$60 Million on High End Luxury Vehicles

Posted by ONLINE on Thursday, November 29, 2012


I can understand a person being outrage out of principle but I dislike when people have selective outrage based purely on political bias. The outrage that manifest itself because one party did something wrong should be the same outrage expressed when the party you support is also guilty of the same crime. You cannot defend almshouse when it is being done by your party but is outrage over the same almshouse when the other party does it, which is just pure hypocrisy and almshouse.

One thing I pride myself on is the fact that I am governed by a certain set of core principles that are guided by a well establish ideology. I do not adjusted my principles or ideology to match the views of any political party, I am not blinded by some form of partisan “diehardism”... I have been on this earth long enough to know when the political class is trying to take me for a fool. This is a game played by the Political class, a game which I simply refuse to play.


A couple weeks ago it was highlighted that the current PNP Government spent $60 million of our hard earn tax dollars on 16 High End Luxury Vehicles for our elected officials. When questioned about it, the Prime Minister’s excuse was that the last Government had bought 18 High End Luxury Vehicles during their term in office but took most of these vehicles with them when they were voted out of office and as a result the fleet was depleted, which left the Government no choice but to buy more. What was most shocking to me was that neither the Prime Minister nor any of her over educated party members picked up on the fact that this policy of High End Luxury Vehicles procurement and disposal was in fact a bad policy and needed to be changed. That to buy a new fleet of High End Luxury Vehicles each time a new administration comes to power only to have them take it home with them when they leave office, was a massive waste of tax payers’ money.

I am shocked that these over educated, elected technocrats could not come up with a more cost effective permanent solution, such as a policy to manage the procurement, allocation, reallocation and disposal of a static fleet of moderately priced, environmentally friendly Government Vehicles, controlled by a publicly audited permanent entity that is outside the control of the elected officials. The disposal of tax payer owned, Government vehicles after an agreed upon time should be done via a public auction that our elected officials are prevented from taking part, since it creates a conflict of interest. The last time I checked, our elected officials were being paid handsomely while they represents us and do not have to drive their personal cars, so they have no excuse when leaving office not to be able to afford to buy their own vehicles.


I do not think our political class understand why they were elected/hired, you were not elected to look cool driving big expensive cars, wearing expensive suits and jet setting around the world. You were not elected because we care about your already over inflated egos, we could not care less how you feel. You were not elected to play the part of Big Man, the Don, Mr. Big Shot, the Big Cheese, hell no, that is not why we elected you and you were not elected because you look good, ...because you looking good... does not help any of us ...it does nothing for us and future generation of this country.

You were elected to find solutions to our problems, you were elected to improve our standards of living, you were elected to create the conditions that will grow our economy, improve our lot in life and keep us gainfully employed, you were elected to create the conditions that would improve our health, education and infrastructure. You were elected to bring down the level of crime and make us feel safe, You were elected to keep the cost of Government down in relation to income. 

Your glory does not come from your ability to talk the talk, to make grand over the top promises and drive High End Luxury Vehicles... No Mr. Politician, your Glory ONLY comes from you Implementing Solutions to our Problems, that is the only reason we elected you and the only reason we pay you... and Nothing Else Matters!!..

The Solution
The PNP or the JLP Government would have been respected by the Jamaican people if they had walked into Parliament and declared that there was a clear loophole in the way Government Vehicles were being bought and disposed of. That this loophole was costing the Jamaican people millions and that their Government came up with a permanent solution to change the bad policy thus plugging the loophole and saving the country millions of dollars to improve our lives… All Hail the Chief!... For he is a Jolly Good Fellow!!!


The revelation of the $60 million on High End Luxury Vehicles was an instant turn on and hard on for members of the opposition and their sheep like diehard supporters as this was their big “Got You Moment”, it seems our political class is only being paid by the tax payers to jump on “Got You Moments”. Failing to realize that when they formed the Government they did not introduce a new policy to manage the procurement, allocation, reallocation and disposal of Government vehicles but instead, while they were in power bought 18 of these High End Luxury Vehicles for themselves and they took most of them when they left office…“you cannot make this stuff up”.

Diehards only have a one dimensional view of life, if my party does it then it’s OK,  look the other way and whistle Dixie or defend it to the hills but if the other party does it then outrage, hell on earth, look how dem wicked. This ladies and gentleman is the selective outrage of which I speak, not based on any principle but on partisan, political “diehardism”. They were not outrage when the Jamaica Observer reported that the outgoing JLP Government took most of the High End Luxury Vehicles, so why the big hoopla now? Please spare me your phony pretend, “scoring cheap political points, got you moment” outrage which proves you care more about your party then this country.

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Jamaica Gleaner: 2008 - $30m spent on SUVs for Cabinet ministers
Prime Minister Bruce Golding's government has not changed course from the previous administration's apparent affinity for high-maintenance, gas-guzzling SUVs. Documents gleaned under the Access to Information Act have shown that, since taking up the reins of the country some eight months ago, the Golding-led government has spent close to $30 million on SUVs alone for at least 10 of its Cabinet and junior ministers.

Jamaica Gleaner: 2008 JLP Cabinet ministers clock millions in pricey SUVs
After 18 years in the political wilderness, the Jamaica Labour Party has returned to the helm of government with a love affair for gas-guzzling SUVs, costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

Former JLP Ministers Snap up gov't Rides
2009 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado was sold to former Minister of Sport Olivia 'Babsy' Grange for $1,830,276 no mention was made of the value/purchase price.

Jamaica Gleaner: Dec 2, 2012 - "State-sponsored rape" ..Gordon Robinson,
2012 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado purchased and assigned to Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna, valued at $3,137,380.15
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The fact of the matter is, it was dead wrong when the JLP Government took tax payers money and buy 18 High End Luxury Vehicles only to park some in them front yards on leaving office and it equally dead wrong when this PNP Government took tax payers hard earn money and buy themselves 16 High End Luxury Vehicles and you cannot be outrage now but was not outrage then. A total of 34 High End Luxury Vehicles was bought with hard earned tax payer’s money, at a time when this country can least afford it and even if we could afford it, we still should not squander money like that and because the people are not governed by principle then we should not expect this policy to change anytime soon, principle would force people to turn around to the party they support and condemn this wicked and heartless act and demand change.

This clearly gives us an idea of the mindset of our elected officials, they are part and parcel of the Jamaican society, materialistic in every way and they are not afraid to rob us blind to ensure their materialistic ways.

Another Pig at the Trough, even though he was practical about the short Sleeve Suit
Donovan Stanberry, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, has once again raised many eyebrows and set tongues wagging since the arrival of his spanking new 2012 C-Class Mercedes-Benz with an elegance package and a current price tag of $6.3 million.

Eyebrows raised over Stanberry's Benz

Idi Amin like complex...Mr. Big and Large Big Shot


Not even Sir Humphrey Appleby, GCB, KBE, MVO, MA (Oxon) Permanent Secretary for the Department of Administrative Affairs from the British television series "Yes Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" would have acted in such a low and disgusting manner, although there were a couple episodes where he came pretty close.


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