Mark Wignall | University Hospital and taxes

The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) has admitted that it owes some J$18 billion in taxes. Yes, that’s right - J$18 billion in taxes to the Government. With penalties and late fees, the amount is some J$40 billion. That is a lot of money. We are all aware that the PAC is investigating, so we await the findings.

A nest of questions are stirred up. For how long has yhr UHWI not been meeting its tax obligations to the Government of Jamaica? Who allowed this $18 billion amount to accrue? Why was this allowed? Why did the appropriate officials at the UHWI not advise of the inability to pay and request a payment plan? Why did the appropriate officials at the UHWI allow interest and late penalties to cause the total amount owed to balloon to $40 billion? What is the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ role in this mess? Did the tax collector or agency responsible for collecting the tax institute any collection proceedings against the UHWI and if they did, when did they do so? Was any action taken by the UHWI to request tax relief?

Jamaica is a poor country even if at times we use fancy terminology to moderate the word poor. Every dollar of revenue owed to the Government counts. If the UHWI had paid all taxes owed, how many schools could have been built or upgraded? How many farmers could have been helped? How many roads could have been repaired or upgraded? How many hospitals could have received new equipment or been built? How many houses could have been built for the poor?How many teachers could have been hired?How many small businesses could have been given microloans?

As much as the Holness administration may claim that it is the favourite of the voting population, it must be admitted that the people of Jamaica are generally treated so poorly by their elected members and bureaucrats to the point that shamelessness abounds. But sadly, the UHWI is only the tip of the financial mismanagement of government revenue collection in Jamaica.

SYMPATHY FOR CHINESE WORKERS

It was recently reported that eight Chinese nationals were held by the authorities for overstaying and working without requisite permits. As it turned out, they were contacted in Guangdong, China, and taken to work in building construction in Clarendon, Jamaica. I offer sympathy for one simple reason: Chinese construction workers are very good at what they do while Jamaican workers are better off being flagmen.

One very visible example of the Chinese at work is the Spanish Town Hospital. It is superb. In July of last year, Duane Smith, member of parliament for North West St Andrew, was seen on YouTube boasting about roadworks under the SPARK umbrella. He was in a section of Meadowbrook in his constituency.

I distinctly remember seeing a Chinese national in hard hat in regular supervision at Addington Drive, a road running north of Meadowbrook Main. At that time, sections of Meadowbrook roads were being repaired. Well, if you have the time today or tomorrow and you just happen to live in the area, take a look at Addington, the road supervised by the Chinese national.

It is built with a camber, and the guttering is built to ensure that there is no space for water seepage to the substrate. It is known that traffic weight and rain seepage to the substrate bring about surface damage and pothole misery. Jamaicans know this, yet they continue to do substandard work.

The surface of Addington looks as if billiards could be played on it while all the other roads built under SPARK are in various states of terrible ruin due to rain and poor workmanship. The big question is, why has Addington stood up?

The simple answer isthat the Chinese are superior to Jamaicans in all aspects of building. In almost every instance of road repairs in Jamaica our people have proven that they are better at slap-dash work while the Chinese score higher on diversity, smartness, and speed.

In fact, road repairs experience over many years has led to the belief that the road- construction industry is the perfect fuel for long-term corruption in Jamaica.

I can appreciate that the gates of employment in Jamaica cannot be spread wide to harm Jamaicans. But that is not what is happening here. Our people either will not or cannot do optimum road repairs, so our lawmakers must create a statute that benefits the people and not the ones tha bring harm. If allowing in Chinese nationals where Jamaicans fall down on the job is seen as a necessity, then so be it.

Based on the diversity training among Chinese construction workers, those eight Chinese nationals held in Clarendon would count as probably more than 20 Jamaican workers. Think about that. They work better than us, cover wider areas of work, and it is a no contest in terms of speed to completion.

I hate to write this but …

Mark Wignall is a political and public affairs analyst. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com.