Friday 7 September 2012

Hold their feet to the fire... Scrap Metal Trade


Since the Government of Jamaica through Minister of Industry, Commerce and Trade - Anthony Hylton indicated the pending reopening of scrap-metal industry, scavengers have again begun their assault on the Country’s infrastructure. Telecoms, road signs, billboards, train-lines, bridges and electricity equipment have become the target yet again.

It is ridiculous that after all the mayhem the scrap metal thieves caused on this country before, if is hard to fathom why we are seriously considering reopening this as a trade sector yet again. If this sector is to be resumed, it should be under the collective responsibility of every Minister of Government, because for too long leaders in this country make decisions that they have been warned not to by the people of Jamaica and when they fail miserably, it cost this country billions of dollars that only the taxpayers pay or feel the consequences of these ill-advised decisions.

If by some miracle, the scrap metal trade actually works out successfully this time around, then we will hail the government and particularly Anthony Hylton – Minister, Industry, Trade and Commerce as geniuses. However, if the scrap metal trade begins to pull this country apart again, the Jamaican people should form a class action case against the government for knowingly and recklessly placing its' citizens and infrastructure at risks.

It is about time we exercise our right to question the decisions of those we have elected to govern in the best interest of our country’s future. Madam Prime Minister, you’ve had my vote now do your job and put Jamaica first!

One Love!

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Monday 3 September 2012

What they still don't get... Jamaica


It is perhaps deliberate of me not to have jumped on the bandwagon of post London 2012 to heap praises onto our athletes. Personally, it is because we have, as a nation, said so much and not really done enough to truly lift up, honor and cherish the enormity of the herculean task we ask these men and women to do when they put on the Green Gold and Black on the world stage. It is truly an honor to represent ones Country and it gets particularly hard when you have a bulls-eye on your back and the rest of the planet is gunning to serve our super beings a dose of kryptonite.

While I wasn’t personally there in the London Olympic stadium, all my friends who had the privilege of witnessing our men and women shell dung London, tells me it was a sight to see people of all class, color and nationality stand in reverence of our awesomeness; on and off the track. For those who know, Miss Lou would have said, “Wi Likkle but wi Tallawah”. If you don’t know, you better ask somebody and of course you could Google it… lol.

Earlier I spoke about bulls-eye and I wasn’t trying to be cliché or colloquial by any stretch of the imagination, in fact I was very serious. What was Carl Lewis, Dick Pound and NBC trying to achieve by downplaying the achievements of our Jamaican athletes in no lesser arena than that of the games of the Olympiad. How much more mean spirited can you actually get.  Lewis is just a Dumbo and doesn’t qualify to be mentioned really, but what the hell was Dick (Pound) thinking, wasn’t he the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), if he had these concerns why voice them after the games and not before? Aren’t his utterances libelous? I hope they are and I hope we have the balls to take action sooner than later, it’s about time we stand in defense of the men and women who represent this proud nation against all foes – foreign and domestic!

Then there was NBC, yes the great American media conglomerate that decided because the United States were again getting a whooping in the sprints by little Jamaica, they refused to televise the events live or even in primetime television. Just imagine, NBC paid billions for the broadcast rights of the games and opted not to air it for their largest audiences because little Jamaica was running rampant in London… Talk about David slaying Goliath!

I need Jamaicans home and abroad to take proper note of the power of Brand Jamaica and the value of your culture because the rest of the world, whether they are for or against us, is wide eyed and taking notice.

Now let me go back to where I started, we keep talking about the prowess and spectacular performances of the Jamaican athletes, it is time for action by the Government and the private sector to get on board or shut up for good, the days of tokenism through big celebration parties and one off advertising campaigns ought to be over and done with. Sports in Jamaica still lack serious development, which requires investment in infrastructure, human resource, facilities, serious marketing and a solid commitment to making excellence the standard for achievement.

What the adoring world doesn’t know is how we produce this prodigious talent year on year with a poor cadre of facilities, no real national sports policy, a struggling national economy and no major investment by the private sector. Well my answer is simple; talent, hard work, dedication and a commitment to excellence by the athletes and their coaches. Thats it, nothing more or less!

That said, my argument is this, the powers that be in Jamaica must seize the opportunity to rub salt in the wounds of the Carl Lewis’s and Dick Pound’s of this world and continue to force NBC to block us out of their broadcasts, by pumping far more into sports development and open their eyes to the bigger picture.  We must treat our athletes (not just Bolt) like the true superstars they are and give them the support they need to continue to work hard and inspire more youngsters coming up that they too can stand atop the medal podium one day.

Here are some big ideas for us to stew on and put our money where our mouth is:
  • A national policy for the development of sports in all major discipline – January 2013
  • Four mini multi-sports facilities complete with gymnasiums, running tracks, football fields, hard courts, aquatic facilities, spectator seating, parking – June 2014
  • Creation of a centre of excellence in speed training that is marketed to the best athletes around the globe to come to Jamaica for off-season and/or specialized training.
  • We are yet to realize the true value of GC Foster College as an institution and yet we continue to pay lip service to it; is there no international investors that want it; heck we could give to them free in exchange for them to re-develop the institution and it’s infrastructure and make it marketable internationally.
  • Three major international track & field meets per year; we already have one in Jamaica International Invitational, Gibson Relays can be upgraded similar to Penn Relays and there is no reason we cannot have a Diamond League/Grand Prix Meet if we seek a partnership with North America and strike the right sponsorship deal – February 2014
  • Commence a plan to make a serious bid for either the 2023 Commonwealth Games and/or 2021 World Track & Field Championships. In between it would be great if we could get the World Netball Championships and the World Junior Championships to return to our shores.
  • Racers and MVP Track Clubs need major help to manage the influx of local talent because there is already a huge bottleneck. Why not give major corporations that want to invest in the development of new Clubs/Institutions long term tax breaks to invest in this development, it is a win win situation for all the stakeholders.
  • Why aren’t the best Golfers on the PGA tour not coming into Jamaica every year for a tournament, isn’t Tryall and Caymanas still two of the best if not the best courses in the Region.
Just thinking about this makes my skin tingle with excitement even though our sports administrators and the private sector is fast asleep at the wheel, the economic and social windfall from a coordinated and carefully organized plan like this would be unimaginable. Just to name a few of the upsides: Job creation, reduction in crime and violence, creation of opportunities in sports as a career, sports tourism, creation of sports medicine wing to the University Hospital or better yet, building of a brand new sports medicine hospital, expansion of the service industry, redevelopment of the Kingston water front and let’s not forget sports men and women need recreation too; Casinos would be a touch of brilliance.

Let’s get to work Jamaica and stop this small thinking, we need big ideas and bigger dreams… soon the naysayers will realize what the rest of the world has long seen and accepted; we may be small in size but we are big of heart aka “wi likkle but wi tallawah”!!!

One Love!!!

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