Politician, environmental consultant, and television host Raymond Pryce was highly impressed by journalism students at the University of Technology, Jamaica after participating in a panel discussion conducted by second year students in the B. A. Communication Arts & Technology programme at the university recently.
In communication with Rohanna Forrester, the student who initiated the event and one of the panellists, Pryce stated “I have such a high opinion of your classmates and the high level of professionalism you all displayed. As for yourself and the other three panellists and the moderator – exceptional.” He added “I’m so honoured to have been a part of the exercise.”
The students also appreciated the session, with Brianna Robinson stating, “I am really grateful for the chance that I got. It was very informative… and the experience is one that I’ll forever be grateful for.” Robinson added that it was her first time participating in such an exercise, and said that it will set the tone for her planned career in journalism.
The panel interview was a class activity of the Journalism Processes and Practices module whereby students, guided by their lecturer Andrew Smith, researched a wide range of issues to present to Mr. Pryce, who is currently the People’s National Pary (PNP) Chairman for St Catherine East Central. Among the topics raised were transforming Portmore into Jamaica’s 15th parish and how to address the performance and accountability of Jamaican politicians.
Addressing the Issues
Pryce adhered to the PNP party line regarding the proposal to make the municipality of Portmore Jamaica’s 15th parish. The reasons given for not supporting the proposal included the fact that the acknowledged features of a Jamaican parish such as a major hospital, courthouse, cemetery and parish church are currently absent in Portmore.
He believes that the resources that would be spent to add infrastructure to Portmore could be better spent on Jamaica’s development, stating “If I were Prime Minister, my focus would not be to make Portmore the 15th parish, but on Vision 2030.” When questioned further by panellist Eden Palmer, he stated that there is a need for better protection of the Blue and John Crow Mountains, and the Cockpit Country.
Addressing the need for greater accountability from Jamaican politicians, he suggested that there should be an option to recall politicians who did not perform. Referring to the 2003 recall of California governor Gray Davis, which led to the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as his replacement, Pryce believed that if this was an option in Jamaica, then politicians would perform better.
Appreciative Students
In reference to the session, student Tori-Ann Boothe said that it reminded her that politicians “are actually human beings that do care about the people they’re put in power to serve…Having Mr Pryce come in showed me that he does his job because he loves it and has the people he serves best interests at heart.”
Referring to Pryce’s television hosting role, fellow student Aaron Brown stated that “we didn’t get the Raymond that we see on TV on CVM in the mornings, we got the real Raymond Pryce as an individual and not Raymond Pryce as a TV personality.”
Brown enthusiastically added that “Getting him in personal element [sic] was wonderful because that’s when you get the real opinions, the factual information, the real emotions and I thinks that’s the most important thing. That was one of my biggest takeaways and the session was tremendous.”