A rough road for Paulwell

Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Tuesday | July 31, 2007

PHILLIP Paulwell had great ambitions when he entered representational politics in the early 1990s. In fact, the new Member of Parliament for East Kingston and Port Royal said he wanted to be Prime Minister by the time he reached 45.

Well, things have not quite worked out that way.The Minister of Industry, Technology and Commerce's 12-year tenure has been marred by allegations of mismanagement and corruption; he has even survived a censure motion brought in Parliament by the Opposition.

Paulwell has ridden the 'scandals' but that may have come at a cost. The minister is almost boyish as he is sworn in for the first time in January 1995. In a 2002 photo, Paulwell is somewhat chubbier. While he has retained some of his youthful features, he appears drawn and stressed in this 2006 photo.

James Robertson, the confrontational deputy leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, is a different study. One of the Parliament's sharp dressed men, not much has changed about him in the past 10 years.

His hairline had thinned considerably in this 2001 photo. Robertson's hair was almost all gone by 2003, so recently the MP for Western St. Thomas went the route of many balding men and just shaved it all off.