This embarrassing kerfuffle surrounding Jamaica's 50th anniversary celebrations is to me a microcosm of just how far we have come in half-century of Independence and, that is, worse off than where we were at the start of this journey in August 1962.

Sure, there have been advancements but overall we are more divided, and a lot 'darker' than we were back then.

A brief summary of this mess is that the last administration - while planning independence celebrations to mark this supposedly historic milestone - engaged the services of veteran producer Mikey Bennett to deliver a song that would capture the essence of the celebrations. As fate would have it, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) did not survive at the polls and thus the People's National Party (PNP) assumed responsibility for taking the nation to those celebrations in August this year. In doing so, the PNP, through their Minister of Culture Lisa Hanna, gutted the JLP's plans and instituted their own and that apparently included commissioning a new song.

At last Friday's launch it was described as the 'official song' of the Jamaica50 celebrations. What they didn't bank on was the generally negative public reaction to the song. Personally, I don't like it. Don't know why but to me, it just lacks whatever it is that makes a song great. It doesn't move me; it doesn't do anything for me. By the way, neither does the Mikey Bennett song.

national vibe

In responding to the negative public reaction, Hanna, the former Miss World turned government minister, the beautiful face of the planning process, tried to convince John Public that the new song, On A Mission, was not the official song and that it was just one of several songs that were being released to help build the national vibe. Now, either the minister believes we are all in the Matrix or just plain stupid, but her explanation makes absolutely no sense.

For one thing, the official ceremony was not a figment of our collective imaginations. It did happen. So for her to say what she did about the song not being the official song is downright disrespectful to the Jamaican public. Here's the thing.

If On A Mission is not the official song why is it that there are these commercials being run, using the song to drive the campaign? Why is the campaign called On a Mission? Why did the Jamaica50 Secretariat issue a release stating that the song was the official song? To begin with, why was Bennett's song thrown out. I may not like it but I do think it's a better fit than On A Mission, and like me, so do a lot of people.

I won't go as far as to say that the lovely minister is lying but if she isn't, she is either living with Alice in Wonderland or she really doesn't have a clue as to what is going on. For that matter neither does Robert Bryan who heads the secretariat. The thing is he admits as much because according to what he said on an interview on Nationwide Radio, the whole press launch thing was planned behind his back and that the song was released without his knowledge.

damage control

In fact, my information is that the song was released overseas a few weeks ago and has been on Hot 97 in New York since then. So clearly, it seems as if this whole thing is over Hanna's head. And, as she tries in vain to effect damage control, she only comes off as being mendacious.

Whatever the reasons, to me what all this demonstrates is that our political leaders seem incapable of doing anything right except polarise a country that they should be trying to bring together. After 50 years of Independence that is the very least we should expect from them.

Send comments to levyl1@hotmail.com