P.J. Patterson’s Legacy

Parliament has now devoted two sessions to eulogising and lionising former Prime Ministers Edward Seaga and P.J. Patterson.

The glowing one-dimensional tributes intentionally ignore the negative sides of both men’s political balance sheets. For honest assessments of their leadership, we will clearly have to look further than their desk-thumping friends in Gordon House.

In this post, however, I want to focus on one small thing that P.J. Patterson did, which is likely to be ignored in the academic treatises that will be produced about his tenure.

He created Emancipation Park  which has now been open for ten years. It sounds like such a small thing to single out, but it’s one which I think has had tremendous impact. And lest we forget, there was no overwhelming outpouring of support for him at the time.

One reasonable criticism is that it was part of the diversion of National Housing Trust funds away from housing for contributors. It could not have happened if contributors’ funds were sequestered away in a real trust, which is a discussion we really need to have, although it is a step the politicians are unlikely to want to take. That’s because if NHT money were locked away, for use for contributors’ housing only, it would deprive them of their Santa Claus goodie bag.

Would I turn back the clock and leave the NHT funds untouched, and the park the dusty bowl it was? No, I wouldn’t. But I certainly would favour locking away NHT funds going forward.

Having said that, we do now have a beautiful green space in the middle of the city.  Joggers and walkers frequent the park in the early morning or afternoon and evening, and friends gather to catch up, and chat. For those who think that only the New Kingston elite use the park, you need to go by and visit.

Walking in Emancipation Park
Photo by DJ Miller

The park hosts a range of free activities and concerts that draw in Jamaicans from all walks of life, especially on week-ends. (That’s the problem with projects like these, by the way – they are necessary and useful, so you can always rationalise funding them, until you drain the well dry.)

The entrance to Emancipation Park, New Kingston
Photo by DJ Miller

As I mentioned, The National Housing Trust maintains Emancipation Park which is why it has been so successful. At this stage of our (lack of) development), we probably can’t afford an Emancipation Park in every town centre, although we need one. I’m not forgetting Hope Gardens, another beautiful location, more beautiful  in its way than the manicured prettiness of Emancipation Park.  The point is, we need more such spaces. Is there a model we can look at to create more safe, green spaces with  jogging tracks, some benches, a bandstand, and some grass? Because we’re paying for not having them – paying in hospital bills and medication. Perhaps we’re paying the cost in anti-social behaviour as well.

Friends chat after exercising
Photo by DJ Miller

The research is well-known. Access to green spaces promotes mental, physical and social health. One report suggested that the “health gap” between rich and poor can be reduced by creating more green spaces.

The Tropical Medicine Research Institute at the University of the West Indies has reported that nearly half of Jamaicans have been reported as having low levels of physical activity, and are obese or overweight.  Many neighbourhoods are either unsafe or unpleasant to walk in. The diseases associated with these risk factors, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension are also well-known. Green spaces could be used to encourage more physical activity, but would, of course, have to be managed to ensure that they don”t become havens for drug dealers and living quarters for the homeless.

So while I will leave a detailed assessment of former Prime Minister Patterson’s legacy as a whole for another occasion, his decision to create Emancipation Park is one which I think, on the whole, was a good one.

PS  - incidentally, I also applaud and thank him for resisting the temptation to name it after himself or some other politician!

NB More photos below!!!

Catching a nap
Photo by DJ Miller

Those statues!!
Photo by DJ Miller

Photo by DJ Miller

Photo by DJ Miller

Photo by DJ Miller

“One Day on Earth” – sweeping global documentary

(Photo - Wikimedia Commons)

On Earth Day here in Jamaica, I watched “One Day on Earth,” an incredible documentary in which filmmakers across the world spent 24 hours taping on 10.10.10, (October 10, 2010) eventually resulting in 3000 hours of video, sculpted into this breathtaking documentary, described as the first film shot in every country in the world.

The result is not perfect. The running time is a little too long, and the ending feels somehow unsatisfying and incomplete.

Nevertheless, the film is a beautiful one, both in concept and in cinematography.  Its beauty lies in its diversity, in its multiple portraits of everyday people from all over the world, in the re-discovery of the moving similarities of our lives and the stark and often tragic differences. The sheer audacity and ambition of the project are impressive.

Fisherman Returning 10.10.10
photo - W.Alberto Velez

 

We see, for example, fishermen in different seas simultaneously at work, and the universal joy when babies are born.

 

 

 

 

 

Konbek Water Babies South Sudan 10.10.10
Photo - Project Education Sudan

In a later shot, however, we witness severe water shortages in Bali and the Congo, where desperate people drink water from animal troughs and contaminated wells, while developed countries like France, Canada and the United States have surplus water being used for decorative displays and recreational parks.

Belize wedding - 10.10.10
Olivera Rusu photo

This a story of  the tragedy of war and the giddiness of love, of the grandeur of nature and of  the pollution of man.

But above all, it is the story of people on earth on this one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People like us.

 

 

 

 

 

People unlike us.

Photo - Nita Deda - 10.10.10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One haunting image was that of an Ethiopian woman complaining that her daughter wouldn’t get married and preferred to go to school, and that of all her daughters, this one was the least use to her. We were left to imagine the difficulty of this young girl’s life, the pressure from her mother and community to enter an early marriage, and to pray for strength for her, and for someone to help her withstand the cultural mores which threaten to doom her to poverty and servitude. And that was just one brief moment in the film.

The project founders describe the documentary, which is the first in a series, as “creating a time capsule for the whole world to better understand itself.” Similar work was done on 11.11.11 and there will be a third marathon filming on the 12.12.12.  It will be interesting to see how the project directors differentiate the sequels. They have set a high bar for themselves.

Conclusion: Well worth watching 

Photo - Pamela Ruddick - 10.10.10

On Earth Day – Five Reasons I Love Jamaica

Jamaicans who live abroad say it’s not until you live in another country that you really appreciate how lovely this island is. Not me. I don’t need to move thousands of miles away and freeze my a## off to enjoy what’s all around me. Here are just 5 reasons why.

1. Every Saturday morning, the jellyman comes calling. Deliciously fresh coconut water and jelly right at my gate, although I live in the middle of the city. Or as several of my social media friends pointed out, some of us are lucky enough to have the coconuts growing right in our backyards!

2. Gloriously coloured flowers everywhere you turn. Whether you find them in a carefully cultivated garden, or in the form of a random “weed” growing by the roadside, their bright hues are so prevalent it is, actually, very easy to take this feature of Jamaican life for granted.

3. The sea, in all its moods – I felt compelled to stop by White Horses in St. Thomas the other day, just to look at the waves galloping in and snap a quick picture. And then there are our beaches. Sheer bliss!  I can never quite understand the delight with which people overseas jump into cold, grey, opaque water, but then, hey, I’m spoiled. Sparkling blue water, (generally) warm, so transparent you can see right down to the sandy, white bottom…that’s a beach!

(Doctor’s Cave Beach, Montego Bay – photo – Wikipedia)

4. The mountains – majestic, soaring all around us. The UWI Bowl is a great place to really FEEL the presence of our mountains. I climbed to the Blue Mountain Peak once, and will never forget it. It felt like we were on top of the world!

(photo – Wikimedia Commons)

5. The Fruits –the mango is surely one of the most glorious fruits on the planet, bar none!   Julie, Bombay, East Indian, Number 11 and more – who can choose?

(photo – ALEAIMAGE) 

Then there are the naseberry, sweetsop, grapefruit, starapple, guava (harder and harder to get those though), tangerine, ortanique, ugly, tamarind, pawpaw…I’m making myself hungry!

Sugar apple with its cross section (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What would you add to this list?

Related articles

• Protecting our Fish: Earth Day, Part 1 (petchary.wordpress.com)

A Weary Runner/Walker Asks “Where Are The Bins?”

 

Image from freedigitalphotos.net

So I joined the masses and did the Sigma Run/Walk/Wheelchair 5K Race.  Great event, for a fantastic cause and pushing the healthy lifestyle theme as well. My time? Hey I did it for charity!! Who’s watching the stopwatch? Especially when it becomes clear that you’re not breaking any records!!

I am, however, driven to ask – can we please have a few more bins along the way? Ok, make that a lot more bins. The only stretch on which you see lots of garbage bins is the stretch along Constant Spring and near to Half Way Tree.

For the initial part of the route, after you grab the first set of (very!) welcome plastic bags filled with juice/water/whatever,  and the last part, once you pass Half Way Tree, where you may grab another bag, there are very few bins of

Plastic Bag (Photo credit: Clearly Ambiguous)

any kind.  I know there is clean-up afterward, but isn’t there a way to minimise the need for clean-up, so runners/walkers don’t leave a sea of plastic bags in their wake?

After you take a few sips of the juice/water/whatever it is, you then have the choice of running with the unwanted plastic bag in your hand or throwing it onto the ground. Guess what most people do? So while you’re huffing and puffing, trying simply to keep one weary foot going in front of the other (ok, that’s me) you also have to be dodging plastic bags full of juice in case you slide and fall.

I know whatever is done, there will be people who will still just dump the bags on the ground, comfortable that someone will be coming later with a broom and a bin. Still, I don’t think it is beyond us to do this a little better.

It’s not just road races.  This is generally the case with most public events/functions in Jamaica. The attitude seems to be, someone will clean it up after so why bother. Well, it looks horrible. And we can do better.