Latinnews Archive

Latin American Weekly Report - 17 September 1987

Seaga attacked over Carinosa affair;OPPOSITION FORCES GOVERNMENT TO PRODUCE PROPRIETY CODE

The creation by prime minister Edward Seaga of the private, commercially-run Gardens of Carinosa in the hills overlooking the northern coastal town of Ocho Rios has made him the target of serious criticism.

The opposition People's National Party (PNP) has questioned the propriety of public officials being involved in private investments whilst still holding office, forcing Seaga to announce the establishment of a committee to draw up guidelines for the commercial activities of public officials. While welcoming this decision, PNP chairman P J Patterson claimed on 31 August that it was 'an unacceptable arrogance' for the government to formulate such guidelines unilaterally.


* Love and profit

'The Gardens of Carinosa are a showcase of the best Jamaica has to offer,' the proprietor and prime minister said when he opened them in July. With its name he tried to conjure images of love and enchantment for the 20 acres of tropical landscapes, waterfalls, brooks, ponds and lawns, with a restaurant, a craft shop and an aviary with exotic birds.

Seaga explained that he initially planned to develop the gardens as a private weekend retreat, but that the project escalated until he decided to turn it into a a full-scale tourist attraction. At an entrance fee of J$ 12.50 (US$ 1 = J$ 5.5) for Jamaicans and US$ 12.50 for foreigners, the prime minister is projecting gross receipts of US$ 5m a year from the gardens.

Seaga countered criticism in saying that he sought neither government incentives nor financing from state institutions to develop his project, but secured instead a J$ 6m loan from the Mutual Security Bank, using the land as collateral. 'I have taken this course in order to separate this project entirely from government, even where it was rightly eligible for assistance, because in my position as head of government I expect it to stand on its own, independent of me and of government,' he said.

* Caesar's wife

Patterson says that the PNP's fears have not been allayed by the prime minister's assurances. 'Our concern is whether it is appropriate for the prime minister of Jamaica, the minister of finance, the minister of information, the minister of planning, to be directly involved in the ownership, development, promotion and operation of an investment of this nature,' he notes, adding that 'we must remind Seaga that the office he presently occupies, like Caesar's wife, must at all times be beyond the taint of suspicion.'

Several columnists in the local press have joined in the criticism of Seaga. 'The bare fact of Seaga's position guarantees excessive influence,' one wrote in the Gleaner newspaper, adding that every step in developing Carinosa was 'Caesar appealing to Caesar'.


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