Jamaica Observer

With the current topic about the Government and their policy regarding local manufacturers, imports AND the slogan "Buy Jamaica ... Build Jamaica", the following letter was taken by hand to Mr Anthony Hylton's office on 1st February, 2013 (and signed for). To date, I have not even been given the courtesy of a response to acknowledge receipt.

After watching Mr (Omar) Azan on March 20, I have to ask, who is this Government for ... Jamaicans or everyone else (Caribbean, Chinese)?

Dear Minister Hylton,

I am compelled to write this letter as a means of highlighting just one of the thousands of local manufacturers in Jamaica who face serious challenges competing with the importation of cheaper products manufactured abroad.

Contrary to your ministry's slogan "Buy Jamaican...Build Jamaica", there are Government entities which negate the very principle of supporting local business manufacturers, by purchasing their own products and supplies from overseas markets.

I own and operate a small printing establishment in Kingston, which has been manufacturing and supplying X-Ray film storage jackets for over 35 years to several private medical facilities and to Government-run institutions like the UHWI.

These jackets are handmade, and of a high quality, manufactured from imported specialised material which I am obliged to import in large quantities by container load, in anticipation of purchase orders from our customers. All other material is locally acquired and the production line provides employment for several workers.

Advancement in digital technology at private facilities, has cancelled the need for X-Ray jackets, as images are now digitally stored. However, the UHWI (without digital technology) still uses the jackets, but is now importing them from an overseas manufacturer that is obviously able to produce them at a fraction of the cost that a local manufacturer is able to.

The UHWI was not forthcoming in communicating their intention to source these jackets overseas. My recent contact with your Ministry has been perhaps an exercise in futility, as understandably, no one in your good office can give me the rationale behind such blatant disregard for local manufacturers by the very same agencies that promote the concept of Buying Jamaican and Building Jamaica.

Perhaps, Mr Minister, you have the answer for the many struggling businesses in a similar position such as the St Elizabeth producer of syrup flavours (from local fruits and juices) which previously supplied government schools with juice, now being replaced with an imported product. Numerous products; furniture; printed text books and other supplies being imported from overseas for Government entities, to the detriment of local Jamaican businesses.

With the critical unemployment rate and an economy as dire as ours is today, it seems ludicrous that local manufacturers should be competing against imported products, particularly when the "customer" is none other than the very Government that promotes "Buy Jamaican...Build Jamaica".

I look forward to your response in due course.

Still no response from Minister Hylton

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Dear Editor,

I do not know if the edition on the Internet is different from your print version. I am writing you because I noticed that your daily cartoons always feature bleached out characters.

As a black man from a majority black country, Jamaica, I would like to see cartoons that resemble the population, especially when the character is supposed to be a representation of a black individual.

Clive Richards

No bleached characters

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Dear Editor,

The is an open letter to the Government of Jamaica.

I was born in the mid-60s, and while growing up I could hear my elders talk about the difficult and challenging time they were facing. They lamented about the bleak future for the country and especially for the young people.

Each year, around April, when it was time for the Budget presentation, there would be a lot of anxiety in and around the community.

Every year we would be told of the hard times and how the county is being called on to hold strain or 'ban our belly'. Political parties would take advantage of the situation in order to gain State power.

Let's fast-forward to the present situation. What has changed? The message is still the same. I am now saying the same things my parents and their colleagues used to say. I am lamenting the state of our county and what future there is for our children and their children.

My parents used to say that our future is mortgaged, but they hoped that by the time we were adults things would improve. Sorry to say, they hoped in vain.

Hopelessness is a terrible thing, and as we age we are able to look back and forward at the same time. Looking back we see what could have been, and looking forward we come to realise that there are no differences in the direction of those directing us now.

The present situation has rendered us hopeless. I can only hope for better in the afterlife. And I can only pray that our children will have the strength of character to not be overcome by the false hope, selfishness, greed, and corruption of those who claim to govern us.

Due to the fact that my income is fixed, and I have no 'subjects' to call upon to provide me with additional income, in addition to my inability to cut back on anything else, I can only do one thing -- that is to continue to pay the same rate of property tax that obtained from last year.

I certainly cannot make blood out of stone and, even if I could, it would be wasted like the last 50 years. I do hope those in Government can find it in their hearts to understand, the same way we as citizens have over the years.

D Harriott

dkeith@cwjamaica.com

Hopelessness is a terrible thing

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Dear Editor,

There is a situation that must be brought to the attention of the public and also the media.

A man of unsound mind has taken up residence on Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston.

I was told that he came to the area between October and November last year. He has threatened to chop people to pieces with his machete, and I have seen him run at persons with stones, threatening to kill.

The police had to take a knife from him in December as he stood over a man in a very menacing way. Last Thursday, he chased me, for what reason I do not know. I went to two police officers who are assigned to the New Kingston Police Post and I was told that they are not trained to deal with people of unsound mind, they have tried to remove him and failed, they have called the relevant authorities and they have not turned up, and they are afraid of the man.

Now, if the police, who are there to protect and serve, are afraid, what do they expect citizens of this country to do?

I also called 119 police control and they told me they cannot do anything about a man of unsound mind.

A security guard in the area also told me that they are afraid of him too.

Why is it that in Jamaica we wait until someone gets hurt or someone is killed before action is taken? The police need to ensure that the relevant persons come and remove him immediately. A man like that should not be of nuisance to people going about their business, and I believe until it is brought out in the media, and the police and others look bad, the situation will not change.

Leighton Campbell

leightonbanton@yahoo.com

Please remove this man from the streets

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Dear Editor,

For any society to grow, freedom of speech is very vital. The Jamaica Observer has never shied away for allowing people to voice their opinions, which, to me, is very important.

However, it is also important that some opinions are best kept out of the media because they serve no purpose. The Jamaica Observer carried a very good article headlined 'SDA pastor wants US Gov't to stem flow of guns into the island', but some of the responses from Americanised people to that article are utter poppycock. Some even mentioned the Second Amendment, which means a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state and the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

Instead of ranting and throwing the pastor under the bus, we might want to examine closely what the pastor is saying. One person commented "First and foremost we are not citizens of America, so it isn't their job to protect us, it is, however, the job of our Jamaican Government to do so. Secondly, the possession of firearms is not considered illegal in America, as it is in our country".

This is utter nonsense. Is it Jamaica's job to protect America's citizens from weed, cocaine and other drugs coming out of Jamaica to that country? Should Jamaica turn a blind eye at its airports when drugs are heading to America?

If the Americans can tell Jamaica to do more to stop the flow of drugs to their country and even threaten Jamaica with sanctions, why can't Jamaica tell America to stop the flow of guns out of that country to Jamaica?

Another non-thinker wrote, "Americans will tell you that it's their constitutional right to own and carry weapons." But the non-thinker didn't have the courage to tell us that there is nothing in the constitution that says the owner of that gun cannot export it to another country without the proper and legal procedure.

Holland allows its citizens to posses five grams of weed in a public area or 30 grams in a private area, but its drugs policy doesn't give them the right to export it to another country, which is why sniffer dogs and metal detectors are at airports.

Another Americanised person wrote: "Pastor, with your twisted logic, you don't have the power to tell them to jump. They can, however, tell you how high to jump, and you better do so. Guns do not arrive on our shores by themselves. They are usually sent, shipped or taken here by criminal elements who are usually Jamaicans."

This person thinks that oppressing and dictating another country because it is poor is cool. But the honest truth is that some of these people who are commenting under the article are so oppressed by American systems and attitudes that they see no fault in the oppressive action dished out to other people and countries.

It doesn't matter if it is Jamaicans or Americans sending the guns to Jamaica. The point is that guns are coming into Jamaica illegally, which are detrimental to our citizens, and that is why the pastor called for the American Government to stop the illegal guns from entering Jamaica, just like how it wants the Jamaican Government to stop the flow of drugs from Jamaica to America, because it is detrimental to its citizens.

Each country has the responsibility to protect each other's citizens from harm. Once a legal gun is in a barrel destined for another country without the proper documents, then that gun becomes illegal and it is the duty of the departing country's government to stop that gun from entering another country. Preach on, pastor, preach on!

Hero Scott

herocarlito@yahoo.com

Examine what the pastor said

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Dear Editor,

Several parent friends of mine were complaining about the recently held GSAT. There was an issue with the mathematics paper, in that there should have been 80 test items, but at one particular school the questions came up 24 short!

The presiding officer had made the discovery and quickly informed the education ministry's regional office of the shortage. It was reported that a request was made for an education officer to intervene by supervising the reproduction of the missing questions on a copying machine, but the response was negative. The students proceeded to do the exams without the missing items.

Parents of the children who were affected made calls to investigate if other schools had similar problems. Several were identified. It was alleged in those instances that permission was granted to print or write on a board, the missing sections from one sheet that had the correct amount of items.

This had angered many parents because they were thinking of the fairness of the exams. This led me to ask the following questions:

a) Will the answers of the affected students be marked out of the original total (80) of the affected paper?

b) Will there be a resit of the mathematics paper for those schools or for the region that was affected by the question shortage?

c) Will there be a report and a question-and-answer session with the parents of the affected schools?

My suggestion to the Ministry of Education is to quickly address the matter so as not to create problems for themselves in the future. Questions of integrity, equity and professionalism can be raised and may force the powers that be to make hasty changes to the examinations or change the entire system to our detriment.

That matter of the missing questions must be properly addressed. This cannot happen again, for it has now left a bitter taste in parents' mouths.

Our children need to be psychologically settled on the matter. They are nervous and truly concerned about the fairness of the exams and wondering if their chances to transition to high school will be severely affected.

I cannot repeat the words used by both parents and children on this issue, but the picture has been painted and the image is dark and depressing. This matter needs to be addressed to dispel their fears or else they will find parents protesting against the GSAT.

Lyssette Hawthorne-Wilson

lysdave@yahoo.com

A GSAT matter for urgent attention

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Dear Editor,

For the most part, our school-age boys and young men refuse to take part in extracurricular activities.

Involvement in uniformed groups, especially for our males, has become a rarity in the Jamaican society. It was a rather refreshing sight to see a young man dressed in full scout uniform making his way to school last Friday while on my way to work. This occurrence signalled to me that all is not lost in Jamaica, despite the harsh economic times and the struggles we face daily as a people.

As a society, we need to revitalise the scouting movement in Jamaica and encourage our children, especially our young men, to get involved in positive extra-curricular activities such as this. Scouting was started in the early 1900s by Robert Baden-Powell and is still as relevant today as it was back then. The scouting organisation works towards giving young men the knowledge, skills and life lessons that will help them mature and succeed as they become adults.

In an era when many of our boys are facing a crisis of masculinity, a sense of despair and under-achievement, the scouting organisation offers boys a variety of benefits including friendship, cooperation, leadership skills and character building. Too many of our boys are only interested in the "G Factor", that is, guns, girls, gangs, ganja and Gaza/Gully (counted collectively). We need to work harder to expose and re-socialise our boys into other areas of the culture in order to have them as well-rounded and productive members of the society.

With almost 50 per cent of Jamaican households headed by females, scouting can be used and should be used to bridge the gap to provide positive male role models to our boys. As more and more parents and guardians take on extra working hours in order to earn additional income to make ends meet, we are most likely to see an increase in the need for safe and productive avenues for boys to get involved in some structured after-school programme.

Scouting should be in all our schools. However, too many of our schools do not have this offering; we must now ask ourselves why this is so and put measures in place to address this. Too many of Jamaica's youth are at risk and are in need of rescuing.

As a worldwide brotherhood, scouting is unique. It is based on the principles of loving and serving God, human dignity and the rights of individuals, and of recognising the obligation of members to develop and use their potential.

In order for us to have a better society, one in which we can live peacefully, as well as raise families and work, we need to offer the necessary support and incentives to our uniformed groups and organisations to carry out their mandate of equipping the next generations with the necessary skills to help us realise the 2030 vision of become a developed society.

Wayne Campbell

waykam@yahoo.com

Scouting should be in schools

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Dear Editor,

If your neighbour sold stolen cars, would you buy one? If your neighbour sold illegal drugs, would you buy any? Most people wouldn't, and most Jamaicans don't. Although there are Americans selling guns on the black market and flooding some countries like Mexico with illegal guns, this will not make it a requirement for Mexico to stop flooding the US with drugs in the hope that America will stop the illegal export of guns.

We have a problem with some of our audacious nationals who target gullible elderly Americans. It isn't just about greed. There is a culture of winning something by just purchasing anything in the United States, but Americans have a powerful Government that will protect them. We don't. Therefore expecting the United States, as a sort of reciprocity, to stem the tide of illegal weapons to our shores in exchange for us to put an end to the lottery scam is wishful thinking.

The United States can punish us, but we can't punish them. The lottery scam isn't Jamaica's atomic bomb. Forget that Americans are selling illegal weapons and concentrate on why our citizens require these weapons. This is the part that requires critical thinking and leadership. How do we get Jamaicans to produce legal goods and services and not depend on drug smuggling and lottery scamming? Now instead of Senator KD Knight, AJ Nicholson and Arthur Williams concentrating on prevention, they are worried about curing. We need to stop our citizens from depending on illegal methods to survive and not rely on Americans to clean up our mess.

When Senator Knight gets up to speak, we listen because he is a brilliant debater and emerged from the Manatt Phelps and Phillips inquiry as the "Star Boy". He took Dorothy Lightbourne to school on various aspects of the law. He harangued Dwight Nelson until he couldn't recall what he had for breakfast before coming to the inquiry. He then delivered the coup de grace to then Prime Minister Bruce Golding by labelling him pathologically mendacious. His performance ensured the People's National Party's victory at the polls.

But Senator Knight is dead wrong on the issue of the lottery scam. We cannot make the United States do a quid pro quo deal. It won't happen. This might be good for a sound bite or a "letter to the Editor," but it is simply optics. In his hour of reflection, Senator Knight was penitent. In 2008 the senator said, "My deepest regret is that having gone in (in) 1989, where the conditions were terrible and having left in 2007, I cannot proudly say that the conditions had changed so significantly that I would be content to applaud myself or the team for the achievements."

He expressed profound regret that for the time he served in Government, he "was unable to contribute more to the upliftment of the marginalised in the country". Well, Senator Knight, this is your last chance to uplift the conditions of your countrymen ... no more stadium in Sligoville. Tell your party that giving Jamaicans an alternative to lottery scamming is the only way to uplift them, not blaming the US. St Kitts doesn't, Barbados doesn't, neither do Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Grenada, Puerto Rico, Cayman, etc.

Mark Clarke

Siloah, St Elizabeth

mark_clarke9@yahoo.com

Wishful thinking about lotto deal with US

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Dear Editor,

Marriage is an institution that predates civilisation and is exclusive to one man and one woman who have the responsibility to procreate the human race, and to nurture, educate, and pass on shared values and mores to their offspring. Neither Church nor State invented marriage, and neither can change its nature.

The sexual union of a man and woman is called the marital act because the two become physically one in a way that is impossible between two men or two women. Whatever a homosexual union might be or represent, it is not physically marital. Gender is inextricably bound up with physical sexual identity; and "gender-free marriage" is a contradiction in terms, like a square circle.

This new "gender ideology" which is increasingly being imposed on society by Western governments, undermines the fundamental understanding of what it means to be a human. In seeking to make every individual completely autonomous, it destroys the understanding of the family as a community designed for the rearing of children. In this radical new understanding of sexuality, children lose their own rights and become mere objects of adult possession.

Paul Kokoski

Ontario, Canada

pkokoski@shaw.ca

US Supreme Court and gay marriage

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As an observer of your efforts to effect better road safety behaviour, here is a suggestion to bolster your efforts to help realise your goal of reducing the carnage on the streets.

It would seem to me that a programme for at-risk drivers to be better certified would be one such to consider in conjunction with the insurance industry and the Jamaica Race Drivers Club, and affiliated organisations.

Insurance data would identify any such information to identify who would be the best to need this type of certification. Insurance companies that are customer oriented do provide incentives for better driver performance with better rates.

Slogans are important as a start and are to be commended as an effort in the right direction. It would have Jamaica as one of the first to put into effect for the world to emulate a driver certification for at-risk drivers in addition to your advertising slogans.

For any funding requirement, should there be any other than the insurance industry underwriting any orchestrated effort to reduce insurable risk, I would imagine that the international aid agencies from which you have a host to choose, could collectively support this type of an effort at road safety, which could be emulated by their own countries.

On the whole, the driving public would benefit from better certification for driving performance, which the driver's licence test is not comprehensive enough in practice to substantiate.

A coordinated, streamlined effort in conjunction with the Jamaica Automobile Association, the Jamaica Automobile Dealers Association, the Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association, the Jamaica Race Drivers Association and the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club contribute significantly to the programme of road safety by administering a certification programme for at-risk drivers.

You now have two locations that are conducive to providing the facilities for drivers to better understand their machines and how to handle them for better safety results.

It is understandable that you are putting together a pot of large egos, but with the required level of professionalism and decorum, they can be stewed together so that everyone can benefit with a better trained driving public, better insurable risks and a saving of lives. Any effort to improve standards with the right exposure and any

effort to stimulate more civility should be encouraged.

Douglas Gooden

douglasbgooden@yahoo.com

How to reduce carnage on the road

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Dear Editor,

(There was no opportunity to post a comment via 'Disqus' so my comment is in the form of a letter). 'The evils of priestly celibacy' by EWIN JAMES, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, and 'Gay marriage and the natural law' by BROTHER HAYDEN AUGUSTINE on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, are two interesting and contrasting articles published by the Jamaica Observer.

So according to Brother Hayden Augustine, 'gay marriage is against natural law'; but Pastor Ewin James seems to imply that it is 'priestly celibacy that is unnatural'. Mind you, celibacy is enforced by church doctrines; but gay marriage so far, is condemned by church doctrines. But whichever way you cut it, the church or religious institutions or theological claims are used to control people's psyche and conduct. So to that extent, religion (a necessary evil) in the main, constricts, and even enslaves people's lives.

George S Garwood

merleneg@yahoo.com

Two contrasting views

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Dear Editor,

I feel compelled to respond to what Jamaicans consider as "rights". I was prompted by a letter to the editor written by "Justice and Peace Committee," on March 26, 2013.

They, as most Jamaicans, are confused as to the difference between what "rights" are and what "wishes" are. The authors tried to argue for housing as a human right. My question is how can housing be a right? Who is obligated to provide it, if one does not have housing? Where does it come from, Santa Claus?

We wished everyone had housing and a decent standard of living. And not because some big international body declares something, like housing a 'right', means that it is correct.

A "right" is something that we all equally possess and it very importantly, imposes no obligations on another person to give you that "right". The only requirements of "rights" are that they DO NOT deny others their own rights, deny them of their property or impose demands of service AND it also requires an obligation of non-interference from others. Therefore housing, health care, marriage, education, etc are not rights, because they impose requirements/obligations upon others to comply with our demands for service. They are WISHES!

Think about it... if marriage is also a 'right', who is supposed to provide us with a decent spouse? But to get to the authors' point (about housing as rights and the use of NHT funds to provide it for the poor), how can they be advocating the use of NHT money for people who did not contribute to its funds? By the NHT's own report, 40-odd per cent of involuntary contributors are denied access to the NHT mortgages, because they do not meet the financial requirement to qualify for mortgages. The NHT also stated recently that 75% of persons who have been forced by law to contribute to its coffers have NEVER been recipients of any NHT benefits since the Trust's inception. What of them? That committee needs to rethink its position on rights.

Kavon Fiennes

kfiennes@gmail.com

The difference between rights and wishes

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Jamaica has had many problems over the years and these problems have their roots deep in the Jamaican system. We as Jamaican citizens should firstly look at ourselves and realise that much of what is going on began with us.

Firstly, we vote under a very corrupt system which seeks to manipulate us because we have no idea of what policies are being offered by either party. Most Jamaicans do not even understand how the system really works.

Secondly, if we should sit down for a second and look closely at the things that have been promised by each party over the period of time, we will realise that even we, who are supposed to be the next generation of leaders for Jamaica, are to some extent ignorant of these policies and if we are, then can you imagine those who are in fact illiterate and only vote based upon the fact that they are partisan?

Thirdly, public opinion is very important in all of this, and hence it is always altered by the media. Polls have been used in many cases as a means of swinging votes or even as a means of deterring people from going to vote on election day, and in many cases as a means of pushing one candidate over another. Don't ever underestimate the power of the media!

Now, after looking at ourselves and how we factor in the problem, we need to look at the Government. One of the greatest problems that I think Jamaica faces is the problem of corruption. Most people look at it only from the police force but it is a lot deeper than that.

What Jamaica needs to have is a checks and balance system in which people are held accountable for their actions and I mean every Member of Parliament. After someone has been in Parliament for 20 or 30 years, complacency starts to set in and their priorities will waver.

People need to be put in charge to ensure that what is to be done is done and in a timely manner. I would never dare to say that everyone in Government is there to cheat, steal and lie to get ahead. But that is the sort of message that is being sent to the nation when people are consistently failing at their duties as both Governments have been.

Finally, instead of finding ways to tear down each other, the parties should compromise and find solutions to the problems that are faced by both instead of offering few solutions. Jamaica needs everyone to unite.

Theon O'Connor

mrcampion10@gmail.com

Jamaica's problems began with us

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Dear Editor,

I am compelled to respond to your article appearing Monday, March 25, 2013 entitled "ECJ to look at ballot validity issue" for the simple reason that some readers may be left with the view that ballots are declared rejected for the sole reason that they are marked otherwise than by using the prescribed symbol 'X'.

The respective provision as contained in The Representation of People Act, Section 44/2, the Parish Council Act, Section 40/2, and the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation Act, Section 62/2 allows for a Presiding Officer in counting the votes to reject all ballots;

(1) Which have not been supplied by him.

(2) Which have not been marked for any candidate.

(3) On which the elector has marked for more than one candidate, and

(4) On which there is any writing or mark by which the voter could be identified. Such markings would be those placed on the ballot by the voter which would serve to identify him.

The law also requires that the ballot be marked "by making a cross with a black lead pencil within the space containing the name of the candidate for whom he intends to vote..." ('He' being the elector), Representation of the People Act, Section 35/3, Parish Council Act, Section 31/3 and Kingston and St Andrew Act, Section 53/3.

All of the above stated, represents the totality of conditions under which ballots are rejected. There is also a clear distinction between a ballot declared 'rejected' and a ballot that is deemed 'spoilt'. A ballot is declared 'rejected' by the Presiding Officer if it fits into any of the categories described above. A 'spoilt' ballot on the other hand is a ballot paper which is given to an elector by the Presiding Officer which the elector then returns to the Presiding Officer with the claim that he has spoilt it through his own inadvertence. This ballot is further rendered spoilt by the Presiding Officer who punctures it, writes the word "SPOILT" on it, and immediately issues another to the elector in its stead.

These two terminologies are often confused and misapplied.

Your article makes reference to several constituencies or electoral division giving specific figures of the margin of votes secured by the winning candidate and where at the vote and the number of ballot declared rejected. This, I believe, in the absence of more information may create an impression that those ballots were rejected because the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) has been, as quoted in the article, "slavishly" adhering to the particular provision that requires the ballot to be marked using the symbol 'X', and not as a result of the several other conditions that are clearly expressed in the electoral law.

The Presiding Officer's decision even though final at the Preliminary Count, may be overturned at the Final Count by the Returning Officer whose decision may also be overturned by the Resident Magistrate at the Magisterial Recount. Therefore, at every level, the decision made at the previous level may be either upheld or overturned.

Finally, the experience of the Electoral Office is that the majority of ballots rejected are not as a result of the "X" being improperly marked, but from electors violating one or more of the other conditions listed above.

Orrette Fisher

Director of Elections

How ballots are rejected

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Dear Editor,

In recent days, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has come in for considerable flak on account of decisions tactical and otherwise taken by her office, as well as outcomes of judgments at the trial stage and reversals on appeal. The case against Sergeant Kelly in the Buckfield shooting, the case against the Cash Plus principal, and the overturn on appeal of the convictions of SSP Harry "Bungles" Daley and Tesha Miller, come to mind.

The commentary has been strident from several quarters, with some aimed at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and some aimed squarely at the DPP herself. Some commentators have feigned sympathy and understanding in her favour, but many of the loudest voices have screamed insults and cast derogatory comments in her direction. Some have even mooted that she should be removed from office. One editorial characterised her explanations as waffling.

Many of the criticisms are simply stated and quite straightforward, often appealing to common sense, for example:

(1) Why did the Crown not expend funds and effort to locate and bring the pathologist, Dr Rao, back to Jamaica to testify as to the cause of death? Certainly, it could not be that it was difficult to locate him as members of the JFJ executive stated that they were able to be in touch with the goodly doctor and so if the DPP had tried, she too could have located him.

(2) Why was it so hard to locate the person who shot the video and to secure the instrument that shot the video? Social media could have been used to find the person; the person could be put in Witness Protection locally or overseas and made to safely testify via video link.

As the DPP sought to defend the actions of her office - or educate the public as she may prefer to say - it appears that she did let slip on public radio, her frustration at the political directorate for not adequately resourcing the ODPP. No malice was detected in her statements, as my understanding is that she soldiers on even when resources are limited, when senior prosecutors depart the office, etc. But whether or not she meant her statements about lack of resources to be a mild rebuke or not, the assertion of a lack of sufficient resources cannot be ignored.

Even if Dr Rao was located and flown back to testify, would the Government or rather, would the DPP be able to have Dr Rao on hand for the scores of murder cases scheduled to come on for trial and for which he was the pathologist? Which cases should he be brought back for and what if after coming for the first 10 cases, he did not have the stomach to return for the other 20 or so? What then should the DPP do?

If tactical decisions are being taken by the DPP in husbanding the limited resources at her disposal, could it be that she has found herself between the proverbial rock and a hard place? For as a professional in the Government service, she ought not to make a habit of publicly criticising her superiors or her minister or the Government for that matter. Neither can she go about begging corporate Jamaica to assist with airfare and lodging for Dr Rao, so that he can testify in a Jamaican court of law.

With the DPP being pilloried from post to post while at the same time being restricted in how much she can publicly comment about the lack of required resources to properly administer the office, perhaps she will continue to make tactical decisions that draw the ire of the public. Or will it be fair to say that the DPP has dropped the ball if there is no appeal of the recent decision in the Harry "Bungles" Daley case, or the Tesha Miller case? Will a nolle prosequi be on offer in the upcoming case of the 25-year-old pregnant woman who was killed by the policeman in Yallas in 2012?

Christopher Pryce

christopherjmpryce@yahoo.com

Unfair attack on the DPP

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I write to raise a concern about our neglect of the indigent and the mentally challenged on our streets.

It has become common to see men, filthily-clad and hungry, sitting or sleeping on our busy sidewalks in the Half-Way-Tree/Hope Road areas.

We are a relatively poor country, but we should never consider ourselves too poor to set aside enough of our limited resources to care for the very small percentage of our population that cannot care for themselves.

There has been much focus on the proper use of our tax dollars and the need to reduce our expenditure while increasing our earnings, but God forbid that we should sacrifice the weak and helpless among us. I believe most Jamaicans would willingly pay the small amount of additional tax needed to fulfil this obligation.

Furthermore, it does no good for the psyche of our school children who walk down Hope Road to Half-Way-Tree daily, to see so

many fellow Jamaicans living in conditions unfit for animals. In theend, this must affect negatively their own sense of self-worth.

Are there not institutions responsible for taking such persons off the streets and providing them with care on the nation's behalf?

What about Bellevue and poor relief organisations? Thank God for Missionaries of the Poor, Food for the Poor, Mustard Seed and others who have set out to provide succour to the most helpless, but this is really a national responsibility.

There are other countries, some larger and more resourceful than ours, which have lived with a culture of tolerance for human degradation on their streets. Let us not accept this.

Let us provide our young people with better images of our respect for our own humanity.

We have come a far way in our care and concern for the natural environment. Let us not neglect the social environment.

Alfrico Adams

aladams@cwjamaica.com

Treat our indigent, mentally challenged better

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I must commend you and writer Nadine Wilson on your wonderful feature in the Monday March 4 All Woman magazine on Dr Erica Gordon-Veitch, an outstanding champion of the dental fraternity and a remarkable lady, whose distinguished family history has consistently been a record of dedicated service to the nation.

Indeed, as your story has shown, Dr Gordon-Veitch has really been the ultimate manifestation of a family blessed with tremendous vision and considerable achievements.

Her dad, Dr Lebert William Gordon Veitch, also a renowned family dental surgeon who started the practice in the same Molynes Road area with his wife Claudia in 1962, was born in Lucea to Gladys and Rev Dr Felix Gordon-Veitch and educated at Gladys Veitch Prep School (1932-38), Rusea's (1939-43), Wolmer's (1944-46) and Universities abroad. Incidentally, Erica's son, Eric Idris who lives in Japan, was also a Wolmerian like his grandfather. Her father was perhaps named after his uncle (and Erica's grand-uncle), Lebert Josiah Veitch, an educator, planter and penkeeper who taught extensively in England and various African countries and who, like his brother Felix (born 1872 and 1887, respectively), originated in St Ann as sons of agriculturist James Veitch and his wife Elsie Jane Gordon.

Erica's grandfather, prominent Baptist clergyman, physician and legislator, Rev Dr Felix Gordon-Veitch became the last Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) for Hanover (1925-44) who worked closely with barrister JAG Smith for changes in the political system, including the changed face of the Council from mostly whites to predominantly blacks. He later joined the JLP and became one of the few who actually bridged the old and the new political systems when he was elected the first Member of the House of Representatives (MHR) for the constituency of West Hanover in the first general election under the New Constitution in 1944, and was also appointed the first Speaker of the House. Sadly, he was also the first MHR to die in office when he passed away on July 4, 1946 at age 59.

So, having garnered over 33 years experience in paediatric and family dentistry, and having inspired young patients who have emulated her, plus reserved time for related institutions like the Dental Auxiliary School, the Jamaica Dental Association, etc, Dr Erica Gordon-Veitch has not only filled the very large shoes of her father, but has clearly established herself as a devoted people person and professional, reminiscent of her other family members who wore the Veitch brand with pride and dignity.

Troy Caine

trodencorp@gmail.com

Great family tradition of service

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I'm writing to appeal to a sense of justice and for the sake of brotherhood to which we collectively as a nation pledge allegiance as part of our mores and standards of behaviour.

Imagine with me if you will this debacle: an allegation of sexual innuendoes was levelled against

a male teacher/coach by a

female student. The teacher was subsequently remanded in custody by officers of CISOCA without conducting a question and-answer session or even retrieving a statement from the gentleman.

After being in lock-up for five days he was brought before the courts for the case to be mentioned, at which point a request for bail was made, to which the presiding judge denied him on the pretext that she does not grant bail for these cases.

This leads me therefore to ask the question: is the fate of a law-abiding citizen dependent ONLY on the personal discomfort, prejudice, liking or preference of a judge?

Isn't there a standard procedure for such matters? If so, why then is this judge presiding over cases that she obviously has feelings of apprehension in handling? I am not a student of law but, pray tell, wouldn't the appropriate decision to have been taken in this scenario be for the case to be referred to another judge who has the competence, skills and wherewithal to deal with the matter.

Please tell me where the justice in this is? Whatever happened to the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens which state that a person is innocent until proven guilty?

Or, the provision in the law which gives an accused the right to bail?

If a constitutional amendment (whether moderate or radical) has been made to such or, at best, advanced can someone from the rank and file grant us the decency of educating the rest of us?

We cry foul on our justice system, we cry foul on our Government's inaction toward these repetitious relays of injustice in this country.

In fact, we strongly recommend that this female judge be removed from the bench for reasons of her inability to function and to preside objectively. We condemn any such assault or parasitic action on law-abiding citizens by the justice system of this land.

Are we now at a juncture after 50 years as an independent nation where we have to conclude that the law is for the lawful instead of the lawless?

Must I conclude that the sweat, blood and tears of our forefathers that paved the journey from enslavement to ultimate freedom are but wasted efforts? Alas! It seems we are experiencing the law of diminishing returns.

We the people of this nation demand that a stop be put to this haemorrhaging of oppression on the nation's builders.

A concerned citizen

Kingston 10

Guilty until proven innocent

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As the Jamaican population ages, more and more elderly Jamaicans will require support, especially with regard to

their health care in order to continue to live purposeful and meaningful lives.

One's financial, mental and social health are more at risk as one ages and as one's income diminishes due to retirement.

The latest official data from the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) indicates that Jamaica's population is ageing, with some 280,000 Jamaicans now at the age of 60 years and over. Further, the fastest growing segment of the country's population is the age cohort of 65 years and over.

However, I find it strange that our local health insurance companies do not view parents of a contributor as a dependent. Why is it that parents, as a category, are excluded from the list of dependents? Why should it be only spouses, whether common-law union or married, and children that are viewed as dependents? This stance by our health insurance companies is rather myopic and backward and needs to change.

As a result of this unfair policy from our health insurance companies, many of our elderly parents whose children have health insurance continue to suffer unnecessarily especially in this harsh economic climate because they are excluded from being dependents on their children's insurance.

Our women are particularly at risk mainly because of their unpaid work in the home. We need to have a humane look at this issue and put in measures to adequately address the interests and concerns of our elderly. The time has come for us to return to the National Policy for Senior Citizens and put in place a more comprehensive policy which will address the needs of senior citizens, needs such as degenerative disorders that usually accompany old age.

We need to incorporate all the stakeholders, including the local health insurance industry. We need to have a progressive policy that will provide social protection for our elderly.

The measure of any civilisation is how that society treats its weakest members, that is, the very young and the old, and so far we have not been doing a good job with either category.

We need to value our seniors and engage them more in the wider society. Our elderly should not be discarded and pushed aside; we must do more for them.

Wayne Campbell

waykam@yahoo.com

We must do more for our elderly

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Dear Editor,

Every year at this time, our anti-Christian friends take the opportunity to share with us what Easter means to them. Please allow me to share with them what Easter means to us Christians.

Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year commemorating the slaying of the true Lamb of God, the resurrection of Christ, the foundation stone on which the Christian faith is built and the birth of the Christian Church.

Easter is the connecting link between the Old and New Testament, the connection between the Jewish Passover and the Christian Eucharistic worship and the relationship between the type and the reality.

Christ's death and resurrection has its types and figures in the Old Law, particularly the Paschal Lamb which was eaten on the 14th day of Nissan. This Jewish feast was taken over into the Easter celebrations. St Paul in his first recorded Easter homily said: "Our Passover Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed therefore let us celebrate the feast" (1Cor 5:7-8)

The Easter liturgy sings of the passing of Israel through the Red Sea, the Paschal Lamb, the column of fire etc. So the Old Testament era was not an end in itself but a prefiguring of Christianity. The key to understand Easter is to understand how salvation history evolved.

A James

alvalj@cwjamaica.com

What Easter means to Christians

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