Ian Boyne
THE JAMAICA Labour Party (JLP) will this month celebrate the first anniversary of its decisive win of the Local Government elections, which broke its streak of crushing electoral defeats and restored some political vim and vigour to Opposition Leader Edward Seaga.
But this month it can do more than celebrate the well-needed victory and respite from political battering: It can also hold up for all Jamaica to see and enthusiastically acknowledge its star performer, Kingston and St Andrew Corporation's (KSAC) Mayor Desmond McKenzie.
The JLP will not have to engage in a lot of hype or even mild public relations to get the country more particularly residents of Kingston and St Andrew to break out into applause for the outstanding performance of this son of the working class. Desmond McKenzie does not merely belong to the JLP: He belongs to JLP and PNP and those of us who have not mortgaged our souls to any political party.
The Kingston and St Andrew Mayor is a symbol of fearlessness, determination, guts, resolve, efficiency and responsiveness, which have been anything but the norm in the Jamaican political and public sector culture. Desmond McKenzie has broken the mould of inertia, laziness, empty pomp and ceremony and detachment, which have characterised too many persons elected and appointed to serve the public interests. That is why he is loved by Jamaicans of all stripes. The PNP's George Lee of Portmore is of the same mould, but Mayor McKenzie is a special breed.
DELIGHTFUL IMPACT
Mayor McKenzie's success and moreso, his impact, is particularly delightful, considering his class background. He has demonstrated again that people from the innercity can deliver first-class service and chalk up an impressive performance. He possesses outstanding leadership qualities. His hallmark is fearlessness, born no doubt, out of the harsh background from which he sprang as a product of West Kingston, more particularly Spanish Town Road and Salt Lane, the son of an office attendant/messenger and an irresponsible, 'wutliss' father. He attended no reputable high school and never darkened the room of a university campus as a student.
But growing up with a number of rankings and 'soldiers', and rubbing shoulders with the good, the bad and the ugly many in the latter two he learned fearlessness from early. You don't remain in West Kingston for as many years as Desmond McKenzie if you are a 'weak heart'.
SURPRISE
When he took over the Mayorship of the KSAC, some thought he might well have become hostage to the unruly lumpen elements in the society and that he would turn a blind eye to the growing anarchy in the city. How wrong we were yes, I was one of them.
The resoluteness with which he tackled the issue of street vending last year pleasantly surprised me. He must have alienated some of his own people. Had Desmond McKenzie not displayed responsibility, maturity and discipline, Kingston's streets would manifest levels of disorder that you would not dream of. There were no doubt a number of his own supporters in West Kingston who thought that now that they have their own in the Mayor's parlour, it was their time to 'eat food' and do as they please. He served them early notice that he was not into that kind of politics.
Risking the opprobrium of the lumpen and the assorted people who want to be left alone to do their hustling and juggling anywhere, anyhow and perhaps earning the Sell-out Award, Mayor McKenzie turned his face against disorder. He set his face resolutely against what the Prime Minister himself eloquently referred to as 'the uglification of Jamaica'.
HUSTLING AND JUGGLING
Desmond McKenzie has been the primary servant of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson in dutifully working against the uglification of Kingston and St Andrew.
The Mayor's recent tough stance against the proliferating street-side garages has earned him 'nuff respect' and much applause all across the Corporate Area, especially in those communities that have had to put up with this major violation and disgusting nuisance over the years, without any tangible help from the public authorities. Desmond McKenzie is the Reneto Adams of Local Govern-ment, but with less bravado, more finesse and fewer detractors. I have no doubt that the Prime Minister and the members of the Cabinet are no less impressed with his performance than the average Jamaican. Their only concern might be the political explosiveness of his growing popularity!
And yet when you analyse Mayor McKenzie's performance you will realise that there is really no magic or genius to it. It has not been dependent on spending a lot of money or commanding a lot of resources. Desmond McKenzie has simply shown guts, determination and a commitment to making a difference, which have been too sadly lacking in too many areas of public life. He has simply cared about the things we all care about and have been repulsed about, the things we are all repulsed about. And he is not accepting any excuses as to why some of our citizens have to be as nasty, indisciplined, disorderly and disdainful of the law as they have been accustomed to being, without much interference from public authorities.
A MAJOR ASSET
JLP Mayor Desmond McKen-zie is a major asset to the Government. When he personally went with his eradication team into Patrick City recently, to
chase out the crazy baldheads who had their junk in the people's neighbourhood, a man was caught on camera cursing him and saying, "Hey Desmond McKenzie, nuh mek the Government use you. Mek the Government do dem dirty work themselves."
Mayor, continue doing the literal dirty work for the Government - for all of us in the Corporate Area. Let the scoundrels continue to protest, a true sign of your effectiveness.
One of the most important proposals that His Worship the Mayor has made, and which all of us should rally behind him on, is for the establishment of a municipal court or some kind of mechanism to speed up the hearing of building violations. It is the Mayor's view that seven out of 10 buildings in the Corporate Area are done without KSAC's approval. The KSAC was so synonymous with non-performance, lethargy and incompetence that nobody paid any attention to it and its laws. Everybody took the KSAC for a poppy show.
TRUE PROFESSIONAL
I have dealt with the KSAC in the past and the level of incompetence there, which I consider to be appalling. Only the intervention of the Town Clerk, Errol Greene, a true professional and an efficient man, gave some help, and even he had some difficulty getting people off their rear ends.
Residents were carrying out the most blatant and disgusting violations in the safe knowledge that nothing would be done and that even if something were done it would take so long for the case to be dealt with that the aggrieved would not waste their time. I am sure a number of persons had to take the law into their own hands as a result of the inefficiency of the KSAC. We need the municipal court or some mechanism to creatively and effectively deal with the considerable backlog of cases involving building and covenant violations. This is one of the ways to reduce the crime rate. I have no doubt that Mayor McKenzie is making his contribution to National Security Minister Peter Phillips' diligent efforts.
Comrades, Desmond McKenzie is an ally. I can't honestly tell you don't be concerned about his political impact, but you have to find an appropriate way to deal with that. We, the residents of the Corporate Area, and Jamaica as a whole, benefit from what he has brought to public performance. The public interests ahead of partisan politics and in a political culture, which is not distinguished by stellar public service and responsiveness to public needs, we must applaud outstanding efforts such as those being made by Mayor Desmond McKenzie.
If ever a man deserved the Gleaner Honour Award and for the highest accolades by civil society, it is Desmond McKenzie. Perhaps it's because in the Kingdom of the Blind, the one-eyed man is king why we are so taken by Desmond McKenzie's performance. In which case it is an indictment on our political culture and a justification of the praises heaped on Mayor McKenzie, who has become a model of courage, forthrightness, resilience and toughness. But he is all that without being arrogant. He has backed down and given more time for the people who were putting up signs and posters on the streets. He has responded to the representation from the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce to allow certain vehicles to load and unload goods in downtown Kingston during normal business hours. And when under pressure from PNP councillors he blurted out in anger to one PNP councillor, "Shut up you god-damn mouth!" he immediately apologised and did so again at the end of the meeting, promising a written apology to the PNP councillor.
He also apologised to the public and called on his fellow councillors to raise the bar of public behaviour. Toughness and resoluteness without arrogance is something to be admired. Kingston and St. Andrew is all the better for having the man from Back-o-Wall as its Mayor. His behaviour in the past and his suspect associations had not endeared him to me. But I rather suspect that all of us JLP, PNP and no P would have been worse off if he were not Mayor. Three cheers to my outstanding Mayor: Mayor of the people, and for the people who are fed up with the uglification of our city. May God grant him long life.
Ian Boyne is veteran journalist. You can email him at
ianboyne1@yahoo.com
