

The saddest story that surrounds Jamaica’s political landscape, at this time, is the continued presence of one Clifford Everald Warmington in the parliament of the land.
His utterances on a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) platform in Westmoreland recently, that included the use of expletives, and calling his own party man, the prodigal George Wright an “asshole”, has only broadened his generally ugly pattern of behaviour.
With so many police personnel around, they all ignored what the sick fellow said.
Had they been at a dancehall party and a deejay ‘cuss badwud’, he would have been carted off to lockup right away, taken to court and asked to pay a fine or serve 30 days in prison. That should have been done with Warmington…he should have been arrested, charged, and sent to serve the 30 days in prison without being offered the option of paying a fine.
The utterly disgusting fellow continues to have the backing of the ruling JLP, for how else could he, having committed more sins than Judas, be still around, and is even being encouraged to remain involved in politics by his colleagues.
We ought to remember that the loose cannon Warmington had declared that he would not be contesting another election as MP for St Catherine South Western, at the next poll, due in less than two months, as he would have been past 70 – itself a suggestion that parliamentarians should pack it in at that age. Along the way, he had a change of heart, and we subsequently heard that he would run again, for his challenger, Dr Kurt Waul, who won a seat within the constituency in the St Catherine Municipal Corporation in February 2024, was seen as a threat.

When I ask people why they vote for such a fellow, who I am convinced has deep mental issues that need to be dealt with as a matter of urgency, they tell me that he is a good MP and manages to get some things done within his constituency. I then ask, what are these things that he has done, apart from tracing everyone all the time? There is usually a struggle for answers.
It’s not even like conditions are better in St Catherine South Western than anywhere else, and I am not convinced that he is a more effective MP, serving the interests of the people, like some of his colleagues in the House of Representatives, starting with Delroy Chuck and Julian Robinson.
Now, the man who should be bold enough to end Warmington’s crass public conduct, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, as usual, shied away from addressing it directly. Instead of writing to Warmington alone and telling him to cool it, which itself would be almost an impossibility, he wrote a general letter to candidates, urging them to behave themselves. What a cowardly approach to dealing with such a sensitive political situation.
The list has grown longer for Warmington, and trying to reform him will never work. Who can forget how he insulted working journalists over the years, including showing the middle finger to senior practitioner, Janella Precius at Belmont Road; hitting out at Opposition politicians who argue for money to repair roads etc, when he served as minister without portfolio with responsibility for roads and works under that idiotic Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation; calling Opposition Leader Mark Golding a white racist, and linking his ancestors to slavery; tracing business leaders in the most vulgar way, among others.
The best thing that Holness can do now is withdraw Warmington as a candidate for the election, which, more and more, looks like September. Only then should he be taken seriously and be seen as a man of action.

Meaningless apology or not, its is not too late for the police to arrest the most unruly, disgusting and disrespectful politician ever to have entered into Gordon House, Jamaica’s seat of Parliament; take him before the court, and for a brave parish judge to do the rest and let him cool off in a cell.
Back in the day when I was growing up in St Mary, a friend of mine was convicted for using one expletive. The penalty was J$10 or 10 days at the time. The judge, who later turned out to be a good friend of mine, did not give him the option of paying, hence he spent 10 days in lockup for it. Warmington should enjoy no special treatment.
Advertising Government feats using taxpayers’ money
How does a government justify its spending on advertising throughout the day on the electronic media and in the printed media, by boasting about its achievements? The money that has been thrown into airtime in particular must be frightening … all towards a mission of hailing what the Government claims to have achieved in the process of moving Jamaica forward.
I hope that a thorough assessment and analysis can be done on what must be, by now, hundreds of millions of dollars, simply to brag and boast about things.

Adverts from the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, and the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, in particular, have made a mockery of State governance.
So, what you are finding now is that the Government is doing advertising on behalf of the ruling party, the Jamaica Labour Party, through certain ministries, and it amounts to a vulgar act of using State resources to justify the time spent in office by one party.
If you were to look at adverts placed by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), the State-run bus company, which has expanded its operations now to rural parishes, the cost for television promotion alone would be huge.
When you compare how much money the JUTC loses on operational expenses each year, you must question why it is spending so much on advertising, especially when you see that the message being conveyed is not why citizens should take the bus because of incentives offered, but rather about going into areas like Castleton Gardens in St Mary, Yallahs in St Thomas, and May Pen in Clarendon.
The JUTC’s total losses for the 2025-26 fiscal year are projected to be J$18 billion, although the Government will offer grants to the tune of just over J$10 billion. So, that advertising spend just does not make sense.

This is the first time in my conscious years of watching politics that I have seen anything like this done by a government so close to a general election, which, therefore, suggests the obvious.
Work out a deal with JPS
Respectful negotiation is the only way out for Jamaica in its unholy alliance with the Jamaica Public Service Company. No bullying approach will work.

Even after the minister with responsibility for the energy sector, Daryl Vaz told the nation that Jamaica had informed the company, in which the State has a 19.9 per cent stake, that its licence would not be renewed when it became due in July of 2027, the impression given at the time was that it was no big thing … JPS would go away and another entity would take charge.
Not so easy.
It is highly unlikely that Jamaica will discontinue its association with the JPS, at least not over the next 30 years.
There are so many ramifications involved here that it will take more than sweet talking to address. That is why it is best to negotiate, not by meeting in a caustic or high-handed way with the JPS, as to how best Jamaica’s supply of light and power to the public can be improved.
The physical infrastructure, for example, streetside lights, poles, wiring, etc, belongs to the JPS.
Even if a new company is identified to take over from JPS, what would happen if JPS says, ‘Look, we are pulling up our stumps and taking them elsewhere to use in other areas’? No company in the world, not even the Chinese, would be able to replace that infrastructure within two years.

So, unless the major shareholders in JPS decide to sell out to other interested parties, JPS is here to stay. The negotiations henceforth must involve ways of chopping the cost of energy, or using alternatives that would result in lower costs to clients, and reducing electricity theft that costs each paying customer of JPS 20 per cent of their bill.
More light must be shed on this, or else, we will be in for a shocker.
The passing of journalist Rickey Singh
I am deeply saddened by the death of journalist extraordinaire, Rickey Singh at age 88.

The Guyana-born Singh, who lived in Barbados for several decades, was not only my friend, but one whom I respected as a fearless, courageous, no-nonsense individual who defended journalists not only across the Caribbean, but the globe.
His reporting of the news and opinions expressed in his columns, among them ‘One Caribbean’ published by the Barbados Nation and reprinted elsewhere, were standouts.
I remember in 1998 when Rickey, in his capacity as president of the Caribbean Association of Media Workers, came to my defence after fraudster R. Allen Stanford, who is now serving a 110-year prison term for financial crimes, fired me from the Antigua Sun newspaper after he tried to force me and the now deceased Louis Daniel to write stories that were not only favourable to the government of Antigua and Barbuda at the time, but were also wickedly false.
He had recruited me from Jamaica, promising the world and, above all, journalism freedom quite uncommon to the Caribbean, but deep down, his plans represented the complete opposite.
I was not convinced that Rickey was anything over five feet tall, though he was 5’ 4’’, but he moved around like a giant. He will be truly missed.
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