THE SUNDAY GLEANER, NOVEMBER 24, 2019 | NEWS

A3

Alexis: Health first over beautification
THE GOVERNMENT’S decision to invest mosquito, it is not there and, yes, it is true that I$1.3 billion into an islandwide sanitation, am in representational politics and my opponent
drain cleaning and beautification programme will receive that money, let me just say that, but
is being met with some amount of objection it is not saving lives,” Alexis told editors andfrom one medical doctor who feels that the reporters during a Gleaner Editors’ Forum heldmoney could be better spent onlast Thursday at the newspaper’s
The Gleaner
improving health facilities.
North Street, Kingston offices.
Opposition spokesman on“That $15 million could have
health, Dr Shane Alexis, believes
provided an ultrasound [machine]that the money should be invested
at the Annotto Bay Hospital thatin improving both the humanwill save lives, so our priorities
resources and the physical plants
can’t just be for expediency or towithin the health sector, as the mass migration of make big announcement with big numbers, it
health professionals has impacted the country’s has to be driven by technical data and where you
ability to deal with health crises such as dengue have the greatest impact,” he said.
fever, which has claimed at least 44 lives.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness had disclosed“When the prime minister announces $1.3 in Parliament recently that the $1.3-billion mitbillion or $15 million to every member of par- igation programme will be rolled out in theliament to fight a mosquito in potholes and gul- 63 constituencies islandwide and will last forlies, the mosquito Aedes aegypti is a domestic four months. He said the project would focus

primarily on the clearing of blocked drains andgullies; debushing of roadsides, gully banks andverges; and the collecting of municipal waste; aswell as beautification of public spaces.
The mitigation exercise would be implemented
by the National Works Agency in collaboration with
the National Solid Waste Management Authority
and the Ministry of Health and Wellness. While MPs
would get the opportunity to identify the projects intheir constituencies, the NWA would have the taskof implementing the programme. An additional $1billion was also invested to fighting dengue.
But given the huge demand for health services,
Alexis has questioned the decision to invest in
this programme and not the health sector instead.
“We have not invested in our structure in a meaningful way in many years, and breaking ground andannouncements are not saving lives,“ he lamented.
nadine.wilson@gleanerjm.com

Grange:AttendBeale’s
plays intribute
Dr Shane Alexis, opposition
spokesperson on health,addressing a Gleaner Editors’
Forum at the newspaper’s
Kingston offices last Thursday.

‘Big deal’conferencefor JLP
Holness to outline plansto build JamaicaErica Virtue

Senior Gleaner WriterFOR THE second consecutive year, Jamaica Labour
Party (JLP) leader Andrew
Holness will face party faithful at
an annual conference after losinga Cabinet minister under a cloudof corruption.
Holness, who is also the prime
minister, lost Ruel Reid, his education and information minister,in March this year, following allegations of irregularities and financial impropriety at the Ministry ofEducation and its related agencies.
The JLP leader has said little todate on the Reid affair, which is
the latest blow to the Government
he leads, especially after his commitment to anti-corruption efforts
at his 2016 swearing-in.
However, he admitted toLabourites during a party meeting that he was “saddened” by thestains on the party, and last weekat a closed-door meeting in St Ann
he spoke to the issue of corruption,
warning the party’s representatives.
Reid was arrested early lastmonth, along with head of the
Caribbean Maritime University(CMU) Professor Fritz Pinnock,following a raid in October conducted by the Major Organised
Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency(MOCA), Financial Investigations
Division (FID) and the Constabulary
Financial Unit of the CounterTerrorism and Organised Crime
Division (CTOC). His wife anddaughter, and a JLP councillor werealso arrested in the early-morningraids.
A Holness insider said last weekthat the JLP remains the best choice
to lead Jamaica at this time, and the“prime minister will outline plans tobuild Jamaica to make it clear thatthe opposition (People’s NationalParty) is incapable”.

INNOVATIVE POLICY IDEAS
Party Chairman Robert Montague
said the conference will be a “bigdeal”.
“Our 76th annual conferenceis going to be a big deal. Thisconference will see us engaging
our base, hearing from them as
we look to begin the long processof reviewing new and innovative
policy ideas,” said Montague inprepared responses to The SundayGleaner.
“We will be assessing our performance as a party in government, andchecking to ensure that in our fourthyear, we begin the process of candidate assessment and selection,”
Montague also said.
It is not known how many seats
are yet to have a representative
named by the JLP, but seats considered strongly in favour of theopposition are usually filled closer
to the declaration of elections. It isalso not known if the ailing Shahine
Robinson, MP for St Ann North
East, will contest the next election
constitutionally due in 2021, but
widely expected to be next year.
Sunday Gleaner sources say

THE ENTERTAINMENT community was thrust into mourning
yesterday with the sudden deathof playwright, Paul Beale.
Olivia Grange, minister of culture,gender, entertainment and sport, said
she was saddened to learn of Beale’s
death, and paid tribute to him as “anoutstanding playwright who dedicatedhis life to Jamaican theatre”.
Beale passed away on Friday
after returning from rehearsals for
his latest productions.
“Paul’s role in the developmentof the Jamaican theatre was invaluable,” said Grange.
“He gave his all each time,
whether in the role of writer, actor,
director or producer. We must neverforget his contribution and the characters that he’s left with us.”She added: “As a tribute to Paul,I encourage everyone who is able
to attend his latest plays – Melcita
and the plumber and Rasta’s
Wedding Proposal – on Sunday
at Carter Hall, Holy Cross Church,
Half-Way Tree, and give support tohis family, friends and colleagues.”
Grange also extended condolences to Paul Beale’s family.

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER SERJU

the prime minister has sought tonudge some long-standing membersof parliament away from representation, but there has been resistanceto the efforts.
One sitting member of parliament is said to have chased aHolness supporter from a constituency this year, after it was madeclear that permission was beingsought to ‘understudy’ him. The MP
is one of several “multiple-term”
representatives the party is seeking
to replace.
“We will use the conference toseek feedback, to see if we canadjust, where necessary, our programmes and policies to ensurethat the gains we have alreadyachieved keep delivering the prosperity that Jamaica deserves,” saidthe chairman.
He said the conference will also
report on the assessment of manifesto promises, highlight achievements and review of caretakers.

As soon as The Gleaner’s Christopher Serju explained he was from Jamaica andmentioned Usain Bolt, Koki asked “Bolto?” and struck the sprinter’s trademark ‘To theWorld’ pose. Serju was visiting the Mashiki Chuo Elementary School in Mashiki, Japan,during his recent participation in the 2019 Japan Journalism Fellowship organised bythe Association for Promotion of International Cooperation in collaboration with theForeign Press Center Japan, and which this year is centred on the environment anddisaster preparedness. See Serju’s Reflections on Japan on Pages D9 and D10.

JUSTICECONTINUED FROM A1
impact statement in respect of theimpact of international arms trafficking on Jamaica,” Llewellyn told
The Sunday Gleaner.
A senior law-enforcement officialrevealed that the case was cracked
through good old-fashioned police
work.
“We collected scientific evidence
at the warehouse. When we checkedit against our system, nothing cameup, so we sent it to the Americans
and that’s how Rhooms landed on
our radar.”In a jab at the Jamaican judiciary, the senior law-enforcement
source said a decision was taken to
repackage the weapons and send
them to the American authorities
for Rhooms to be prosecuted there.
“All now he would not be tried inJamaica. And even if he was convicted, he would get, what, four

GOVERNMENT’S SUCCESSES
Holness will be boasting successat the Government’s infrastructural development programme insections of the city, despite themissed deadlines for works in theCorporate Area. Heavy islandwide
rainfall in 2019 has also impacted
completion dates. He can also celebrate record low unemployment
levels and a relatively stable macroeconomic environment which
has resulted in the reduction of
the debt-to-GDP ratio.
But there is no escape from thestench of corruption hanging overthe head of the Government led by
the post-Independence-born primeminister.
Jamaica, in 2018, was seenas the 70th least corrupt nationout of 175 countries, according to the Corruption Perception
Index reported by Transparency
International. Jamaica ranked as
average 72.32 from 1998 until 2018,
and saw its best placement of 99
in 2009 and its worst, 45 in 2002.
In the 2017 report, Jamaica placed
68th out of 180 countries.
The prime minister will also
have to help raise trust in theGovernment and address crime,largely subdued by zones of special operations and localised statesof emergency.

months?” the source questioned.
Llewellyn steered clear of that
assertion, explaining that the decision to allow US authorities toprosecute Rhooms was based ona “careful evaluation of all thecircumstances”.

EXTENSIVE DISCUSSIONS“I don’t want to get into some of
it publicly, but after extensive discussions with two senior membersof my staff who worked closely withlaw enforcement [Jamaican and US]
and since he was domiciled there,
we thought that it be best dealt withover there,” she said.
“The most important thing isthat the interest of justice has been
well served. To me, it matters notwhether it’s in Jamaica or in theUS. It shows the collaboration andcooperation between the prosecuting authorities and law enforcement
in both our countries, which ultimately serves the ends of justice.”
According to newly released
details, Jamaican law-enforcement

authorities zeroed in on the Adolph
Levy Warehouse on July 20, 2017
after the local intelligence community was alerted about two suspicious containers.
“The first container was searched
and what appeared to be a decoy
strategy was employed by the criminal. This was in the form of toy
guns and what appeared to be useless household items,” one sourcerevealed.
But the team hit pay dirt during asearch of the second container when
the guns and ammunition were foundalmost in plain sight in a blue barrel that was shipped in the name of‘Roy Ricketts’ and consigned to ‘Eric
Ricketts’ of a Kingston 20 address,
one source disclosed.
“Based on what we saw, thePaul O. Bealeshipper seemed to have had a lotof confidence that the shipment
would have gone through without
detection because, away from thefact that the weapons were lightly
wrapped in various layers of tapeand carbon papers, there was verylittle attempt to disguise them. They
were almost at the top of the barrel,”the source continued.
Rhooms was deported from theUnited Kingdom to Jamaica inMay 2008 after two drug-related
convictions in April 2002 andFebruary 2006, according to police
sources. But months later, he reportedly ‘moved’ to the US and wasarrested on drug charges in Florida
in February last year.
livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com

NOTICE

Notice of Extraordinary General Meetingfor Proprietors' Strata Plan
#2413, 9 OTTAWA Avenue,Kingston 6.
Venue: The Gazebo
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Date: December 8th, 2019erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com

Friday, November 22, 20198 20 22 34 35
No Winner
No Winner
No Winner
7 Winners
20 Winners
223 Winners
234 Winners
739 Winners$243,500,000

1No Winner
No Winner
No Winner
4 Winners
13 Winners
150 Winners
157 Winners
500 Winners