Mark Wignall | Dayton Campbell bows big to Daryl Vaz

Back in the days of internal party politics when members of one’s own tribe delighted in oral sniping designed to destroy, one name arose because it was always enjoyed no matter the political currency.  
The People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) indulged. The thing is, as much as it hurt Minister Vaz, it was politically wise for him to ignore it, label it, and continue in one’s politics.
From: Dr Dayton Campbell, general secretary of the PNP.
“On or about July 2023, I made statements on the political platform, which upon later reflection, I came to realize could have been interpreted as connecting the Honourable Daryl Vaz to the murder of Diane Smith as well as an alleged plot to assassinate the then Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Andrew Holness in 2015. 
“... I hereby categorically apologize to Mr. Vaz and his family for any pain and embarrassment they may have suffered by my statements, and I agree that I will not repeat the statements or the innuendos and insinuations contained therein at any time in the future. “
This is really big and politically important. They do not constitute just Daryl Vaz’s words. They are the contents of a lawsuit. Officially, it costs Dr. Dayton Campbell $1.5 million towards meeting costs.
This is a huge blow to Dr Campbell. In the future political campaigns, he will be forced to clutch for more than a shred of responsibility.
Score one massively big for Vaz. 
FAKE NEWS ABOUT KARI LAKE 
In 2015, the ultimate Mr Nice Guy president, Barack Obama, visited and tried his quiet charm offensive on China. I don’t think it landed so well on Jamaica. More progressive Jamaicans understand that Americans cannot slow down the fast-accelerating Chinese economy in the rear-view mirror. The hard fact is that the open idiocy of the Trump White House has made the Chinese to have a presence in many areas of geopolitics, not the least of which is Cuba.  
The latest bit of rumour is that Ms Lake is prepared to unleash and invoke the might of gigantic American infrastructure in Jamaica to create a shock to the Chinese. Not a chance. Not even worth the rumour.
In China’s long-run politics, Beijing strategically crawls in oil movements, arms growth, and its huge navy footprint.  And the extent to which its global encroachment is effective. 
China knows that if it sends millions of tons of rice, corn, or oil into new flotillas in say, Cuba, it cannot be stopped. It reigns number one in what the march of time has practically ordained is to be. Donald Trump made it possible. 
CRANED NECK INSIDE THE HEALTH SYSTEM
No health minister in Jamaica will ever be able to deliver the most needed healthcare to the poorest in the population. What happens is that poor people are kept in their places, that is, in long lines, a handful of uncomfortable wooden benches, especially among the elderly. The general hospital constitutes the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and other hospitals islandwide, plus a cavalcade of crowded clinics.   
And then comes the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), the cash register of the public-health system. At the KPH and other clinics, pray that you reach home before dusk. Having done my bit of observation, I have seen money transactions right at the side of the hospital bed.  To be quite fair, modernity has crept into the system.  Although a standard X-ray still exists, there is a machine that can be applied to the patient, lying on his chest, via electronic connections. 
There is a section of the UHWI that seems to be designed to fit the poor. Pay your fee, wait in a long, unforgettable space of about 140 people, and hope one doesn’t faint before one’s name is called.
Said the doctor to me last week. the UWHI is a private hospital. That is what it has become, and, what it is, one would hope that the excellent nursing staff, ancillary and junior doctors benefit from the medical economy at UHWI. 
THE LESS-THAN-FUNNY DOWNSIDE
A heavily shackled prisoner. No part of his hands are available for freedom. Violence constantly engulfs his insides, and the tall policeman standing over by his bed comforts his assault rifle. A medical professor falls into a dangerous social trap. According to the prisoner, the professor threatened to inject him. The prisoner threatens to end his life. Says the professor. “I am Professor XYZ. Big mistake. Accusation of murder, mayhem. Garrison in Spanish Town. 
Another single man, handcuffs. Two policemen. I didn’t sign up for this. I ask a young nurse to pull down one of the beds. I slip off the bed, and she leads me in an exercise. A young man in a bed close to mine. He refuses Panadol because according to him, it gives him a headache. A small laugh. 
At a bed in front of me lies a huge man. He eats about every 20 minutes. Soup, a fast food bucket, porridge. Whatever they are treating him for must clash with his huge dietary intake. 
I call the young man over because he intrigues me. “Why did you become a nurse?” I ask. 
“My mother was a nurse in Nigeria.” He is easily the most involved nurse in Ward 2.  At some stage, it is far from fun watching patients taking whole blood. I want to go home, even just to eat a non-bland plate of food or a cold sorrel drink.
It is quite difficult to conclude that the health balance has been struck. At this free clinic, the man has his captive audience. He preaches the Bible. Ten minutes later he hides in a seedy little bar 100 metres away and plays the slot machine. Real freedom.
If one is not 100 per cent well, the distance from the car park to the cashier is taxing. Sometimes one is not so sure where to keep the parking ticket, thus an attempt to avoid corruption creates a bit of chaos.
A workable national health system for the poor requires a population of people that has shucked off poverty. Many of them ought to be paying a health tax.

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