The almost unbelievable destruction wreaked upon sections of Jamaica by category five Hurricane Melissa means that efforts at tackling the effects of the island’s worst natural disaster must be taken seriously, and not come across as a public relations circus.  

Last Friday, the Government announced the formation of the Relief and Recovery Oversight Committee to be co-chaired by Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie and his counterpart in energy and telecoms, Daryl Vaz.

The committee comprises other Cabinet ministers. An additional private sector committee, co-chaired by Senator Keith Duncan and Audrey Marks, was announced.

That does not seem like the best way forward, in terms of focusing on Jamaica’s national recovery, and the prime minister must lead the way in establishing a broad-based, inclusive council, to see to the needs of the nation in a crisis such as this.

If there is to be a seriousness about wanting to rebuild sections of the island that were affected, such a move must be made forthwith. It just cannot be accepted that Cabinet ministers must be so much in the thick of things when there are so many others who could spearhead or be involved in the process.

For starters, a ‘Unified Jamaica Response Council’, or whatever name you like, should be set up, and chaired by the head of the Jamaica Defence Force, but would, naturally, include ministers of government, and others representing areas of national life.

In 2004, then-PM PJ Patterson established the temporary agency, Office of National Reconstruction, shortly after the onslaught of Hurricane Ivan. In hindsight, that body should have been permanent.

The board then was headed by chief executive Danville Walker, the director of elections, who agreed to a secondment from the Electoral Office of Jamaica. It served to, among other duties, “receive contributions for the Jamaica Relief Fund and to disburse money from the fund to the relevant State, NGO or other bodies undertaking various relief efforts and to ensure that the monies were spent in an efficient, accountable, and transparent manner,” according to its terms of reference.

Walker was surprised that he was appointed by Patterson, for as the story went, Patterson had to call him no fewer than four times in an early morning attempt to offer him the new role, but poor Danville, maybe in utter disbelief, kept hanging up the phone, thinking that someone was trying to prank him whenever he heard “Good morning, Mr Walker, this is the prime minister.” As things turned out, Walker did the job that was asked of him, and there was not much controversy about how the process of distribution went.

The terms of reference also stipulated that:

“The board will include a representative from the Cabinet office/Office of the Prime Minister, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, and two Government representatives to cover general disaster and relief areas and the physical infrastructural rebuilding.

“This is in addition to representatives from the People’s National Party, the Jamaica Labour Party, the private sector, the Joint Trade Union Research Centre, churches, NGOs, and the volunteer sector,” the terms also dictated.

In the current setting, though, the response has not been inclusive. The effort cannot be confined to the Government or a few private sector bigwigs alone in a democratic society. The parishes of St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, St James, Trelawny, and St Ann, in particular, must get special treatment, regardless of which party the adult citizens voted for in the September 3 general election. Jamaica must rebuild differently.

TVJ, CVM shine in zone of strong international media show

If anybody had any doubt about how important Jamaica’s place at the global table was, that was put to rest with the spotlight shown by some of the world’s largest media organisations leading up to the hit by Hurricane Melissa, and in its aftermath.

It was pleasantly surprising to me that Cable News Network (CNN), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Al Jazeera, and even Fox News, focused so heavily on Jamaica, and it was not about gunmen wiping out others, or policemen effecting the task of multiple shootings.

The coverage overall was brilliant, as the world was kept informed about relevant matters at hand, and in all that I have seen, no attempt was made to belittle Jamaica. In short, the news that mattered was carried professionally. 

Though the larger media organisations did their thing, the performance of the Jamaican media, in particular the electronic side, was spectacular. Television Jamaica, and CVM Television deserve special recognition for going beyond the call of duty.

TVJ’s field coverage in terms of volume is still slightly ahead of CVM’s, maybe because TVJ had more boots on the ground. TVJ journalists like Tony Lugg, Janella Precius, Andrea Chisholm, Kelesha Williams, and Jamaila Maitland have not only done what they were hired to do, but have also played, in some cases, the humanitarian role that the spirit inside of them is all about.

Across the fence, young journalist Amoy Harriott not only shone brightly in the gritty field but teamed with another achiever, Giovanni Dennis, in anchoring the action that kept people like me fully informed before, during, and after the killer hurricane. 

Haughton’s all-around physical attractiveness made transmitting information that much easier to digest, and that is why serious television stations go for the package of beauty and brains. It’s not about a personal focus on Harriott. It is all about reality, whether the various liberation groups that are around these days like it or not.

There is every promise that while the international media’s focus will wane at some point, the Jamaican media accelerator will be kept on its feet.

A nation in deep waste material depends on it, especially as things relate to the process of rebuilding, and the even and fair distribution of material and resources, as there are some among us, even in high authority, who cannot wait to get their hands on things meant for those in need.

Mel Brown was no ordinary politician and lawyer

The physical destruction of St Elizabeth in Jamaica’s south-western region has, without doubt, come at a high price, and will cost enormous sums of money to rebuild. 

Known as the breadbasket of the nation, St Elizabeth has played a lead hand in just about every area of national achievement – you name it, farming, tourism, education and leadership, mining, commerce, sports, culture, and more.

It has also produced some of the stalwarts of the land, among them a former politician and lawyer, Melford ‘Mel’ Brown, whose death at age 93, days before Hurricane Melissa struck, has virtually gone unnoticed.

Mel, the father of the easily recognisable Director of Elections, Glasspole Brown, served the people of St Elizabeth South Western as a member of parliament for two terms, 1972-1976 and from 1976-1980. He also won the St Elizabeth North Western seat for the party in 1993, at the height of the slogan ‘Black Man Time,’ when he defeated JLP fixture Neville Lewis, thus becoming the only political leader in the parish to win two seats there.

I first met Mel Brown while I was still attending primary school, when he visited the house of my granduncle, Charles Gordon, in the farming village of Big Woods, part of Hounslow Estate in St Elizabeth South Western during the early 1970s. It was a time when my brothers and I, as youngsters, would leave from St Mary to spend summer or Easter holidays, travelling for a full day on a ‘country bus’ most times, for Big Woods, a name we always loved, or Green Bottom district in Clarendon.

As things turned out, Charles became Mel’s campaign manager and forged an impregnable force until he died in 1978.   

Two of Mel’s other children, Melisha and Christos, followed him into law. They also set up a hardware in the parish capital of Black River, their place of birth.

One of my deep regrets is not getting the chance to interview Mel about his life in politics and law when the offer was made to me several weeks ago. But his love for people, generally, his devotion to those whom he reported to, and his role as a lawyer in defending many, should not go unnoticed.

Live on, Barry G

The death of disc jockey and broadcaster Barrington ‘Barry G’ Gordon last week hit hard. He clearly will go down in the annals of Jamaica’s broadcasting and music industries as one of the finest talents to have emerged from this island.

Barry G was my senior at Kingston College. In fact, when I was in second form, he was already in sixth. He, like many of the KC standouts at the time, was easy to identify. Although he was not listed as an athlete, footballer, cricketer, or academic great at the time, he had his own purpose and backing … as lead of the cheering club, or cheerleaders as they are referred to now, for ‘Champs,’ Two other things stood out about him – he was the owner of one of the tallest afros, and he, being of the diminutive type, sported the highest heels, maybe to see if he could remove himself from the short man’s club. He was a lively fellow, always willing to speak with younger boys. 

I even found out that he was born in a small western St Mary village called Halifax, which I visited many years after on a trip to view Irish potato farms in the area with Jamaica Labour Party officials Bobby Montague, the Member of Parliament for the area, and James Robertson, a large-scale farmer of the crop. 

Barry G and I would meet up at the same workplace, KLAS FM 89, over 20 years ago, when he was contracted to do his first night radio show, something that turned out to be a huge success until his departure to other pastures.

His legacy will surely live on.