the political strength of these individuals and not necessarily their effectiveness in serving the people.

The minister stressed that achieving the Government’s broader water ambitions would require significant and sustained expenditure. More than $15 billion is being invested across government agencies in water infrastructure this year, more than 10 times the level of spending when the current administration assumed office in 2016.

However, he said that this remained below the level required to transform the sector. A World Bank-commissioned assessment estimated that Jamaica requires approximately US$5 billion in water-sector investment over 10 years to achieve its long-term water objectives.

This is a credible one but an incredibly expensive one. And it will take years to get to that point, but I am happy that we have started in sections.

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