AM curious as to the exact circumstances that prompted Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to offer our Premier help and/or advice on pursuing Independence.

Then again, it would appear to many an observer that we can use all the help we can get.

From our highly publicised (and internationally ridiculed) use of Hawaiian beaches in tourism ads, to what appears to be a complete collapse in certain Government oversight functions (failure to uncover corruption at the Bermuda Housing Corporation and an apparent inability to ensure annual audits for the Bermuda Industrial Union and other related public sector organisations since 1997), to a recent series of gaffes when dealing with our allies, Bermuda has been shown up as seriously wanting in any number of areas.

I could go on but my point is made.

However, any help from P.J. Patterson would likely be one of those gifts that keep on giving, should we accept it. I was therefore heartened to read that our Premier was quoted as saying, and I paraphrase, that just because we have his offer does not mean we will accept it. And, indeed, I would hope not.

But we can a learn a big lesson on what not to do from Jamaica, because we do not wish to find ourselves in their deteriorating economic condition ever.

The only area where Jamaica succeeds over Bermuda is in its tourism numbers and that is solely to do with its weather, low-cost flights and accommodations ? areas in which we are unable to compete.

Don't get me wrong ? I love Jamaica and as my godparents are Jamaican, I had the great fortune to vacation there since I was a pre-teen. If I did not visit every year, then it was every other year, until my career and limited holiday allowance made it less possible for me.

No other country in this region has Jamaica's natural beauty or its bountiful resources ? resources we do not possess. Yet even these have been unable to stop the economic decline that has exacerbated the poverty, violence and crime we see in Jamaica today.

Indeed, Jamaica went Independent (1962)before I was even born, yet my visits there ? which spanned from the 1970s through 1998 ? saw a beloved country deteriorate in terms of public safety, the environment and wealth distribution (the wage disparities between Jamaica's rich and the poor continue to widen to a degree not normally found outside some of the more intransigently corrupt developing nations).

And while P.J. Patterson was certainly not the Prime Minister during the initial breakdown in Jamaica's society and economy, it was during his leadership that Jamaica experienced unprecedented fiscal crises that I unwittingly found myself in the middle of.

In 1998 my career with one of the Big Four financial services firms in Bermuda resulted in me having to relocate to London. One day I was called "upstairs" (the partners' domain) and asked if I would fly to Kingston the next morning.

While my specialty was (and is) property and catastrophe re/insurance, I also had some insolvency work experience and my colleagues in Jamaica were short-handed. Because of the crisis in the Jamaican financial sector, it was necessary for the Patterson government to step in and essentially nationalise it.

boss was the official receiver for a newly-created Government agency ? FINSAC. Our team had about five banks to take over among other businesses that were virtually bankrupt ? they had been insolvent for years and we had been called in at least 18 months too late. At least some liquid assets (cash, etc.) could have been returned to the locals had we been appointed earlier ? basically, everything that was not nailed down, was gone.

My point here is that this had all begun (or continued in some instances) under P.J. Patterson's watch. He had appointed friends to powerful positions they were unqualified for and permitted others to write insurance business as bank owners.

Premiums and bank deposits of the trusting Jamaican people were used to build grand office buildings with no (or little) offsetting rental income, as the principals themselves were the tenants. I won't bother even discussing the officer loan portfolios.

One of my jobs was to visit branches in Golden Grove, Linstead, Spanish Town and Ocho Rios to ascertain the NRV of the personal loan portfolios as well as the one in New Kingston. As the only female on these excursions they liked to keep me close by and the Ocho Rios trip was my only multi-nighter.

I had spent many a great holiday in Ocho Rios, being one of the places I was fortunate to be invited to by my godparents and the change in that once beautiful place was so sad to see. While Jamaica may be getting superior tourism numbers to us for the aforementioned reasons, the majority of the resorts are now, by necessity, Club Med-style ? namely all-inclusive so no guests ever need to leave the fortified compounds except for some group excursions with a few guides/guards in tow.

I'd leave my compound in business attire and assess if the Ocho branch was doing any better, given that this location was at least swarming with tourists. Unfortunately, the apparent visitor spending had done little to affect the level of loan repayments of its local customers.

the end of my particular assignment, where I worked all but three days of that month, I was far more upset at the dismal prospects of Jamaica's financial and economic future than I had been at the gunman who came into one of our banks and shot at us.

The bank I had been assessing, like its predecessors, went under the nationalised arm of FINSAC and there was much, much more work to do.

So if any kindly Jamaican PM wishes to help us and we choose to give him a hearing, this is why I'd say "Thanks, but no thanks" to PJ. Perhaps some words from former Prime Minister Edward Seaga may be useful, as he was the last PM that, well, did not make things worse economically for Jamaica. And if our Premier wants his number, I can get it.