A bungling bureaucracy

For years, I have had real estate business dealings with National Housing Trust (NHT) and have often had occasion to say it is one of the most efficient government organisations that I have ever encountered.

Not anymore however, for my recent experience indicates that the Trust has now become a bungling bureaucracy.

In March this year, I was sent a letter inviting me to pay off my mortgage and when I saw how attractive the savings would be, jumped to do so. This was after calling to find out what the discharge fees etc would be. I then paid the sum in full only to get a letter dated 6 th April 2010 informing me that what I had paid earlier was insufficient to close the deal as a balance of $2198.44 remained.

After complaining that I had received an earlier sum and paying it and getting the usual apology, I asked if this new sum could be paid electronically and was told I would have to come in. So I went in and as is customary when one has a bill to pay, I headed to the cashier and got my receipt after being told the process takes approximately six weeks to complete. This was the 7th May, 2010.

I basically forgot about the whole thing until running into the receipt four months later and remembering that they had not returned the security. I called them only to hear that a letter had been sent to me in September (which I am yet to receive) that I still owed the balance.

When I gave the receipt number to the lady in the Loan Management Department, she said I should bring in my receipt as they had no record of it.

What I learnt on my visit to the NHT the next day, left me speechless for I was then told that the reason why they had no record of the payment was because I had not advised the Loan Management Department that the money had been paid!

When I asked in amazement if the cashier does not send an advice to the relevant departments when payment is made, I was told no for the borrower needs to go to Customer service before making payments, for them to start the paperwork. When I showed her the letter I had received which had no such instructions and pointed out that the cashier did not say that the receipt should have been taken to another department, a sheepish apology was made. The fact is however, it is not the poor clerk who dealt with me who was at fault but the super bureaucrat who devised this rigmarole in this the electronic age 2010!

Can you imagine if this bureaucrat worked at the Collector of Taxes? What would happen is that ticketed persons, after paying the fine,would have to take their receipt to the Police Traffic Department downtowwn, to show they had paid the fine! Worse, if one was paying property tax one would have to drive to the relevant Parish Council to show that the taxes had been paid! My God, what a thought!

I am absolutely amazed that someone in management at the NHT could have devised such a paper pushing bureaucratic system! Is this how they create "jobs for the boys" .....by setting up departments all over the place for customers to trudge to?

All I can say is that if this was a private company, whoever designed this system would have been retired in the public interest and put on a pension long before computers were invented!

Quashie River sink hole

Well we finally got the opportunity to climb down that steep ladder into the Quashie river sink hole, aka Rat Bat cave, but 'chicken " Joan who is terrified of heights, whimped out.



All who go on adventure treks with Fun and Thrills have at one time heard of Rat Bat Cave in the Cockpit country and most of us have always wished to visit it, although it is reputed to have the coldest water in Jamaica. After having jumped into so many very cold rivers therefore, it was with great anticipation that we approached the ride that was finally organised to give us the opportunity to feel this super cold water for ourselves.

Coincidentally, ride organiser Howie, just happened to mention to me some weeks ago that they really wanted to go there soon. Bernie (my brother) and his wife Judy were due to come to Jamaica for the weekend of the 17/9-20/9 but since it was a Cornwall college affair and they would be out most times and no domino session was planned, I had told them I wouldn't bother to come down to the beach house at Silver Sands. So when I told Howie about the upcoming weekend when "Winedown " would be virtually empty, he immediately got Michael to start organising a ride to Ulster Spring, Trelawny (which is where I had heard Rat Bat Cave was) with Silver Sands as the base.

So down we went on Friday night (17/0 )with the intention to ride on early on Saturday morning. We had a fully house and lots of blow up beds that we did not need and Damit and Sharlene stayed in St. Ann's. Bay with Chris. Saturday monning they were at Windeown by 5 am so whether we liked it or not we had to get up.

The ride was wonderful as the climate was cool and fresh. The route extremely scenic and the hills though longwere not particularly steep. We bought breakfast in Clark's town (hog wash inna the first water) for although it was too early to eat, there was no guarantee that any of the other small towns along the way had cook shops. So Shasheena who was driving the support vehicle went back to collect it for us by 8am and as we rode and the stomachs growled, it seemed like forever before she came with the food. When she did we stopped by a shop owned by a very nice lady, Mrs. Brisset, who gave us a ripe pear to go with breakfast and was most accomodating with her bathroom facilities and water to wash our hands.

The feared "Alps" which conjured up images of really steep inclines, was not as bad as I had expected so there is some merit in my continuing to ride Beverly hills and Long mountain on Saturdays.

I had heard the ride was to Ulster Spring and had determined that I would ride to that district. When we got there, Chris' sister in law who is Deputy Speaker of the house and MP for the area, saw her and stopped. When she heard our destination was Rat Bat Cave she said that we had to go to Albert Town which was some miles further and worse, up hill all the way from Ulster Spring. I immdeidately (I was the only one) abandoned the bicycle and decided to help Shasheena with the driving. Actually it turned out that we did not have to go to Albert Town but could turn off on a bad road and go through German Town (I always thought the only German Town we had was in Westmorland, but I live and learn.

This one is in Trelawny and while you do not see white people around like in Seaforth Town, you could see the signs that they were mixed. The road was extrelely bad but it was downhill all the way. However I did not regret not riding for that thype of terrain can be extremely hard on the handsand the arms.

When we parked, it was about a 10 minute hike before we got to the long awaited Rat Bat Cave. Only problem is I never saw a cave only a 90 degree drop into a deep dark ravine!

After venturing along the slippery incline to the edge, I decided I had enough for there is no way I was going to climb down 40 feet to see any cave and lake. So Orrel, Sharlene, Chris and I valiantly hiked back to the vehicle where Michael and Tara were sitting. Michael had stayed behind to watch the bicycles and keep Tara's company but he was fast asleep.

Anyway it was a very hot day and although we were not crazy enough to climb down 4o feet to swim, we wanted to cool off and remembering we had seen a little waterfall along the road we startred out to get cooled down there. When we did arrive, we found it was quite treacherous and slippery but decided we would not turn back but instead head out to "civilisation" where we could get some snacks to buy.

On the way we found a very tiny waterfall under a culvert and happily eased down into it to cool off. The next stop was to find some food and believe it or not, a funeral in the area seemed to have attracted every single member of the several communities we passed through, as just about every house and shop seemed locked up tighter than a sardine can. Eventually near the Ulster Spring school we found a feeding hole and as we headed back to the intersection, we
realised that the others had finished their adventure and had returned.

Luckily, Howie's friend Leslie, who is from Mandeville, had driven over to explore the cave, so she was able to carry back some of the riders. Otherwisde, all us tired troopers would have had to ride back home, albeit it was almost all downhill all the way. So because we got to drive back, only the round the islanders Michael, Howie and Orrel rode back but all of us had a wonderful day with the grand finale being the fabulous white sands beach at Silver Sands, dinner and drinks.

Reaching Reach Falls

Yes we did reach Reach falls, as impossible as it looked due to the heavy rains. And it turned out to be a great day as the sun shone brilliantly once we had arrived.

On Sunday 12th September 2010, just under twenty riders left headquarters just before 5am for the long ride to Portland. It was absolutely exhilarating riding in the early morning , first in the dark then in the wonderful , cool, fresh dawn as the sun rose gradually. I think I could ride around the entire island any time if the days just stopped at dawn or that type of climate lasted all day.

The ride to Morant bay was not at all exhaustive for me since it was probably the third time I had done it. I saw Damit briefly at Harbour View and never again until we got to the falls!

Did you know that the Salt Pond at Yallahs is a fantastically beautiful sight in the early morning? All the vegetation around it is in a slew of shades of green and almost uniform while the water is still and glistening. So the reflection of the flora shows up magnificently in the water. It was like a painting........ one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen and I could have cried as I did not have my camera. Barry had been one of our support drivers and I had asked him to get my green knapsack out of Michael's vehicle for me to get my sun glasses. That's the bag that also had my camera. He rushed back and brought a green bag, but alas it was not mine. You see Andrew had given us all bags from "Dunns electric" and most of them were green. So I told him that my bag had a pair of slippers on top. So he rushed back and brought me another green bag, but alas and alack, again it was not mine as obviously he did not bother to look inside. So I never got my bag with the essentials- dark glasses and camera until we got to Morant bay and I retrieved it myself. Men, they can't look for anything!

Charles, Sharon and Richard had left out earlier than we did with Chris as their backup driver but we found them in Yallahs as Charles had a puncture and rim problems after dropping in pothole and had to wake up a man who operated a bicycle shop to help him out.

At Yallahs I took off before the others reached as I am a slow rider. So did Sharon and Richard but I passed them quickly. However I was soon passed by Maurice, Gary and Orrel and never saw them again until we got to Morant bay. There we regrouped, collected for breakfast sent Barry off to collect it but after a long wait, everyone had not arrived as Michael was with a very slow rider so up to when I moved out (early again) they had not arrived.

In Morant Bay we were joined by Michelle and her brother Cary who rode from there. Charles and I left out together from Morant Bay but I left him and was ahead until Gary, Orrel and Robert (a professional rider who had not ridden for years) passed me. I tried to keep up with them but I never even saw their tail light again after a short distance. On the way, I saw two young professional riders speeding in the other direction towards Morant bay and assumed they were going to Kingston but when they turned back and caught us up later, they said they were from a racing team in Port Antonio and had ridden to Morant bay and were on their way back home.

Just after I passed Prospect Beach it started to rain and the that was most welcome as it really cooled me down. By the time iIhad passed the turn off to Perra beach however I was dead tired and was just hoping I could see Barry coming but it seemed like forever before he appeared so I got in and happily gave up riding for the day.

While Iwas in the van I was holding some of the breakfasts in my lap and my phone started ringing. However, I decided I couldn't bother to put down the food to get to it but because the calls were so persistent, I finally did. It was a near frustrated Sharon who told me that Michelle had fallen after hitting a pothole and we needed to turn back to help out.

Shortly after we passed Golden Grove we saw some of our party gathered around her. Fortunately the damage was superficial . She was in good company in "kicking puppa lick" for although I missed it, I hear the professionals Maurice and Robert also had a similar fate after dropping in potholes. You see when it rains (and it was really pouring in some areas) sometimes when you see puddles of water, they are really large potholes in disguise and this is what often leads to our demise. Anyway those falls damaged only their pride as no one was badly hurt!

After Amity Hall we came up on a major flood as the Savage river broke its banks and was rushing across the road. By then we had been joined by Tara and her mom and Stefan and family who had decided to drive all the way. Tara was very worried that her car could not make it through the flooded roadway but it looked far more ominous than it was.

By that time I was starving and when we stopped shortly after, the pickup would not start so it gave those of us there the perfect opportunity to dive into the breakfast. By the time we got to Reach Falls, Damit, Maurice, Gary, Robert and Orrel were already there. Howie and Cary would have reached too but they had stopped off at the turn off to the falls to direct us.

A number of persons went back to Kingston shortly without ever enjoying the falls. Most of us stayed however. Te sun was out and we had a wonderful swim and went in and out of the cave to get a wonderful water massage's to boot. Although Penny is some seven months pregnant and looked like she could deliver at any minute, she had a ball climbing the rocks above the falls.

In conversation, the life guard told me how deceptive the area was for on one holiday alone, they had to save 14 people. That's quite a record! Anyway, he said they have never had a drowning there, which is comforting, considering how daring we Jamaicans tend to be. He even told me about one guy who he had to save twice in one day and had to tell him that if he wanted to commit suicide he should go elsewhere!

We left after 3 pm and being happy but hungry, stopped at the first shop we saw and bought out all the stock of bun and cheese. At Yallahs, we bought the most delicious chicken foot soup I had ever had in my life. So comfortable was my stomach by then that I didn't even pay the jerk pork man any mind that day!

Then it was back to Kingston just after 6pm. Barry had to admit that he was tired although her never rode, so you can imagine how the rest of us felt, especially poor Howie who developed a very painful cramp after the ride. Anyway I am sure if you ask him he would tell you he never regretted a minute of the the entire expedition.

For more photographs, see;http://www.facebook.com/album.phpaid=245355&id=763366822#!/albumphpaid=245355&id=763366822&fbid=468238651822&ref=mf

Michael Manley would have been proud.

As I now come to terms with the fact that it is probably going to take generations before Jamaica gets decent political leadership, I realise how stupid it was of me to have been so easily fooled a second time. After all we are supposed to learn from experience aren't we?

I recall back in the late 60's when I lived in Canada and all we were hearing about was of the moral and financial decay taking place in Jamaica. In fact, the hit tune "Everything crash" seemed to seemed to sum it all up most appropriately. Then came the knight in shining armour, Michael Manley who rehashed all the moral problems the country was having and promised to fix them all. What made him so convincing was that he seemed to have his ears to the ground and was hearing the real beefs that people were having especially the fact that the outcome of moral slippery slope that the country was on, seemed certain to dwarf every other challenge we as a new nation had.

Within weeks of Michael coming to Canada and addressing us, we decided to return home to try and help to build the country under his leadership.

Experience soon taught us however that Manley never meant one word of what he uttered in his campaign speeches and had only articulated those popular views to fool the electorate. In fact, so discredited did Manley become that within years his popular name was "Manlie".

One would have thought that having had that rude awakening after the Manley experience, I would never again fall for the line. But I did in 2007. For once again the country was on aa rapid moral slide downwards as every form of corruption, illegality and brutality had become the norm in the society.

Bruce Golding would have been quite young when Manley's strategy worked in the 70's and although he was from the opposing party, he obviously recognised its worth and adopted it in the 2000's ..... listening to the cry of the people for moral renewal in the country then articulating the solutions very convincingly.

Who could have expected that the same person who had appeared so remorseful about having had links with the underworld, making both Seaga and PJ Patterson look like unrepentant goons during a widely watched telivision debate, could have turned out to be such an immoral leader?

His thrust to use the power of the state to prevent a major crime figure , Christopher Dudus Coke from being extradited to the USA, under the guise that he was protecting the rights of a Jamaican citizen, finds uncomfortable comparison with the use of fraternal relations with Fidel Castro by Michael Manley to hide George Flash and Tony Brown, two notorious PNP gunmen, in Cuba when the police started to search for them for the murder of Ted Ogilvie.

And if we had thought that the PNP was prepared to lessen its links with vicious gunmen after the death of Manley, we got a rude awakening when the same party under the leadership of P.J. Patterson chose the mass murderer Bulbie over their own member of parliament Heather Robinson in 1995. Oh how well those succeding Manley (in both parties) have learnt!

These two parities that alternate in government are nothing but criminal organisations posing as political parties. Manley would have been proud of his legacy.

Trafigura Again

A few days ago, I made the observation that the PNP and JLP were criminal organizations, based upon the fact that between them they had violently converted 25% of the constituencies in Jamaica into garrisons. For those who do not understand or have forgotten let me remind you.

The process of garrison formation is a type of political cleansing which involves using murder, arson, rape or terrorism to drive out the supporters of the other party and make the constituency or division into a homogeneous unit.

The latest example of this took place in St. Catherine in August this year when when some fifteen to twenty heavily armed members of the PNP aligned Clansman gang, invaded a community and killed ten persons in one night including an 11 year old child. This is the same Clansman gang whose leader Bulbie the PNP chose over their own Member of parliament Heather Robinson in 1995, when she told parliament how he was trying to take over her constituency but her colleagues refused to offer her any support. So she was forced to leave the constituency and the rest is history.

During the conversation referred to above, I maintained that there could be no redemption for Jamaica as long as those two parties alternate in government. I was asked by a caller if the younger politicians wouldn't make a difference and asked him if the Mafia started a university what would he expect the graduates to be?

I didn’t have to wait long for proof that this observation was spot on, for within a day I heard on the news that the President of the PNP youth organization was saying there was nothing wrong with Trafigura giving his party $31 million just before the 2007 election.

For the benefit of those who have no idea what the Trafigura issue is, let me enlighten to you. Trafigura is a company registered in the Netherlands and it collects, transports and sells Nigerian oil for Jamaica. For as a fraternal gesture many decades ago, the government of Nigeria started to give Jamaica oil at US$5 per barrel less than the market price.

During the 90's, in a sweetheart deal the PNP government passed on this concession to Trafigura for them to lift the oil and sell it on the open market and give us something. Guess how much they give Jamaica from this deal? 12 cents per barrel !

Since an election was on the horizon in 2007 and the oil lifting deal was soon to come up for renewal, when the news of the surreptitious "gift" leaked, most Jamaicans assumed that it was a straight bribe for them to get back the contract without competition, a corrupt act in any part of the world. However, Trafigura insisted that it was not a gift but a payment on a contract and they claimed to have a written document to prove it. Problem is however, up to today, no one outside of the PNP and Trafigura have seen this contract and we have no idea what the party which formed the government was tying us into.

To understand the possible implications, one must understand what Trafigura is and how it operates.

This is the company which in 2006, paid treacherous Ivoirians, (natives of the Ivory Coast in Africa) a small amount of money, (less than $31 million) to contaminate their land and people by dumping dump toxic waste in their country. As a result of this poison being dumped there, a number of Ivoirians died and thousands more had to be hospitalized. The million dollar questions therefore still stands, was the $31 million given to the PNP as a bribe or was it a down payment on a contract to dump toxic waste in Jamaica thus destroying lives and the environment ?

Having gone to the mafia college however, the young politician can see nothing criminal nor wrong with taking a bribe from or getting involved in a contract with such a disreputable company!

You know, the late Michael Manley, former head of the PNP was known to be a very unprincipled man, but I prefer to think his expressed love for Africa and things African could have been genuine.

 Therefore I am prepared to put my neck on the block that he would never have had any kind of association with a company which had so brutally destroyed the lives of poor black Africans. But the young graduates of the present mafia institution do not see a problem here

What a set!