Morris Cargill

THERE MAY be differing opinions about the qualities of Derick Latibeaudiere, but there can be no doubt that the Governor of the Bank of Jamaica has a skin as thick as a rhinoceros. Quite apart from any legal considerations, had Derick Latibeaudiere shown any sensitivity concerning the situation confronting him, he would long since have resigned. I also greatly regret that Dr. Omar Davies did not understand that he should have given Latibeaudiere a good push.

Concerning the fat cat brouhaha, nobody has suggested that Latibeaudiere broke any law. But consider this. While Latibeaudiere was not the Governor, he was entitled to a car loan and a mortgage with the bank, but the moment he became Governor this entitlement ceased. Yet as Governor he was found to have both a car loan, and a mortgage. There was some kind of excuse/explanation for this, but it was not a good one.

Then again Latibeaudiere entered into an arrangement whereby he sat down to negotiate with the Unions representing the employees of the bank. One can only assume that he also knew that his own salary was to be determined by increases that the employees secured. Here again this would indicate a profound insensitivity even if it could not be described as immoral.

Apart from these considerations, it should be quite clear that a salary of $9 million a year is far too high for a public servant considering the general low level of wealth in Jamaica. I do not know why Latibeaudiere is now holding on like a limpet to what he considers his rights in spite of his unpopularity, and the doubtfulness of his position. It seems to me that there is something very odd about a man who puts himself in this position. He appears to think that he is indispensable. Nobody in the whole wide world is indispensable, and it would be an unusual conceit to think that he is. Or perhaps because he is being supported by the higher-ups in the PNP he thinks that his position is unassailable.

African problems

Except for two exceptions all the African countries at the moment are going through a particularly difficult time. Two of these countries in particular seem worthy of special mention. For many years Zimbabwe has been enjoying relative stability and prosperity. President Mugabe had also been administering a relatively stable government until recently his entire behaviour seems to have changed. It has been suggested that his new girlfriend has brought about not only a new romance, but a new extravagance which included the building of new palaces. This may be speculation, but what is certain is that he recently attempted to change Zimbabwe's Constitution to include the confiscation of all properties owned by whites.

Looking at affairs in the broadest possible way, one might have to conclude that it is only reasonable that an end should be put to the dominance of an especially prosperous white group in a black country. On the other hand, Mugabe's new Constitution has been vigorously opposed by a wide cross section of blacks as well as by whites. Though politically defeated, Mugabe has decided nonetheless to use an army of supporters to take over white properties by force. It is uncertain how the whites together with their moderate black supporters will seek to defend themselves in such a situation. But in any case the moderate prosperity of Zimbabwe is now a thing of the past, and it is difficult to know how either whites or blacks will be able to restore what has now become anarchy.

It is possible that a rather similar situation might arise in South Africa. South Africa is however better established with a strong economy, but in spite of what appears to be reconciliation brought about by the end of apartheid, hostility between whites and blacks has increased rather than diminished. It is however obvious that if, what might be called the "white economy", were to collapse, poverty among the blacks would greatly increase, and on top of that the already vast incidence of crime would increase also.

Many today might have reason to conclude that the time has come for the economic and cultural division between whites and blacks to come to an end. However, such a situation would result in a lamentable increase in poverty and anarchy in both Zimbabwe, and South Africa. In any case no African country has yet been able to diminish the poverty, the corruption and the violent hostilities that are the plagues of all African nations. It might also be unkind to observe that Jamaica, a supposedly mixed country has not been able to avoid similar woes.

Growth?

We all have our little conceits. Mine is that I can usually forecast what the local economists are up to. I must confess however, that right now I am completely baffled.

The Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, and even the steady Wesley Hughes have recently been suffering from an attack of optimism. They tell us that at last they can see solid signs of growth in our economy. They don't say by how much, but growth is growth, and if it is only .5 per cent this year, it can still be better than the past few years. This is why I am puzzled, because for the life of me, I cannot see what they have to be optimistic about.

To start with our debt situation is quite horrible, and as each year passes our Minister of Finance tells us that we have achieved a victory by borrowing more money than we borrowed before. How we can be improving our financial position by increasing our debts by billions each year is something that I totally fail to understand. Each year the Minister of Finance announces yet another huge amount of borrowed money. The announcement is met by a sort of triumph as if we have won a most important football match. For instance, we have been told that the Budget deficit this year has been reduced to 4.6 per cent of GPD compared with 7 per cent previously. This seems to me to have been achieved by some very creative accountancy. We are told that the International Reserve has considerably improved, but it looks as if this improvement has been achieved by simply borrowing more US dollars, and increasing the debt-trap into which we have fallen. Our economy continues to stagnate. We borrow more and more, and worse than this, the cost of oil has been greatly increasing. How then are we managing to increase the growth of our economy?

I may be horribly misinformed, but if indeed our current figures show us that we are enjoying growth, all I can say is that those figures must be the consequence of remarkable financial prestidigitation. However, miracles, I suppose do occur. Maybe the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Finance have discovered a magic lamp. If so I hope that the genie goes by the name of Wesley Hughes.