IS THERE anything in Jamaica which FINSAC doesn't own? Every month that goes by adds to FINSAC's possessions.

In the last fortnight it has become the owner of the Coffee Industry Board and two politicians. One of the politicians is the good Eddie Seaga, though I fancy that it acquired him long ago. In any case among other things Eddie Seaga now owes the Government millions of dollars of GCT that he hasn't paid.

The Government has apparently sued him for that amount. He says that he's got that debt under control, though I take that statement with a large pinch of salt. If the Government were to sue him for the whole amount tomorrow I'm pretty sure that he'd be unable to pay and would have to go into bankruptcy. This would be a good fast way of getting him out of politics.

But the Government is not going to do anything of the sort for one good reason. The Prime Minister regards Eddie Seaga as leader of the Jamaica Labour Party is one of the best political assets of the PNP FINSAC and the Government are going to preserve Eddie Seaga like a fly in amber. Many influential people concerned about the JLP have been telling Seaga that he should step down. I don't think he will, partly because he can't afford to and partly because he's an obsessional type and has been bewitched in the Enchanted Garden.

I'm convinced that no matter what anybody says or does, Eddie Seaga is going to cling to his leadership of the JLP, partly because he can't afford not to, but chiefly because he has convinced himself that if he can cling on until the next election the people will be so fed up with the PNP that they will elect him and the JLP out of sheer desperation. Well, this might be so, but it would be one hell of a desperation.

The other politician now owned by FINSAC is Paul Robertson who bought some land in St. Mary to do a development which never developed. FINSAC owns him because he borrowed millions from Workers Savings and Loan Bank and from Co-operative Merchant Bank both of whom have been taken over by FINSAC.

The lawyer of the company he formed says that there's no fraud involved and that nobody is trying to escape responsibility. "We are," he says "in the process of getting the matter resolved so that people can get back their money."

I agree with the lawyer, I don't think there has been any fraud; but as an old St. Mary resident I know the land at Nonsuch and Unity and it is out of the question that it can support a mortgage of $78 million. I have no doubt that an honest effort will be made to refund the money put up by those who sought to participate in Robertson's promotion, but if you prevent people from the use of their money for two or three years without interest even if you can manage to repay even a good part of what they invested the consequence to them is no different from that of a scheme that was fraudulent.

Robertson's undeveloped development was foolish and mismanaged. It would be farcical if he now remains as our Minister of Development and Industry. Quite clearly he should resign. He says he has, but that the Prime Minister has not accepted it. Nonsense. That's only a pretend resignation.

Mea culpa

In a recent column in which I compared the persecution of the Jews with the persecution of black people I regret to say that I made a silly remark that the Jewish people had been persecuted "before Africa was discovered". This example of sloppy writing has justly resulted in my having been thoroughly ticked off by readers in Jamaica, Canada, the USA and England. I apologise.