Dear Editor,
From reading a letter by Errol K Miller, praising William Mahfood in your June 1, 2016 newspaper, I formed a good impression of the former president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).
But now I find myself reassessing my view of Mahfood after reading his statement in your August 31, 2016 issue in which he seems to be somewhat unthinking and not fully aware of how things work in Jamaica.
Your paper quotes him saying that Jamaica needs to create a proper mechanism to minimise hurdles to investment, and that calling Daryl Vaz just doesn’t cut it. He said: “Right now, if you need to get something done people tell you you can call Daryl, or you can do this — that is not a system. You know, you have to put in place a process.”
The statement, by itself, is not the problem, because calling one man to solve problems in business is not a system. But, when taken in its proper context, one can see that Mahfood has completely missed the point.
Jamaica is not short of business processes, regulations or laws which, if they are only implemented or enforced, would make life so much easier for all of us. The problem is that they don’t work for a variety of unfortunate reasons, causing all sorts of bottlenecks and headaches. So having someone working 24/7 to ensure that these processes work, by removing the cogs and knocking down the barriers, is actually a brilliant idea.
Vaz, who is the minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, is the best person for that job. That is why under then Prime Minister Bruce Golding he earned the name “Mr Fix-It”, because he did just that when faced with problems. Mahfood doesn’t know when he is ahead of the game.
In that same article he went on to lavish praise on himself for a variety of things which amount to little more than ‘talk shop’ during an undistinguished term as president of the PSOJ — that he did not even complete. I am still waiting to see a William Mahfood initiative that sets him apart.
He said that, as PSOJ head, he was vocal on issues affecting regional trade, calling for more equity in the trading relationship between Trinidad and Jamaica, in particular, and claiming credit for the visit of Prime Minister Keith Rowley.
What I noticed was that there was much noise before the visit, but when face to face with the Trinidad and Tobago prime minister everybody was running around like little puppies. All the arguments evaporated and the barking dogs became like wimps.
As head of the PSOJ Mahfood also called for the new Government to continue on the path of fiscal and economic reform and to engage in greater facilitation of the business environment at the small and medium-sized enterprise level. He got that in Mr Daryl Vaz.
Mahfood has found himself in the situation of the dog which is chasing the motor car. When he catches it, he doesn’t know what to do with it.
Joseph ‘Straight Talker’ Thelwell
Jstt2014@gmail.com
From reading a letter by Errol K Miller, praising William Mahfood in your June 1, 2016 newspaper, I formed a good impression of the former president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).
But now I find myself reassessing my view of Mahfood after reading his statement in your August 31, 2016 issue in which he seems to be somewhat unthinking and not fully aware of how things work in Jamaica.
Your paper quotes him saying that Jamaica needs to create a proper mechanism to minimise hurdles to investment, and that calling Daryl Vaz just doesn’t cut it. He said: “Right now, if you need to get something done people tell you you can call Daryl, or you can do this — that is not a system. You know, you have to put in place a process.”
The statement, by itself, is not the problem, because calling one man to solve problems in business is not a system. But, when taken in its proper context, one can see that Mahfood has completely missed the point.
Jamaica is not short of business processes, regulations or laws which, if they are only implemented or enforced, would make life so much easier for all of us. The problem is that they don’t work for a variety of unfortunate reasons, causing all sorts of bottlenecks and headaches. So having someone working 24/7 to ensure that these processes work, by removing the cogs and knocking down the barriers, is actually a brilliant idea.
Vaz, who is the minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, is the best person for that job. That is why under then Prime Minister Bruce Golding he earned the name “Mr Fix-It”, because he did just that when faced with problems. Mahfood doesn’t know when he is ahead of the game.
In that same article he went on to lavish praise on himself for a variety of things which amount to little more than ‘talk shop’ during an undistinguished term as president of the PSOJ — that he did not even complete. I am still waiting to see a William Mahfood initiative that sets him apart.
He said that, as PSOJ head, he was vocal on issues affecting regional trade, calling for more equity in the trading relationship between Trinidad and Jamaica, in particular, and claiming credit for the visit of Prime Minister Keith Rowley.
What I noticed was that there was much noise before the visit, but when face to face with the Trinidad and Tobago prime minister everybody was running around like little puppies. All the arguments evaporated and the barking dogs became like wimps.
As head of the PSOJ Mahfood also called for the new Government to continue on the path of fiscal and economic reform and to engage in greater facilitation of the business environment at the small and medium-sized enterprise level. He got that in Mr Daryl Vaz.
Mahfood has found himself in the situation of the dog which is chasing the motor car. When he catches it, he doesn’t know what to do with it.
Joseph ‘Straight Talker’ Thelwell
Jstt2014@gmail.com