Phyllis Thomas, Enterprise Editor
McGill ... A burial scheme should be implemented to help lift the weight from the public purse. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
LIKE THE rest of his colleagues, Dr. Neil McGill spends his allocation from the SESP funds on the Christmas Work Programme, education, community development and rehabilitation and welfare.
But, all those persons who harbour ideas about getting money to bury their dead had better start looking to other sources. Dr. McGill had been spending money from the fund on burials, but is not happy about it one bit. And, to some extent, he finds no delight in being called on to underwrite the cost of people's health bills from the fund. All of this, not because he is a cold and stingy Member of Parliament, but because he sees these acts as feeding a culture of dependency.
"It is something we ought to disband," he said of these burials by SESP. "... What I find is a culture being developed, where for every single person who is dead, the Member of Parliament has to bury them. A person who is 80 years old, has two daughters who are teachers, and three sons who are taximen - it is not sudden death, and so provisions ought to be made by the family for burying these persons."
Dr. McGill said that he had made "a very serious effort to curtail it," adding that it is something that the Government ought to address. An alternative to simply burying people from the SESP fund, Dr. McGill said, should be a burial scheme to ensure that "these persons are interred and do not become a thing on the public purse."
SCARCITY OF FUNDS
He also takes issue with the Special Employment Programme, also called the 'Christmas Work Programme', for which each Member of Parliament must spend $1 million from the SESP allocation.
"There is scarcity of funds and I know the Government cannot afford more than a million dollars per constituency. But, it is basically a drop in the bucket when you have constituencies with five divisions. How many persons could you really impact on, let alone have a merry Christmas?"
Dr. McGill said that if Members of Parliament did not have $1 million per division, then the 'Christmas Work Programme' was a waste of time.
He suggested that an investment fund be established before Christmas, "where there can be a programme of economic enablement ... where persons can create income to take them through Christmas and beyond."
CHRISTMAS WORK PROGRAMME: A CULTURE
But, while his wish is that the act of burying of persons from the SESP fund be ushered to the scrap heap, he feels that the 'Christmas Work Programme' has its place. Furthermore, the 'Christmas Work Programme' has become a culture, "and if you stop it, you are going to be in trouble."
His selection of persons to benefit under the programme is based on supply, demand and need, he said. He works in collaboration with the poor relief officer of the Parish Council. "Furthermore, I have some very bad habits. I am a ground man, so if someone comes and says I have a need, I turn up at the (person's) house and the truth is, many times you are surprised. Many times I am shocked, and this is what encourages me to remain in politics."
Some of the things he finds shocking are people living in cardboards or under trees. "These persons are humble Jamaicans who you see around ... There are some people who do not have a need. They have a want, but there are others..."
Accusations are rife that in some constituencies, many of the projects and support in the name of the SESP are politically contrived. Dr. McGill says, "I could not speak to that. I do not operate that way ... What is important, and people make this mistake, is if you go out there and take care of PNP people alone, or JLP people alone, you are in problems. You are creating a divide that you cannot mend ... There is nothing as bad as being seen as an educated tribalist."
Dr. McGill's SESP spending
Special Employment Programme(Christmas work) - $1 million
Welfare - $200,000
Education (for scholarships, cost sharing, back-to-school, etc.) - upwards of $500,000
Sports and community development - between $300,000 and $500,000
