I recall that when Jamaica first entered into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the 1970s, the negotiations were left entirely to Senator Richard Fletcher, a young and bright senator.

David Coore, who was the then Minister of Finance, didn't even attend the meetings hosted at the Ministry of Labour by Vunnie Isaacs, where local trade unionists got details of the measures for the first time. The then prime minister, Michael Manley, had full confidence in Senator Fletcher's skills and did not get involved in the negotiations.

The public was not informed of the terms of the agreement until after it was signed. The media were never allowed into the talks and were actually asked, in the public interest, not to publish details about the terms before the signing.

Competence

However, things have changed dramatically since then. Senator Don Wehby's competence is in question; Mr Shaw is being targeted for missing a meeting; and Prime Minister Golding is being pressured to make the negotiations fully transparent, despite the obvious potential threat to the foreign exchange market.

Incidentally, it was Horace Barber whom former PM Edward Seaga relied on in the 1980s to do the negotiating. There was no fuss then, either.

What's the difference now, especially with a less politicised IMF?

'Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live.'

- Marcus Aurelius

I am, etc.,

BEMUSED HISTORIAN

Kingston