Sunday Sips with HG Helps | A protest at the right time, ‘Inaction’ Edwards doesn’t get it, World Cup star Doku deserves better, and weeping for Venezuela

A protest to try and save Jamaica

A prior commitment on Tuesday, June 30 will prevent me from participating in an event that would show my disgust with some of the decisions that the Jamaican Government has made in recent times.

The protest, organised by non-denominational, non-political group Stand For Jamaica, aims to lodge its objection, in Cross Roads, St Andrew, from 7:00 am to 9:00 am, to, among others, three important issues that have been dogging the nation.

The matter of the embrace of people of varying nationalities who have been deemed to have done wrong in the United States, and sending them here as bewildered folks; the need for transparency in respect of the use of donations from the billion-dollar Hurricane Melissa Relief Fund, and the whole business of accountability as it relates to removal from office of public officials recommended for criminal prosecution by the Integrity Commission, are high on the agenda.

In the latter, the reality of Cabinet minister Dr Andrew Wheatley deciding to sit in office still, despite the adverse findings of the Integrity Commission on his conduct while serving as a public officer, is baffling.

Despite calls made by individuals and organisations within Jamaica and the Diaspora for him to step aside, Dr Wheatley continues to operate as if he is the owner of Blackman Glue Ltd, and remains stuck to the chair of shame, trying to defend the indefensible through high-profile, pricy lawyers or otherwise.

But it is not difficult to understand why Dr Wheatley has not decided to, as rural folk used to say, take shame out of his eye. He, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, has his full backing … until such time. A time that we hardly know of.

Dr Wheatley should not feel proud of a man who has himself been down that road before, in trying to carry the Integrity Commission wide – the same commission that he established in 2017 to expose the very thing that he has been accused of.

So, the wait continues. But as is the norm these days, Jamaican politicians stick around for longer than they should, probably because corruption is largely recognised by especially the younger generation these days, as something that ought to be cheered on by all.

That is the unfortunate reality.

Rubbish, Markland ‘Inaction’ Edwards

One of the individuals whom you would have thought ought to know how to flush foolishness down the drain is broadcaster and politician Markland Edwards, popularly known as ‘Action’.

In an article carried by Our Today, Edwards came out forcefully in defence of beleaguered fellow Jamaica Labour Party politician, Dr Andrew Wheatley who is facing the heat over recently revealed findings of the Integrity Commission.

Then, I found out just why he was beaten so badly during the Portmore mayoral election by the incumbent Leon Thomas.

Not even the people of Portmore believed in his message, and I daresay that fewer do now, with his silly embrace of Dr Wheatley.

The rule of law, and not public opinion, should apply in Wheatley’s case, Edwards argued, though in the case of others and the ‘rule of law’ when poor people are accused, he remains silent.

We all know that most accused people in Jamaica are not treated as ‘innocent until proven guilty’, unless they are either politicians or seen as movers and shakers of the land.

He said that he believes in Dr Wheatley’s credibility, character and the work that he has done for Jamaica’s benefit. 

Others, I am sure, do; some do not.

In this case, however, there can be no question marks left hanging. There is a process, and that process should also mean that Dr Wheatley should step aside until he can prove to every judging brain that he is not the kind of man that the Integrity Commission has made him out to be.

When you see, among others, the highly conservative Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica calling for the biochemist by training to be relieved from his position until the matter is straightened out, you know that things are bad.

How can the Prime Minister not see that?

But then, we are talking about Jamaica, not the United Kingdom where British Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer has announced his resignation for something that would be considered normal in our land.

Edwards would do mankind a favour by telling his ‘brother’ to his face that while he admires him, something just does not seem right, and as a consequence, it would be good for him to chill until such time.

That’s what real friends often do.

World Cup star Doku deserves better

The unfortunate heat that was plugged onto Belgium’s World Cup football star winger Jeremy Doku, should never have been contemplated.

Doku decided to leave Belgium’s camp in Seattle, USA, prematurely, in order to witness the birth of his first child, a son appropriately named Praise, in England, 10 to 12 hours away by air.

The intention was for him to return to the team’s camp after the joy produced by his wife, Shireen Erin Lyannda Raymond and himself had simmered. He has since done that.

The 24-year-old, an important member of Manchester City in the English Premiership, was chastised by so many haters on social media that left you to wonder if the word ‘compassion’ exists in their vocabulary.

How could Doku have done anything otherwise? Which real man would leave his wife to bear the pain and pressure alone at such a time?

Sometimes I have to wonder whether or not the colour of Doku’s skin had anything to do with why he was (and continues to be) so brutally criticised. 

There is nothing irregular, or strange, for sportsmen to return home from tournaments abroad, to be around their wives or partners during times of childbirth. It has happened across sports, and only the ‘sick ina head’ people have problems with it.

Taking a decision like Doku’s, demonstrates the kind of mature and committed baptised Christian man that he is.

He should be showered with praise, not burnt at the stake.

Oh, how we weep for Venezuela

It’s a few days short of six months since the tremor of the kidnapping of Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro by United States armed forces occurred. 

Now, two massive earthquakes, seconds apart, of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, have shattered lives and dreams of millions of natives from the popular oil-rich South American country.

At last check, the effects of last week’s quakes had left over 1,500 dead, and thousands injured or missing. By extension, many continue to suffer.

It is the kind of disaster that no nation would want to have to handle.

Yet, reality has set in, and to add to the political woes that Venezuela has had to undergo in recent years, what with dire economic challenges, and the capture of Maduro, toiling in a United States prison waiting on a trial that clearly is illegal, unfair and unjust, the days to come will be rugged.

So far, rescue efforts have kept fatalities down, but aid has been coming in at a trickle. The United States has committed US$150 million in support…a drop in the bucket, if not an insult, when that gesture is compared to federal spending on useless wars.

Officials have said that the earthquakes, which lasted for around a minute in total, had resulted in the greatest acts of physical destruction upon the land. Over 150 buildings have collapsed in Caracas, the capital, alone.

Food, that was always in short supply, and shelter, are priceless now.

Entire families have been wiped out, and the people are weeping uncontrollably in some areas.

Watching footage on the major networks, the BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera, is painful.

Venezuela is a great country. Its people will fight on, and with support, the recovery can be effective and meaningful.

I notice that Jamaica has offered to assist with the recovery efforts, and while it might be tricky for the Government and people of the Spanish-speaking nation to accept any handouts from a hypocritical Caribbean nation that has been so ungrateful to them in recent years, with stab-in-the-back activities, anything will do for now.