Well, last year this time, deliberations were taking place behind closed doors, whether at Jamaica House or elsewhere, to implement a rural bus service that was supposed to fill the needs and satisfy the demands of the young ones all over Jamaica.

That ended in the importation of left-hand drive buses, which had been retired from the United States transportation system, and were being sold (some say given away), in many cases for US$1 to individuals and organisations.

The Government of Jamaica declared soon after, that it had bought 110 of the ugly, ‘pitchy patchy’ yellow buses, but to this day, all had not arrived, and there were steep problems with them, which ushered in a round of retrofitting, among other things.

Now, with the take-up for seats on the buses quite low, the responsible minister for the transportation sector, Daryl Vaz, stated recently that the Government was in the process of procuring new buses for the system – a complete turnaround of what occurred months ago during that non-defence of the US junks.   

How surprising! Yet, it was a pleasant one. I wonder who convinced the minister that he needed to wake up and do what was right. It’s now time to await the big moment – that is, the revelation of the cost of the new babies to hit the road. That should be quite interesting.

In the meantime, we also wait to see who will get the old yellow eyesores, for they cannot be sold for any ‘big’ money. The best thing to do is hand them over to schools, to be retrofitted into computer rooms, for the roads have rejected them already.

JLP v PNP at new Belfield Health Centre

Last week Thursday, something rather expected occurred at Belfield Health Centre in the village of my birth, once the leading agricultural space in St Mary.  

Belfield, in the south east, remains the largest community in the north eastern parish by area, spread over 9.1 square miles, pipping Islington in the central region of the parish with an even nine-square-mile measurement.

Belfield was second to Dalvey in St Thomas for largest community in Jamaica at one point, but new boundaries, in fact, new communities, like Portmore for example, may have resulted in an adjustment of those numbers by now.

From my side, many things remain in Belfield – house which accommodated my birth (only baby born in it) – land which I am still farming for praedial thieves and myself, post office, police station, basic school, primary school and others of meaning and substance.

On February 19, one of the important elements of the community’s journey over the years, revealed itself in rebuilt form – the health centre, which had physically started construction after decades (yes, decades) of calls for its rehabilitation or reconstruction. It was ‘officially’ handed over to the people of the community. There was a symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony, which included the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, Member of Parliament Chris Brown, representatives of health agencies, political party supporters, and others.   

But before that ribbon was changed from its original state, hell broke loose when Dr Tufton, during his address, invited the immediate past MP for the area, Dr Norman Dunn to speak, although Dr Dunn was not scheduled to do so. To be fair to Dr Dunn, it was under his stewardship in his just under eight years as MP that most of the structure was built, although the idea to rebuild or do major repairs was on the table from the 1970s, after its emergence as a clinic during the 1960s.

It was a wrong move by Dr Tufton, as usual, to allow Dr Dunn to speak, although it was quite fitting to have invited him as a guest. Dr Tufton knew that Dr Dunn was no longer the people’s elected representative, and being a caretaker is not a qualification for the office of people’s representative. Tufton, too, knew that tension would be in the air if he, as chairman of the function, which itself was a foolish move, decided to allow the former MP to toe the party line.

As Dr Dunn spoke, he began to praise himself and his Jamaica Labour Party, for bringing the project to fruition, which was soon disrupted by present MP Chris Brown, and by extension, it led to a verbal confrontation by party supporters on both sides. Quite predictable.

But then, that’s how Dr Tufton operates…always putting his finger into things that he knows not about, which is why the health system is in such shambles, and not even the prime minister can do anything about it.

MPs are paid to make representations on various matters on behalf of all, not some of, the people of a constituency. When they are voted out of office, or retire, they just cannot be allowed to function as if no change was put in place at the last election.

Dr Dunn ought to be saluted for showing the policy interest in monitoring the physical progress of the health centre almost to its completion. However, there are protocols that must be followed, just like those that relate to operations in other ministries, which use Hurricane Melissa as protection for doing foolishness, some of which border on corruption.

Earlier, I said that the health centre improvement programme for Belfield was in the air from the 1970s, when I headed Strugglers United Youth Club, and Belfield Community Council as a teenager. For a time too, I was deputy to educator Charles Danvers, now Reverend Danvers, as a vice president at Belfield Youth Club, before we started to focus more on our future and went our separate ways.

Along the way, MPs Terry Gillette, Harry Douglas, Tarn Peralto, and Dr Winston Green had to face pleas from community folk, for the facility to be improved.

The original structure, built during the 1960s as a clinic, before its name change years later, meant everything to resident nurse Linton (cannot remember her Christian name), from my conscious days in the 1970s, who went the extra mile to keep it in good shape. Even her personal touch was admirable. One day I was supposed to get an injection at the clinic, but being afraid of needles, I never turned up. Lo and behold, Nurse Linton came to my house at 12:04 am, told my mother that I was hiding from the needle, and all I felt at that time of morning, fully wrapped in a sheet in bed, was a heavy hand and a voice saying, ‘come, me ago jook you, never try to hide from me again.’ That kind of caring individual is no longer around. 

Let’s dedicate a section of the health centre to her honour and memory, instead of later on naming it after a political representative, which seems to be the norm these days. She was, afterall, the pioneer in the struggle for better health care.

How should deceased loved ones be sent home?

I have dubbed the last three months the highest season of death, as so many of my friends and colleagues have left the scene for the unknown.

It’s difficult to remember any other time that I have attended, or followed online, so many funerals within a two-month period, of people who meant so much to me, or relatives of some of my close friends, whose demise left them in emotional pain.

After attending the services for veteran musicians Stephen ‘Cat’ Coore, and former vice principal of Holy Childhood High School, June Panton Kelly, a day apart, a raging debate last weekend began between brethren, over the holy spirit, about what the better option should be: Cremation, or burial in a casket. Cat’s family, like another friend of mine, Barry G, chose cremation. Mrs Kelly’s family went the traditional way.

As morbid as it sounds, death is a reality, and anyone can go at any time, so all of us should be prepared, and not push our noses in the air in scorn when the subject is brought up. At the end of that animated, informal powwow, it was, by count, accepted that cremation would be better for families to handle. It would also be cheaper.

Those against it said that they wanted their graves to be viewed as monuments that future family members could visit and place heavenly gifts on.

My situation is simple: When I exit this life, I do not want my body to be cremated, because anything can happen if God decides to make adjustments. So, bury me in a casket if possible. I would be giving myself a chance to reenter the world if, for example, God decides that he wants to put some of us back on earth, to roam for a longer time.

My feeling is that it would be more difficult for God to reassemble me from ashes form, but, rather simple to throw some flesh onto my bones, do a few other things, and in no time, get a perfect body together again.

I was drinking pineapple juice when this article was written. Nothing strong. I am always open to the final journey debate, which too many appear to shy away from.

It’s going to be hot at ‘Champs’

Last year, Kingston College and Hydel High School dominated the boys’ and girls’ sections of the ISSA Boys and Girls Athletic Championship, popularly known as ‘Champs’. This year’s staging, around a month away, will see some spectacular performances, and it will be anybody’s title to claim.

I was quite impressed with the performance of Immaculate Conception High School at the Corporate Area Championship between Friday and Saturday of last week. It was no mean feat to relegate Excelsior’s girls into second place. However, the big guns are still aiming…with Edwin Allen High, and Hydel in particular, set to make it rough for all the others.

The Jamaica Fire Brigade will have to be on hand with many units at the National Stadium, as, with Calabar continuing its rebuilding, the boys’ title will be decided by the defending champions KC and the always organised Jamaica College, and the final score could go down to the last race on the programme – the 4×400 metre open.

KC and JC did not showcase all their top athletes at the Corporate Area Championship. KC, 519 points, `finished ahead of JC, 475 points. But bet on anything happening when all the stars are rolled out. I estimate that although both schools have the quality, JC are ahead when it comes to depth.

This may be one year that the admission fees at ‘Champs’ seem close to being reasonable.