Why News of Blazing Street Lights in Broad Daylight Reminds Joe Issa of a Defining Moment in His Life It has recently been found that many of the country’s streets lights do not go off during the day thereby constituting a huge waste of energy and a massive bill for the government. The discovery has raised eyebrows across the business sector, including Issa, who was at the forefront of a confrontation between the government, which had levied a cess on street lighting, and the Island’s 13 chambers of commerce, whose members had been targeted to pay the tax. “I remember that day very well. The chambers were threatening to march to Gordon House if the cess was not rolled back, and I was entrusted with the task of negotiating with government on their behalf. “It was one of my most defining moments and failure in negotiation a truce – the rollback of the cess – was not an option. A lot of people and businesses depended on me, as well as the entire country which, for a while, seemed to have stood still amid the tense negotiation,” Issa recalls. Issa, who is a recognized conflict mediator with the required period of training, says he had to dig deep to give it all he could. “My training in mediation came very handy; without it, I can’t tell what would have happened as the government was firm in its proclamation that the business sector should pay the tax.” “If I had failed to get the business sector out of this, today, with the news that so many of Jamaica’s streetlights remain on during the day, I would be cringing at the
huge bill which they would have had to pay,” says Issa, who is a member of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce Past Presidents’ Committee. It is believed that Issa’s prior advocacy against corruption in government and for accountability in governance had prepared him for the critical role of negotiating a peaceful settlement and averting a clash at the nation’s parliament, which would have surely heightened tension and uncertainty in the country.