Samuda shuts down ‘retirement’ critics
Published:Wednesday | January 12, 2022 | 12:10 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
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Evergreen lawmaker and government minister Karl Samuda has slammed critics of the retention of veterans in the Holness Cabinet, arguing that “disrespect” for senior statespersons was born out of ageism. Samuda, the labour and social security...
Evergreen lawmaker and government minister Karl Samuda has slammed critics of the retention of veterans in the Holness Cabinet, arguing that “disrespect” for senior statespersons was born out of ageism.
Samuda, the labour and social security minister, said he is baffled by what he calls Jamaicans’ obsession with the age of parliamentarians, instead of the value of their wisdom, education, and experience.
The St Andrew North Central member of parliament, who turns 80 in February, is among a clutch of very senior politicians who were reappointed to the Cabinet on Monday.
“Anyone [who] wishes to challenge me on my feet, at any time, to any debate on any subject in the ministry that they feel they would be able to show up my deficiencies, I welcome them to try at any time, in or out of Parliament,” Samuda told The Gleaner.
“In other very large and wealthy and established countries, there is respect for people who have given service for years and have reached a level in age where they should be looked upon with respect,” he said, citing US President Joe Biden, 79, and his predecessor, 75-year-old Donald Trump.
Samuda said that he and Clarendon Central Member of Parliament Mike Henry have given four decades of national service, a statistic at which cynics should not scoff.
Henry, the longest-serving sitting parliamentarian, is 86. He recently tapped Denbigh division councillor Joel Williams as his preferred successor, but has said he’s not stepping away from representational politics.
Other senior Cabinet ministers are Transport and Mining Minister Audley Shaw, 69; Culture Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia Grange, 75; and Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, 71. Minister without Portfolio Everald Warmington is 70 this year.
Although State Minister Zavia Mayne has been reassigned from the labour ministry, Samuda said that strong support from technocrats and administrative staff would cover for his absence. Systems trump personalities, he said.
“I find him a very efficient and competent person,” Samuda said of Mayne. “... However, I have always been driven by the notion that systems and the tools of business, the way you establish systems to help in managing whatever activity you are engaged in, are more important, at times, than the personnel.”
Mayne is now state minister in the Ministry of National Security.
The St Andrew North Central MP said he does not intend to hang up his gloves anytime soon. His exit, he said, would be on his terms.
“Anytime that I feel ... that I am not able to contribute in a way that befits the office I hold, I have no problems. Prime Minister won’t have to speak to me,” said Samuda.