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Nasty politics, Dennis Gordon, and the UHWI

It had to happen. Suddenly, the only name that can be called in respect of what is determined to be a ‘scandal’ at the University Hospital of the West Indies is that of Dennis Gordon, all because he is an active politician who represents the Opposition People’s National Party in Parliament.

Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis had determined that four companies, which she listed as 1,2,3 and 4 were found to have profited from the improper use of UHWI’s tax-exempt status in the importation of goods, collectively by $23 million.

The UHWI later named JACDEN Group of Companies, owned by Gordon, as one of the four organisations, the others being Supreme Laundry Services, The Willman Sales Company Ltd, and Scientific Medical Services.

It seems, though, that only one company’s name has been called consistent, and the others are green angels, even if some may have done things far more egregious.

The matter of two of those companies buying items through the UHWI procurement system and getting them discounted might not be bad if you examine the whole issue carefully. What’s nasty is when those same companies purchase items through the same process, and sell them back the hospital for six and 10 times the price of landing them here. More than anything else, that is where a police probe ought to start, instead of focusing heavily on Gordon being a PNP Member of Parliament and Chairman of its Region Three apparatus.

In his business dealings over the years, I have never found anything to accuse Gordon of irregular actions, and mind you, the Auditor General did not mention his name in any back door mixup, although the company’s name was brought to the forefront, which does not mean that Gordon, personally, was the mastermind behind any perceived act of misconduct.

When I hear Marlon Morgan, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information calling on Gordon to resign, and for Opposition Leader Mark Golding to scold Gordon, I had to wonder how tribalistic we can get in this country. Why single out one man, instead of urging the authorities to carry out a detailed probe into the matter in respect of all those involved?

Then the Jamaica Labour Party’s youth affiliate, Young Jamaica, also came along focusing on Gordon, instead of inspecting the broader picture. That is the bad thing about politics in Jamaica – simply looking at loopholes to bury those who do not sing the same political song.

Jamaica cannot be better off, if, for example, there is no one in the Government who can sit straight and say that Prime Minister Andrew Holness should once and for all clear up the matter of his lingering statutory declarations instead of delaying it through court action, or call for a complete investigation into the importation of ramshackle school buses from the United States, some of which have been taken out of service already, since they hit the road at the start of the current school year, and now we hear of the move to buy new buses, which should have been done in the first place.

Pettiness and tribalism cannot continue to run Jamaica. The time must come when you can publicly criticise your own for the foul-ups that are so plentiful these days.  

Then there are the media outlets who pretend to be fair and non-partisan, yet they become incentivised by the Government to throw verbal garbage into the environment, thus continuing a process of oral pollution.

The AG said in her report that one company (turned out to be JACDEN) used the tax-exempt status to import 12 dialysis machines in 2024, essentially to boost a badly broken health system, and did not pay a little over $10 million in duties, which has been done since.

It will be interesting to see how Jamaica’s healthcare, to which JACDEN contributes in a tangible way, will go forward now, as nobody in authority, as expected, has been, instead of talking, putting alternatives in place for the Cuban medics who have been forced out by weak leaders.

Gordon has a department that treats people with dialysis challenges for $10,000 a pop, well short of the $20,000 to $30,000 per session charged by other companies who offer similar treatment.

As for eyecare, the Cubans, like those who spearhead the dialysis programme, continue to do a marvellous job at JACDEN, for far less than the $500,000 to $900,000 offered by other private sector interests. If such a company does not deserve some tax exemption, for the benefit of the poor in the least, then I don’t know which does.

It’s crucial to get more information on the other three beneficiaries and the political connections, if any, of their leadership. That will bring about a story of balance, instead of the one-sided excrement that we are getting now.

Speid and the football fiasco that exists

Those surprised by Jamaica’s non-qualification for the FIFA 2026 World Cup to be hosted by the Concacaf Region – Canada, Mexico and the United States next June 11 to July 19 — were thinking way too big.

It was the best chance Jamaica had in the last seven World Cups, since the team’s historic qualification 28 years ago in 1998. At that time, Jamaica had one truly outstanding player in the squad – Theodore Whitmore – who went on to become national coach, and who, some still argue, was treated unfairly when he served the national programme as the chief technical man.

The other players from 1998 were decent, talent-wise, but more than anything, committed and hardworking. The vast majority of the squad were mainly born and raised in Jamaica, and had the coach not been biased and play the best team at all times, the results could have been different in the three matches that were played.

The squad assembled to represent Jamaica in the final playoff match against the Democratic Republic of The Congo days ago, had quality, but members were not able to connect – often looking like Under 15s not ready for the big occasion.

Dujuan ‘Whisper’ Richards, for example, whose rate of scoring is higher than most, is one who ought to have been there. It therefore leads one to ask whether or not the interim head coach Rudolph Speid had something against him that led to his omission from the earlier squad.

According to Speid, Jamaica “played like a proper team, and even outperformed them in the stats”. What a pile of nonsense. If by statistically outperforming a team, you do not outscore them, you would have flopped big time. The fact is in that final match of the qualification series, Jamaica lacked the energy to deliver the package to the right address.

But then, it was the same Speid who chose to have the worst man coach the Jamaica squad, and messed around for 16 months, before he, Speid, had to be summoned into action when Steve McLaren was kicked in the butt and shipped off to England, following his worst coaching adventure ever. It made no difference, for like his predecessor, the story remained the same.

Another regular player, veteran Damion Lowe, son of World Cup 1998 standout forward turned defender, Onandi Lowe, even questioned his own omission by suggesting that he could have contributed from the field had he played. He had a point.

Now, whenever Speid coaches a team, Cavalier or Jamaica, and flops, like any coach, he is subject to criticism. It is kind of slimy though, that his brother, Owen, a former Jamaica Teacher’s Association president, believes that the coach is above criticism, and spews his venom on social media, Facebook in particular, that effectively people should leave his brother alone, bringing to the fore a high level of pettiness that somehow Rudolph is as good as Franz Beckenbauer, Pep Guardiola or Carlo Ancelotti and we should hug it up. Owen simply needs to calm down and allow people to speak their minds without being obstructed. He needs to learn the game. This is a democracy.

KC’s victory in psychology over JC

A shocking thing occurred at the National Stadium on the final night of Boys’ and Girls’ ‘Champs’ on March 28.

Supporters of victor Jamaica College left the stands, armed with humongous flags and started to do a piece of ‘work’ on the purple and white clad supporters of second-placed Kingston College, mocking, teasing and taunting KC supporters who had gathered at the border of the grandstand and the bleachers in the region of the finish line.

But, in what will go down in history as one of the finest moments in schoolboy athletics, the KC fans broke out in unison with a period of congratulatory cheers and well-wishing for JC.

Right away, the JC team, which had not won ‘Champs’ in four years, seemed so pleasantly surprised, better yet, absolutely stunned, that their great rivals in the latest showdown, had clinched the game of psychology.

That moment took me off guard too, as I feared at one point that such a demonstration of maturity would not have come from the hundreds of KC supporters. That’s how things should be. When you are beaten by your main rivals, you should accept it fairly. This year, JC were virtually unbeatable. The depth of the squad involved top quality athletes, and based upon their overall performance, they truly and thoroughly deserved to win.

Come next year, it is likely that the two will fight it out again for the primary spots. The crystal ball that I borrowed from my friend in St Mary has shown though, that in another two years, Calabar High School will again be in the reckoning.

Truth be told, KC going to the wire with Calabar is the ultimate ‘Champs’ match-up. That moment is not far away.   

A sick vote by USA, Israel and Argentina

On March 26, one of the saddest things ever was unveiled at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, when the United States, Israel, and Argentina voted against a motion led by the African country Ghana, which sought support for the resolution that the transatlantic slave trade was the gravest crime against humanity.

It also called, among other things, for formal apologies and reparations.

Sure, right away, I expected Israel to vote against it, because it has the most wicked people on Earth[OT1] [OT2] , and highly racist ones among them.

Argentina’s vote did not surprise me either, for that South American country’s history of persecuting black people still stands out like a sore thumb.

But, honestly, not the United States.

With its vast population of black people, you would have thought that the USA would have seen the light by now. No such luck.

The resolution was passed with 123 votes in favour, three against, but there were a whopping 52 abstentions, most of which came from Europe, where the depth trade began and was managed during the mid-15^th century.

It was Portugal, the worst slave traders, that led the way in kidnapping Africans and moving them around the world, through trading posts and factories established by them. That must never be forgotten. You would have thought that they would have led the way to righting the wrong.

What an uncaring world we continue to live in.