IT SHOULD be clear that the person most concerned about the lasting legacy of the outgoing Prime Minister of Jamaica is the Most Honourable P.J. Patterson. He has timed his departure so that he will be able to sign the contract for Segment Three of the North Coast Highway, from Ocho Rios to Port Antonio; so that he can order the design for the link between Highway 2000 and the North Coast Highway; so that he can open the new sections of the Sangster and Manley international airports; and so he can approve the first bid for the much-vaunted Harmony Cove resort in Trelawny.
Clearly he wants to be remembered as the 'Infrastructure Prime Minister', or maybe the 'Transportation Prime Minister'. Some years ago he said he wanted to be remembered as the Prime Minister who distributed the most land.
CREDIT FOR THE INEVITABLE?
One thing we must not do is give credit for what was inevitable, or for what happened elsewhere and was imported into Jamaica. The fact that cellphone technology was developed and brought to Jamaica during the years Mr. Patterson was Prime Minister does not make this a part of his legacy; those business advances would have happened under anyone who was Prime Minister at the time. The economic growth Jamaica experienced in the 1960s due to the rapid expansion of the bauxite and alumina industries is not to be made into the legacy of the Jamaica Labour Party prime ministers of that decade; those industries would have developed under anyone who was Prime Minister at the time because of the increasing world demand for aluminium, and because we have bauxite in abundance on the surface.
And also to be considered is the whole process of nation-building. The transfer from slavery to freedom, from colonialism to nationhood, is not yet complete here in Jamaica, and a really great leader is one who would have advanced the cause of building a nation-state based on equity and justice.
For us environmentalists, there is the commitment to and pursuit of sustainable development, progress that does not abuse the environment; such 'progress' is counterfeit, and a leader who pursues counterfeit development will leave a legacy of environmental degradation, and a lowered quality of life for those who have to live in that degraded environment.
And so on the balance sheet, the new highways and new hotels to come will only fall on the credit side if they do not add to the degradation of Jamaica's natural forests and coastal areas - and it remains to be seen how that will work out.
But I must remind you that the Natural Resources Conservation Act and the Natural Resources Conservation Authority came into existence when P.J. Patterson was the Minister of the Environment - before he was Prime Minister; this is a genuine part of his political legacy which is rarely mentioned (possibly because we don't count things environmental as important), but I would like to put it forward now so that it is not forgotten.
Later when he became Prime Minister, I cannot forget how he stepped in to save Hope Gardens from the ravages of a renegade Minister of Environment and Housing who sought to 'develop' Hope Gardens for housing, with the support of elements in the media. The minister lost his job, and the Prime Minister resolved the conflict of interest he created when he joined those two portfolios, by separating them. To his everlasting credit.
PROTECTED AREAS
And then under his watch several Protected Areas have been created (namely the Negril Marine Park, the Palisadoes/Port Royal Protected Area and the Portland Bight Protected Area). To his everlasting credit.
But there is so much more on the debit side. He has not been able to stop the increasing power of political garrisons, with its attendant extortion and gun crime, especially murders. He has not been able to stop police brutality and the high rate of police killings. The commissions of enquiry he has set up have failed to discover those responsible for much wrongdoing. During his tenure he has not been able to create an education system worthy of the name, causing our potential for underdevelopment to remain high. And the list could go on, but space does not permit. He has not been able to prevent corruption in the award of contracts and in the distribution of houses and land.
And as far as his environmental legacy is concerned, Hope Gardens was spared, but Long Mountain was gouged out; and the parks and protected areas created are languishing for lack of finance; and the roads and hotels (like Sandals Whitehouse) are causing irreversible environmental damage.
When Mr. Patterson is dead, we can eulogise him. While he is alive, we must honestly add up the balance sheet.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
