Spin, Spin, Spin

In Parliament last Friday, Opposition MP Dr Hamza Rafeeq listed a litany of suspect activities at the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA). These included a payroll list which exceeded the number of official employees; persons hired at the highest salary range without tendering, interviews, or even listing of their qualifications; and, of course, non-payment of PAYE and the health surcharge, with that money vanishing either into thin air or deep pockets. It remains to be seen whether all these irregularities are, first of all, true and, if so, whether they were due to corruption, incompetence, or some combination thereof. But, to Dr Rafeeq’s accusation of nepotism involving NWRHA Chairman Hugh Eastman and the head-hunting firm Eastman and Associates, Health Minister John Rahael responded that the firm had no official contract with the NWRHA.

To this MP Roodal Moonilal immediately asked, “Did any money pass?” As a former member of Government under the United National Congress administration, Dr Moonilal is familiar with the separation of the letter of politicians’ statements from the spirit of the issue under discussion. Because of the natural tendency by public persons to spin their explanations, it is mandatory that official statements be carefully dissected. This is especially so because the “Big Lie” technique is no longer effective in an age of multiple media and paper trails. Even when intending to mislead, politicians and other individuals must always leave themselves an “out”, wherein they can claim that they didn’t mean what they apparently said.

A clumsy recent example of this was Works Minister Franklin Khan’s claim that the MV Sonia was new: an assertion that was a major detail in his touting of the vessel. But when investigations by the Sunday Newsday revealed that the Sonia had in fact been inspected last July and found to have 14 defects, Mr Khan then explained that describing a vessel as “new” didn’t mean that it had not been in service before. Tough luck, then, for the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of the adjective as “not previously used or owned.” More finessed is the statement by Gloria Eastman, Managing Director of Eastman and Associates, saying that her firm had “no official contractual agreement” with the NWRHA.

Mr. Rahael’s own rebuttal last Friday used almost exactly the same wording, so the question is this: was there some unofficial agreement between Eastman and Associates and the NWRHA? After all, Ms Eastman in her statement admitted that her firm had since 1999 regularly submitted the names of individuals to fill vacancies in the NWRHA. So what, exactly, was the arrangement here? The most egregious example of spin in recent days, however, has undoubtedly been the various statements concerning the closure of the National Broadcasting Network (NBN). Apart from lack of clarity on the opening of a new State-owned media organisation, curious arrangements have been made with the National Carnival Commission and the National Lotteries Control Board to use Channels 4 and 16 to transmit Carnival activities and the Play Whe and Lotto draws.

It is this lack of a clear and coherent statement that allowed an allegation from the UNC that long-standing PNM supporter Louis Lee Sing, who is chairman of the NLCB, was to be given NBN’s facilities. But at least Mr Lee Sing’s response allows no obvious wiggle room. He has categorically branded the statement “a lie” which presumably means that his Citadel Ltd does not now, and never will have, any interest in the now-defunct media entity. However, in the world of backroom political manoeuvres, only the parties involved know exactly what may transpire: and that is our “out” in case our inference proves untrue.