Gordon Robinson | Governance is the problem | In Focus

Recently, Jamaicans have grasped every opportunity to contest tribal squabbles about every societal dysfunction on display.

For me, the week’s highlight was the taxi drivers’ “strike” to demand a ticket amnesty. Yes, THAT’s what it was all about despite the hasty change of narrative (after blowback from citizens) to the sheepish complaint about paid tickets remaining as “unpaid” in the system. I’ve some bad news for these undisciplined road hogs. We all have that problem, which is why I carry ticket-payment receipts wherever I go years after they were paid.

Perhaps taxi drivers might tell me against whom they were striking? Normally “strike” relates to an industrial dispute. But this was no industrial dispute as workers and employers (taxi owners) seemingly collaborated in a blatant attempt to extort the Government. What I find amazing was the Government’s reaction. My usually impeccable sources tell me the “taxi strike” was a Cabinet meeting agenda item for Monday, November 14.

Why? How wasn’t it just a simple escalation of taxi drivers’ standard lawbreaking practices that should be dealt with by police? Does Cabinet employ these unruly, uncouth, uncaring lawbreakers? What is a fact is that cabinets have foisted these miscreants upon law-abiding road users by way of a ludicrous “licensing regime” that allows too many to use random disorder to terrorise the rest of us then thumb their noses at authority.

The good news is that the average Jamaican hasn’t deserted law and order. Throughout the day, including during Cabinet’s deliberations, outrage against the “strike” was overwhelming. Citizens stood their ground loudly, denouncing the activity despite intimidation, threat, and violence by some of the strikers’ enforcers. By the time Cabinet finished “deliberating” on an issue it should’ve roundly ignored, the message to taxi drivers was “Go fly a kite!” We’ll see how long that lasts and if the “amnesty” demanded will be revamped and presented by another name.

We’ve also been forced to endure yet another adverse Auditor General’s Report highlighting unaccounted-for government spending and yet another breach of basic humanity by Warmonger Warmington. Also, Criss Tufftimes implied that Georgie Porgie should be forgiven for something he hasn’t said he did and for which he hasn’t apologised. Talk about putting several carts before a tired horse.

BLINKERS AND CHEEK PIECES

Let’s not forget the Government’s reaching for blinkers and cheek pieces to support its tunnel-vision declaration of new States of Public Emergency (SOEs), which it irrationally suggests, despite past performance results, can stem the brutal tide of murders nationally even if the SOEs only last for two weeks. Public statements by the National Security Minister suggest that he plans to target and interrogate persons of interest based on “intelligence packages” and that that should be enough to “disrupt” organised crime.

This is definitely the Guy Lombardo Show!

The PNP is no better as its national security spokesperson repeatedly alleged that SOEs don’t work and that these latest are just a PR stunt to boost JLP Conference. Yet he seems terrified of proving himself right by simply allowing the Government to extend them so that he can garner evidence to support a resounding “I told you so!”

I could go on and on. The full has never been told!

Each of these examples of societal decay has been treated as fodder for tribal finger-pointing by political sycophants apparently determined to appear dyslexic rather than address political issues realistically. JLP sycophants blame “a minority” of bad taxi drivers (ROFL) thus deflecting from the Government’s responsibility to provide a safe, efficient public-transportation system. PNP sycophants told the Government to grant the amnesty.

Kingston, we have a problem.

The Government’s fundamental obligations to citizens are health, education, security, transport, and infrastructure. After 60 years of Westminster One Don dictatorship, we’ve not even a façade of any of the above. It’s past time for Jamaicans to step outside of intellectually comfortable tribal bubbles and agitate for fundamental constitutional change. We should at least separate Government from Parliament and introduce fixed election dates and staggered terms for elected MPs, senators, and executive presidents.

If we limit an executive president to two five-year terms (forcing that office holder to get things done in a timely fashion); if we give MPs four-year terms and constitutionally entrench their job descriptions to prevent them from spending tax dollars; if we give senators three-year terms and make them parish representatives; if we divvy up the vetting-of-Government-appointments chores between the Houses so that the Lower House can better monitor and supervise day-to-day operations of Government, we’ll have…