A common problem of Third World nations is the inability of leaders to refrain from placing their sister-in-law, best friend, sweetheart, high school buddy and similar classes of individuals in critical areas. The arguments against hiring ‘fren & company’, long and storied as they are, is for another discussion. What I do standby however is that if you MUST hire, your grandmother, godson or your wife’s cousin third removed, please put them out of harm’s way in charge of Jamaica’s space program or heading up our deep sea exploration task force.

That being said, how did Ms. Judith Ramlogan become head of Companies of Jamaica (formerly Registrar of Companies)? Why isn’t she the director of Jamaica’s manned mission to Mars instead?

I asked these questions after having the great misfortune to engage in a debate with Ms. Ramlogan about the responsibilities of her organization to provide information about its services to its clients. This was her response:

“The mandate of my company is to register businesses, we are not in any way obligated to provide information to our clients about our services”

Ms. Ramlogan went as far as to suggest that prospective clients of her office should seek legal help and be advised by their legal advisors about the services offered by Companies of Jamaica.

Good thing I was not wearing my good ‘going out clothes‘as I have never had so much bullshit shoveled in my direction, outside of a political rally. The inane arrogance portrayed by Ms. Ramlogan not only leads me to question her abilities and fitness for her position, but urges me to demand her immediate removal from the post, if, like her, I knew somebody, who knows somebody who knows her boss.

Incidentally after leaving Ms. Ramlogan’s office covered in manure, I had no option but to go pay my ‘hidden fees’ and register my business, at which point I was told to come back for pick-up on Monday. I went on Tuesday only to be told:

“This is a renewal, it takes five days instead of two, if you wanted it in two you should have paid a rush fee of $1,500.00″

(One of those bits of information I probably should have gotten from legal counsel). Now I am contemplating firing my legal counsel who did not properly inform me of the inner workings of Companies of Jamaica.

Now if Ms Ramlogan was in charge of Jamaica’s diamond mines, I would not be too perturbed as pretty much the only mischief she could have gotten up to, is probably falling into a mineshaft, with poor acoustics, so we would never have to listen to her cockeyed mangling of the role of Companies of Jamaica.

Instead I will just have to comfort myself that Darwinism usually takes care of the idiots first.

If you had planned to or are interested in setting up a business in Jamaica, do not despair. The cheat sheet for Starting a business in Jamaica should get you started and point you to additional resources so you will not have to suffer the same way I did.