PJ Patterson: A life of service and leadership — Part 2
This is the second of a two-part series on the life of PJ Patterson, former prime minister of Jamaica.
The 1972 election campaign united diverse political and social trends into a national movement which restored hope to a nation on the verge of implosion. The campaign ended in a victory, which is perhaps the most complete expression of national consensus on a common programme to which every social class subscribed. Two initiatives demonstrate the breadth of the campaign that Patterson organised.
In October 1969, just one month after the historic conference of that year, PJ Patterson and Michael Manley went on a tour of Africa, visiting Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, and Ethiopia. The choice of Africa for their first overseas tour had special significance in a country where the overwhelming majority traced their roots to Africa. For Patterson it marked the beginning of a special relationship he would build with the National Liberation Movement in Africa during both his tenure as minister of foreign affairs and prime minister.
‘Bandwaggon’
Before 1972, Patterson had established organic links with Jamaica’s popular musicians. In 1964, despite the demands of a law practice and political engagement, he made time to offer management services to the Skatalites — the finest array of Jamaican musicians ever assembled.
Against this background, Patterson welcomed the introduction of ‘Bandwaggon’ to the 1972 campaign. Bandwaggon, organised by Buddy Pouyatt, Paul Fitzritson, and Clancy Eccles, added a critical cultural dimension by bringing together Jamaica’s popular artistes to use popular music as a most effective tool of popular communication. It conveyed to the Jamaican people the slogans and songs that effectively called for the building of a new Jamaica in which every Jamaican would have the opportunity to join the “march to progress”.
The Climb to the Top (1972-1992)
In the two decades between 1972, when Patterson became a Cabinet minister, and 1992, when he was sworn in as Jamaica’s sixth prime minister, he climbed to the top of the political ladder.
One landmark was the transformation of the tourism industry which he undertook during his tenure as minister of tourism, the portfolio which he was given in 1972.
Before Patterson, progress in the development of the tourism industry was calculated in terms of number of tourist arrivals and expenditure. Patterson radically changed this method of evaluating the contribution of tourism to Jamaica’s development by establishing his priority for the industry as “the total transformation of the tourism industry to take it from servitude to service, from exclusion to inclusion and from benefits confined to hoteliers only to broader levels of participation”.
He began by taking steps to ensure that every Jamaican had access to the beaches in Jamaica. As a part of this campaign, he opened Doctor’s Cave Beach in Montego Bay to the public, which had previously operated as a private members club. The Jamaica Tourist Board was mandated to mount a training programme to ensure that senior management positions, which traditionally had been reserved for foreigners, would now be filled by Jamaicans.
Throughout his political career, Patterson always took an interest in the welfare of his colleagues. After the 1980 General Election, he systemically made contact with his parliamentary colleagues who had lost their seats. What he found was that a number of them were facing an uncertain future with no clear economic prospects. Patterson’s response was to offer assistance by using the expertise of his colleagues to establish a consulting firm, which he named Inter-consults.
Another quality which endeared Patterson to the Jamaican people was his magnanimity. When Manley retired in 1991, Portia Simpson challenged him for the presidency. Patterson’s conduct throughout the campaign was exemplary. Simpson had been his protégée and he managed to establish his own credentials for the job without disparaging her claims. He won by an overwhelming margin and appointed Simpson a senior member of his Administration.
Success as prime minister
During Patterson’s 14 years as prime minister, pride of place in his achievements has traditionally gone to the transformation of Jamaica’s physical infrastructure, with the construction of highways and the modernisation of airports and seaports. However, there were also a number of initiatives which showed another side of him, which the Jamaican people grew to appreciate.
Reggae Boyz
Jamaica’s journey to the 1998 World Cup Finals began with a conversation between Patterson and Captain Horace Burrell, who was then president of the Jamaica Football Federation. Burrell outlined his dream of Jamaica reaching the finals of the 1998 World Cup, which Patterson enthusiastically embraced. Patterson gave Burrell a letter of introduction to President Itamar Franco of Brazil, which facilitated the cooperation between both countries and led to the recruitment of René Simões as Jamaica’s football coach. The rest, as they say, is history.
Two-way communication
One of Patterson’s earliest initiatives as prime minister was the establishment of a unit in the Office of the Prime Minister to ensure that every piece of correspondence to his office received a response. This unit, headed by a senior educator, achieved that objective.
Live and Direct
Another initiative to maintain two-way contact was the Live and Direct programme which took the prime minister to communities all over the island, where he had the opportunity to listen to the people and respond.
In a letter to Patterson, Michael Manley said: “Live & Direct was a marvellous combination of the images of the contemporary culture, opportunity to get to know the people, and the chance to listen and be heard. Add to all this the calm style and judicious approach and you have created a complete image which will be sustained because it builds upon a truth of your personality.”
Prime Minister’s Youth Awards
The introduction of an annual award ceremony for outstanding young Jamaicans in every field of endeavour motivated the pursuit of excellence and created a well-deserved national focus on the development of young talent.
Values and Attitudes
In 1992 he recognised the urgent need to come to terms with the deterioration in moral standards, the breakdown of the family structure, and most frightening of all was the failure of too many people to differentiate right from wrong and the increasing tendency to resort to violence to settle differences.
It was against this background that in 1994 he convened a National Conference on Values and Attitudes. What he sought was an alliance among the Government, Opposition, and civil society to develop a national programme to inculcate sound values and attitudes.
Unfortunately, the national alliance required for the success of the programme never materialised, and Jamaica continues to deteriorate socially as a result, due to its rejection by the Opposition.
In Retirement
Patterson retired in 2006 after 14 continuous years as prime minister, which made him Jamaica’s longest-serving prime minister. However, he continues his life of service.
Calabar High School
Patterson never lost contact with his alma mater and seized every opportunity to play a major role in the sustained development of the school as an active member of the project launched in 1919 aimed at ‘Making Calabar the School of First Choice: Excellence in STEM Education and the Use of Technology in the Learning/Teaching Process’.
The PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy
Located on The University of the West Indies Mona Campus, the institute has established the framework for the co-ordination of public advocacy and development between the Caribbean and Africa. The many tributes paid to him by African leaders include the prestigious Order of the Companions of OR Tambo-Gold by the Government of South Africa.
He has also established the PJ Patterson Endowment Fund to provide scholarships for students. His services have earned him the Chancellor’s Medal and the Order of the Caribbean Community.
West Indies Cricket
He chaired the Governance Committee on West Indies Cricket. The report of October 2007 is regarded as a seminal appeal for structured changes to promote the development of the game in the Caribbean.
The PNP
In retirement Patterson has maintained active participation in the PNP, the party to which he has dedicated 66 years of his life.
Celebrating Patterson’s Life and Legacy
As the Jamaican people and members of the international community join in the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the his birth, we recall his life of exemplary service to the Jamaican people, to his party, and to the political process, along with his path-breaking contribution to nation-building.
Arnold Bertram is a historian, teacher, journalist, and former minister of local government, youth and community development.
Arnold Bertram
