Orville Taylor | Qualifications and ability; not gender or politics

Like the rest of the country, I welcome the incoming Chief of Defence Staff, Commodore Antonette Wemyss Gorman. Like Rear Admirals Peter Brady and Hardley Lewin, she comes in from the Coast Guard arm of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), and based on the information about her in the public domain, she is certainly qualified for the job, both in terms of certification and experience.

If Lewin is an exemplar, then she is in good company. A straight shooter who calls a spade a shovel and never backs down when right, I always made much of his having to put up with a shipload of seamen, and those who cross him usually end up in deep ship. Naval officers, especially those who are in command of vessels on the seas, have no downtime and cannot sneak off base to go cavorting. Furthermore, like airmen, one wrong decision on a planet that is 80 per cent ocean can make hundreds of mariners lost like money in our maritime university.

It is a disservice for anyone to be suggesting that it is ‘woman time’ or any such nonsense, or that she is going to bring a ‘female’ dimension to the leadership of the JDF. Soldiering, like policing, or public office for that matter, is not gendered. Therefore, assuming that the promotion process is transparent, she was simply the best candidate. In this regard, congratulation to the Defence Board for doing what the Police Services Commission had failed to do in 2017.

Make no apologies here, this columnist knows what the promotion criteria of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) are. Moreover, of all the candidates who were up for consideration, then Deputy Commissioner Novelette Grant was by far the most qualified both in terms of performance and paper certification. For at least two promotion cycles, her failure to be elevated still defies logic. Just note that in my considered opinion, the non-promotion of Grant had nothing to do with her sex, integrity or ability.

Yet, there is a narrative about how gender equality is manifested in this country, with some persons having an interest in exaggerating the inequalities. Since 1975, we have had an Equal Pay for Men and Women Act which, as the title suggests, requires the same remuneration for persons, irrespective of their sex. There is, however, nothing which prevents ‘discrimination’ based on work of equal value. On the whole, the public sector has been clear regarding people within the same rank getting the same pay. Thus, sergeants and captains are all paid the same, whatever be their sex. However, do porters get more or less pay than the ward attendants in a hospital? Do gardeners get the same or more wages than household workers, who work inside the domicile?

FEMALE LEADERSHIP

This is a country where we have had female heads of custom, corrections, passport and immigration, postal services, and the judiciary. Females are over-represented in the legal professions, comprising close to 80 per cent of judges, according to my information. We have had a female prime minister; one cannot get higher than that. Below that, despite the less than half in Parliament and parish councils, we have also had several female mayors across administrations.

Our employers’ federation has had distinguished female leadership, at least one non-female-dominated union is led by a woman. In fact, the president of the confederation of trade unions is a veteran senior female unionist. Among our teachers’ unions, we have seen myriad female presidents. Interestingly, in the history of our civil service association, we have not had a female head. Yet, our chief personnel officer of the service commissions has been female. And on balance, despite having large numbers of male nurses, though the minority, the nurses’ association has not had a male president either.

My plantation, The University of the West Indies, has had brief female leadership at the Mona campus, and her stint, though short, was one of the most transparent. The University of Technology, as well, has benefited from a female running it. Not to mention the large numbers of teachers’ and community colleges. At the forefront of this fight against COVID-19 we have a female chief medical officer.

While I am not at all saying that we have full gender equality, what obtains in Jamaica is better than the majority of ‘first world’ countries, who often criticise or try to guide us on gender policies.

Thus, there is nothing anomalous about the appointment of Wemyss Gorman. Our bigger problem is the honesty in people’s appointment to public offices. Once again, we are faced with the embarrassment of a person employed in a government post, who is woefully unqualified on paper. Let me make it clear, I know lots of idiots with degrees and many geniuses without.

However, while I might be one of the first people to support an individual having experience and abilities, which can substitute, if there is no evidence that this equivalence exists, then it is straight corruption.

Can we consider moving the Maritime University to the portfolio of the JDF? They won’t have to change their uniforms, and bet you the commodore would keep a tight ship.

- Dr Orville Taylor is head of the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.