Morris Cargill

JANUARY 4TH in the year 2000 still seems to be a bit of a muddle. People who think clearly know that the year 2000 is no special year. Yet quite a few people keep on talking about the millennium, when in point of a fact it is nothing of the sort. The real millennium is the year 2001, not that it matters really, for the years continue in succession whatever we want to call them.

Nonetheless, something rather special has been happening recently. In thinking of the strange events concerning the public sector, it's bad enough that we should discover what is known as the fat-cats, but the strange thing is that they have been getting fatter and fatter without our really knowing what had been happening. It wasn't until Audley Shaw and Adrian Strachan suddenly discovered what was going on and brought everything to a full-stop that quite a number of people had the slightest idea what was really happening. What was in fact happening was that the public sector was running without control and that its various members were getting richer and richer. One gets the impression that the public sector is battling fearful odds and the poverty of people struggling to survive on a mere $3 million a year can only be described as heart-rending.

As one example of the strangeness of the whole situation, let us take the case of the Governor of the Bank of Jamaica. We assume that somebody has put on the brakes, but until this happened, the Governor of the Central Bank was earning $9 million a year and had a $3 million mortgage loan at 3% and over $1 million in a car loan at 1% which can only be described as a major absurdity. It seems as if the Governor of the Central Bank was amongst the highest paid Governors in the world and as things were developing, he was getting richer and richer. Had it not been for Audley Shaw, it seems as if the $9 million of the Governor would have grown. Can we be sure that the Prime Minister has now effectively limited the Governor's salary? How do we know for sure? Indeed, apart from a somewhat inconclusive statement by the Prime Minister, how do we know anything for sure?

At the moment of writing, every current event of any importance has taken on a certain fuzziness. Apart from the fat-cats, there is also the question of the Corruption (Prevention) Act. Under a barrage of opposition, it seems that the government has been having second thoughts about the infamous Section 6 subsection 3. Obviously it should be withdrawn, but we don't know at the moment how much more messing around will take place. So at the moment, the freedom of the Press is still a matter of uncertainty. So is the status of the fat-cats.

When shall we know for certain if our felines are prosperous, or whether in truth and in fact we deserve riches, or an unfortunate collection of "mawga dawgs."

While all this has been going on, some members of the BoJ Board are reported to have criticised the Governor in a document to the Minister of Finance. On the other hand, the Governor has said that, "the document has been filled with inaccuracies to the point of being bizarre."

Bizarre is right. It seems to me that nothing could be more bizarre than the Governor who earns $9 million plus and is supported by Omar Davies. In fact, it could be said that Omar Davies himself is being bizarre.

The situation with the Prime Minister is puzzling but strange. Omar Davies is now talking about a lot of subjects such as contracts and trade union relationships. But the fact is that the Prime Minister must now take a very strong stand and, if necessary, must now once and for all clean the Aegean stables. We all know that his favourite ploy will be to appoint a committee, but I think that the time for appointing committees has now past. What is needed is a clean sweep of the public sector, the fat-cats and the whole lot, including the Governor of the Bank of Jamaica.