Ronald Thwaites | From acolyte to concelebrant

Every Jamaican must feel proud that one of us has been found worthy, amid global competition, to be appointed to such a high office at the International Monetary Fund. This whether or not you are satisfied with the fund’s prescriptions for our economy over several decades.

Nigel Clarke’s genuine conviction as to the correctness of the neoliberal Washington Consensus, and his dogged and capable execution of these policies as minister of finance, has gained him and the Holness administration the admiration of, and some benefit from, the leaders of international finance. There can be no dispute that better debt ratios, lower borrowing terms and stronger external repute for our economic prospects add up to good fundamentals.

Never mind the embarrassment of the “five in four” promises which could never have been kept under the present system. Clarke is a natural fit for the international banking world.

ENDORSEMENT?

So the prime minister can rightly claim that Nigel’s accession is an endorsement by the IMF of his government – even though the process of conformity with their doctrine preceded his incumbency. Remember the accolades the same big guys heaped on Omar and Peter previously. Andrew desperately hopes that the Jamaican electorate will accept that the best we can hope for is to remain “the poster child” of the international finance community at whose altar of sacrifice our man moves from acolyte to concelebrant.

It would really be nice if we could project the stellar success of one of us to represent what is happening to the rest of us. We try to do it all the time whenever some Jamaican excels in wealth-creation, bashment or sport. Reality, especially on ‘September morning, ’ is different though.

Affordable food is short. No one earning minimum wage can eat properly. No parent of a schooler can give them less than $700 this morning if they want them to be adequately fed. What’s the purpose of a highly-touted economy and international big-ups if these basics are unattainable by so many?

The debt to GDP ratio is going down nicely while stush high-rise apartments, criss cars and lavish social events are proof positive of prosperity for the few. The rest of us languish on gully-bank. The mining of bauxite transforms all hopes of rural development into a duppy story. Remittances and cheap local labour keep starvation at bay.

And please don’t tell us, as I heard one government MP bleating to her constituents recently, to continue being patient for the trickle down to soon reach them. That’s what Queen Victoria told our foreparents and it will never happen.

EDUCATION LANGUISHES

I remain convinced that the only route to inclusive human and societal development is to have a highly educated, well-trained and morally sensitive population. Achieving this is entirely within our resources if we prioritise correctly. I’ve heard that capacity building for development is becoming a priority for the IMF. What an opportunity for Dr Clarke to push such policies for our benefit and that of the Global South!

I learned of Nigel’s promotion around the same time as the Caribbean Examination results were released. Washington thinks we are on the road to “prassperty”. But how can that be when less than 10 per cent of the grade 11 cohort achieved matriculable standards? And that only because we continue to treat the bare-bones grade 3 level as a pass. Why have the full CXC results not been made public?

Schools are reopening today, no better enabled than they were last year. Many will be hobbled by unfinished repairs, shortage of experienced teachers, inadequate transportation and nutrition provisions and unremedied psychosocial malaise.

MISAPPLICATION

Much of this is due to the misapplication and skanking of the ample available resources and a mindset that tolerates high failure rates. What kind of “poster child” nation uses its vaunted macroeconomic prowess to normalise such microeconomic failure? Effective universal education should be as much a criterion for the IMF’s seal of approval as a healthy primary surplus.

Because our people are bright, resourceful and, given similar resources like the good home environment of Miss Mary and Sir Neville, can match the admirable achievements of the man from St Richard’s Primary, Munro, UWI and Oxford. But that is not our condition or even our aspiration. How come?

Answer this conundrum at the next Cabinet meeting, please. And the same question has to be posed to the PNP for answer not later than at their upcoming conference.

THANKS, BUT…

So Nigel, thank you for your service to the people who have given you so much. Your brilliance has been blunted by having to conform to a system which you could not change by yourself. Look how the public sector stay even after the big money we spent on the consultants and salaries. People are not getting the right service from government even though they are paying so much for it.

Idealist that I am, I had hoped that one day you, Julian and Mark would have found common cause to tackle Jamaica’s intractable unjust structures. Three bright and reasonable men. Will the current political culture ever contribute to uniting our people? Instead, you were seduced into a milieu which drags naturally amiable people like you into jags of tribalism.

Tell the demi-gods in Washington that what you, and others, including me, didn’t spend on excellent education and the inculcation of high moral values, you have had to allocate to national security.

And remember these cautionary verses from Psalm 14: “Will the evil-doers not understand? They eat up my people as though they were eating bread: they never pray to the Lord…You may mock the poor man’s hope, but his refuge is the Lord.”

Rev Ronald G. Thwaites is an attorney-at-law. He is former member of parliament for Kingston Central and was the minister of education. He is the principal of St Michael’s College at The UWI. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.