There were three pilots, but still the white 'bus' from the capital of Spain went off its route and landed in deep waters. It was not a particularly large fleet, but when it rolled into the harbour with a highly suspect cargo, the native Jamaicans were in 'deep ship'.

The pale-skinned royals had sent a crook, who had earlier conspired with them in chambers, to steal the gold to enrich their coffers. He and his crew arrived, treated the natives very badly and many of them were chased, fled or simply disappeared. The main ship was piloted by a previously largely unknown man of African descent. However, it is the main culprit who, long after his death, is still considered to be a hero, even though his wickedness, treachery and arrogance had no bounds. This man, on whom honours have been erroneously bestowed, continues to have his misdeeds unravelled, but the king, his court and regents have never acknowledged it, nor have they apologised to us.

What deception! A man whose name does not seem to match his ancestry, another who is from the land of the Mafia but who is placed in charge of the destiny of millions, and one, a gangster, who sang a song which is not found in any book store.

It was 1492 and Italian Cristoforo Colombo came into this region in this very week, landing in Hispaniola, our neighbours to the east. Of course, he is disguised by the Spanish alias Cristóbal Colón or the English, Christopher Columbus, the first white 'bus' to lose its way in the Caribbean. Piloting the Nina, the second ship, was the African, Alonzo 'Il Negro' Pietro. Other conspirators were aboard as well, but only a few are named.

Two years later, he returned and this time came here and left a legacy of bloodshed, discrimination, poor governance and favouritism, which up to today, still seems to plague us. No gold was here, but he found a rich land of wood and water, from which he could reap his timber and soothe sand, without a contract. Like a political rumour, he continued to leave and return and finally came back in 1504. Flash forward 104 years or pages and the town, made a capital by the Spanish, is still the scene of tragedy and controversy.

Hangman pastors

Speak no evil of the dead they say, but Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein, John Vorster and Henry Morgan, the pirate, are all deceased and if there is a heaven as "hangman pastors" Al Miller, Terrence Brown and Ronald Blair preach, they would be surprised if they met them there. Should we, therefore, make Columbus a hero and hide his sins? After all, he is not alive for it to matter.

Our contractor general, 'Gregorio Christio', carries the Spanish legacy as well, because he, similar to a Panya (Spanish) machete, is sharpened on both sides and cuts across political lines. Appointed by the former administration, he bit off the hand that fed him, as he turned out to not be a friend of theirs. Of course, being so busy, he cannot be a 'bored' man and is not a 'board' man either, because, he wields clout. Luckily, he is not another type of board man, because he would certainly be removed in a jiffy or 'Lynched' into submission.

Nonetheless, what Christie's office has picked up is a series of flagrant breaches in procurement guidelines at the state-run, Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) and he outlines them in a century-long report. In a nutshell, the Government Procurement Procedures Handbook, the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act, as well as the Corruption Prevention Act, were all breached. Amazingly, one major member of the board is quoted as declaring that "everything was above board". True, but which board?

Earlier, as allegations surfaced that the late chairman gave contracts to himself, Minister Mike Henry jumped the gun, dismissing them as political red herrings and false. Henry should have had the herring, though, because it is known to minimise the effect of beverages, which cloud judgment, and it keeps the mouth full, thus making intemperate speech impossible.

Gaping holes

Doubtless, much is stinking about the JUTC and the board admitted that it bored through the regulations leaving gaping holes of accountability. But what is new? Though expectedly, political opponents are milking the story as if it were the JUTC itself.

With great enthusiasm, and glee with almost an air of gaiety, the spokesman for the opposition People's National Party (PNP) - which conspired with the Dutch, lost the bulbs, had a board member giving herself a $20-odd million contract, waived the Shell duty, had sweetheart deals with telecommunications aspirants, tolled out and sold out the Portmore people over a road that is shorter than Mamma P's reign, and had questions over the very same JUTC - is now playing critic.

Indeed, that said shadow minister is appropriately titled because the dark clouds regarding the JUTC have been around since the late 1990s when the marvellous idea of a government-run system was re-activated and the then prime minister introduced state-of-the-art 'chichi' buses, reminiscent of an earlier type of the same name from the 1950s. In 2002, if the PNP spokesman has enough hindsight, there were allegations of thievery by staff and top-heaviness in its management structure. Indeed, the PNP's own affiliate union, the National Workers' Union, asked for a probe by the auditor general then, as it was losing US$3.6 million in that year and had an accumulated deficit of $2.63 billion.

Let's see where the chips and smart cards fall. Inasmuch as I have always acknowledged my 98 per cent shared DNA with apes, I rather dislike swapping 'black dog for monkey'.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona. Feedback may be sent to orville.taylor@uwimona.edu.jm or columns@gleanerjm.com.