I really hope Portia announces an election date on Sunday in Half-Way Tree. I mean man, it's about damn time! Don't you think?

All of last year, everybody was on pins and needles hoping that elections would be called because people really want to get on with their lives, deciding what they want to do, making up their minds if they are going to stay or run (as someone suggested to me earlier this week).

There are a million reasons why the Prime Minister has not yet announced an election date and many of them, I feel, had to do with the PNP's popularity or lack thereof. There was also the small matter of the ICC World Cup of Cricket which they hoped would have been a major success. Bobby Pickersgill even said as much. They just didn't figure on Bob Woolmer dying at the Pegasus which threw a monkey wrench into their plans.

Whatever the reason though, what is clear is that we clearly need some major constitutional changes following the elections and one of them should be the setting of a fixed election date. That way, parties would not be able to manipulate the setting of an election date to suit their own purposes.

Government contracts

Another thing I would like them to change is how government contracts are tendered, because this has been one of the major issues affecting the current administration. Contracts that require the spending of public funds are almost always awarded in secret and that is just, well, wrong!

There are politicians that will tell you that who they award government contracts to is the government's business and that is where they are wrong. Government's business is the people's business because it's the people's money that government is spending.

So here is my proposal. Whenever there is a contract to be awarded, Government will publish that the contract is up for tender. When the contract is to be awarded, a press conference is held in a very public location and that is where bids are tendered by the bidding companies. The bids which should be in sealed envelopes are not to be seen by any official until they are opened in full public view and read aloud and the lowest bidder awarded the contract, if they meet other well stipulated requirements. That contract should include the condition that any delays encountered during the execution of the contract will be absorbed by the contractor.

Of course, there would be other details that will be worked out, but I do feel that if this method is adopted, it would go a long way significantly to reduce the sea of corruption that puts billions of dollars into the pockets of unscrupulous business people and their political cohorts.

I hope someone brings this piece to the attention of the powers that be and I hope they take it under serious consideration because how long will it be before the people of Jamaica start getting some real value for the money they pay as taxes to Government each year or before they reach their breaking point, which we all feel is rapidly approaching.

P.S.

On the advice of a few of my readers I have decided to start a blog page, anansiweb.blogspot.com, which, oddly enough, has been set up for months now but was not 'operational'. There, I had ranted about a few issues including my views on why the West Indies cricket team can't do better, an opinion that many across the region are beginning to share. Take a look see and feel free to leave your thoughts.

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