Lambert Brown, Guest Colum nistModern medicine has progressed to the point that it is able artificially to keep alive persons otherwise long considered dead.
There was the celebrated case recently in Florida where the husband wanted to terminate the use of machines to keep his brain-dead wife, Terry Schiavo, alive.
On the other hand, her parents wanted to keep her on life support indefinitely. They were hoping that some day a miracle would occur and she would spring back to life, unaided by the machines. Politicians, the courts and sections of the media weighed in on the debate. However, in the end, the wish of the husband was granted. The machines were turned off and the brain-dead wife died a natural death.
It seems to me that sections of our local media have found a way to keep a 'brain-dead' story alive indefinitely. They too are hoping for a miracle that somehow the Trafigura story will lead to the demise of the current government.
Two weeks ago, in a speech to the Kingston Kiwanis, I stated that the Trafigura story was overstated and overrated.
What are the facts? The Government of Jamaica has a commercial arrangement with the government of Nigeria in respect to purchasing oil at a special price. This is to allow Jamaica to earn some extra money which we would never earn but for the generosity of our African brothers. This oil has to be collected from Nigeria and sold on the world market. Our refinery in Jamaica cannot process that oil. How then does Jamaica move that oil? The Government could buy, lease or rent a big oil tanker, find buyers in the world and sell the oil at a profit to them. This would require a huge financial investment by our government. In addition, the Government would have to pay a bond of US$1 million to secure the deal. Clearly, for several reasons this would be an imprudent investment of our taxes.
No interest
The possibility existed that our private sector could take the 'lucrative deal'. However, no single private sector company or consortium of companies from Jamaica has shown any interest in making the necessary investment to get this deal. It is more profitable to invest in paper transactions and earn high interest rates here in Jamaica. No wonder so many foreign companies are investing here and making good profit in businesses that our local private sector never considered worthwhile.
The truth is that the economics of the Nigerian oil arrangement would not really be profitable to our private sector companies. It follows naturally that if neither the Government nor the private sector consider the investment prudent for them, then only a foreign company taking up the arrangement would allow Jamaica to earn any money, no matter how small, from the arrangement with Nigeria. Let the record show that part of the expansion of our oil refinery was done with money from this Nigeria deal. This has benefited all Jamaicans, JLP, PNP, NDM and those who support none of the parties.
The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) says Trafigura was the only one willing to pay US$0.12 cents per barrel taken on behalf of Jamaica. Other companies were offering only US$0.05 cents per barrel. Our assertive press, after one month of digging, has not been able to come up with one company willing to pay Jamaica more than Trafigura. No other company was prepared to put up the investment and pay us as much as Trafigura was willing to pay Jamaica. Other companies wanted to make the profit and but they wanted to pay us even less. I am waiting for our media and the private sector to produce the economic and business facts to the contrary. We seem to want the big profit but don't want to put in the investment necessary to make it.
Trafigura donation
Let me state up front my position on the Trafigura donation. I don't like it, because their intention, it seems, was to buy influence. It was in my view inappropriate for the PNP to have taken it in the first place. I don't however, make this nonsensical division of foreign versus local donors as some people try to do. Rarely is there ever a donation to a party that is not aimed at buying influence. The critical issue for me is whether or not this effort to influence succeeds. Even in politics 'bloops' exists. In the era of globalisation there is no real difference between local and foreign donations to political parties.
The other issue for me was whether the money the PNP got was money which was due to the Jamaican people. The media all seemed to draw that conclusion after Mr. Golding's October 3 press conference. Advertisements ran on TV saying the $31 million could fix problems at Jubilee Hospital and send children to school. Having led the people to believe it was Government money secretly passed to the PNP the Opposition leader now says he never made such an allegation. So, from the Opposition Leader we now hear that there was no "kick back" of state funds to the governing party. Clearly if there is no kick back, then the Trafigura story has no life of its own save for the machinations of certain media practitioners who seek to artificially keep it alive. They may succeed for a time but the truth will kill that story in time. That is the lesson of the Terry Schiavo case in Florida, mentioned above.
Lambert Brown, is President of the University and Allied Workers Union , and can be contacted at labpoyh@yahoo.com.
