Jamaica Observer

Dear Editor,

I think it is time for adults in the Jamaican society to take responsibility for the mixed messages that are being sent to our children about sex and human sexuality.

The mixed message is: "Students, you should not be having sex. However, because you will be having sex, here is a condom; protect yourselves".

Every opportunity that we adults get, we parade sex in front of our children through songs, advertisements, etc. Why should sex, which should be for consenting adults, be forever in the faces of our children? It is time to stop this! We need to allow our children to grow up and be taught about sex and human sexuality in a timely and appropriate manner.

There is the notion that school is a place for learning, so that is where everything should be taught. This is a mistake. School is a place where we learn how to learn. We are given learning tools that we will need in the school of life. Everything cannot be taught in school; parents should take responsibility to teach their children about sex and human sexuality. The parents who do not know how to do this should be taught by those who do know. There should be no debate about making schools condom distribution centres.

The President of the Jamaica Teachers Association Mr Clayton Hall is right: No condoms should be distributed in schools.

School is not a place where anyone should be having sex. Do people have sex at school? Yes, some people do, but this should never be encouraged. Having sex at school is deviant behaviour and should be treated as such. There is a time and place for everything. School is not the place for sex and this is definitely not an activity to be accommodated on the timetable.

The clear, unequivocal message should be: "Students, sex is not for children, and school is definitely not a place to have sex." All the lessons on sex and human sexuality should make that message clear.

What about those who disobey? The school and the parents should deal with the matter as each case warrants.

The next generation will not call us blessed for our failure to give proper guidance to our children and young people about sex and human sexuality. They will blame us -- as they should-- for the mixed messages and watered-down standards.

Winnie Anderson-Brown

winab@cwjamaica.com

Adults send kids mixed messages about sex

-->

Dear Editor,

I am writing on behalf of the many early childhood (EC) teachers across Jamaica to request a meeting with the Minister of Education and/or the Prime Minister. We, the EC teachers of Jamaica, are facing harsh economic times. We, like all other Jamaicans, are willing to tighten our belts to see Jamaica through economic hardships, but sadly our belts have long surpassed the last belt hole.

The truth is that we are paid between $14,000 and $25,000 monthly, which is a subsidy from the Ministry of Education. Our school fees are kept low because the parents would simply keep their little ones at home until primary school if they were increased. These fees can barely stretch to cover salaries, maintenance, and utilities. As a result, many schools can only afford to pay staff a meagre salary, even as low as $5,000 monthly, if at all.

Many of our institutions have staff who are college-trained, but even they are paid these same meagre salaries. Our work is no different from that of teachers in primary and high schools. How then can it be fair for us to be paid less than they are? Are we less important? EC teachers in infant schools and departments are paid the same as those in primary and high schools, while doing the same job we do. There are not enough infant schools or departments or you can be sure we would be working there already and earning our fair salary!

Our meagre salaries can neither meet our daily needs nor allow us to plan for the future. We cannot afford health care as we have no health plans. We have no pension to look forward to. Saving is impossible as we have children in school, and we have no hope of ever owning a decent home on our current salaries. We love what we do; otherwise we would have given up already.

I am of the firm opinion that the education system should not be fragmented, but should exist as a whole. If transformation is to come to Jamaica's education system, then the needs of all sectors of the system need to be addressed. I applaud the work of the Early Childhood Commission in addressing the institutional needs. However, who is addressing the needs of the practitioners who labour in these institutions each day? We, the early childhood practitioners of Jamaica, continue to languish with the hope that better will come for us, and soon.

We need an end to our current economic distress. Our main requests are as follows:

1. Recognition by the MoE for all trained teachers currently working in ECIs;

2. An increase in subsidies across the board for all EC practitioners;

3. Access by EC practitioners to the government health insurance scheme; and

4. Access by EC practitioners to the government pension scheme.

These, we believe, are more than reasonable requests for any individual who would qualify under the term 'teacher'. We eagerly await some response before this current wage freeze proves the straw which breaks our backs.

Yours truly,

Concerned Early Childhood Practitioners

How do we survive on $25,000 a month?

-->

Dear Editor,

I had difficulty deciding whether to laugh or cry on hearing the prime minister, in defending the revived inner-city housing programme — under which numerous non-contributors will get houses compliments of many poor contributors who pay into the fund, but will never be able to qualify for a loan — claiming that if the inner-city recipients do not pay the mortgages, their houses will go up for auction like any other mortgagee in the country.

Did the prime minister, who has represented a garrison constituency all her political life, really say that with a straight face? Could it be that the prime minister has become so far removed from the Jamaica that she leads that she is no longer aware of the realities of the garrison life?

Would the prime minister tell us who in their right mind would ever dare try to go into a garrison to live in a house that they bought at auction, assuming that anyone could even go in to put up the notice signs? Does the prime minister really believe that even another garrison resident would dare try to move into a repossessed unit?

As I listened with an open mouth to the prime minister's defence of the programme, I could not help but recall the desperation with which a mechanic who I knew approached me sometime ago. He lived in a garrison community and had managed to get a government house, for which he paid a small mortgage. When his mom got ill in St Thomas, he went to the country for about three months to stay with her. When he returned, his belongings had been packed away to the back of the house for which he had been paying for years, and other persons were living in his home. He was told that he had a house in the county and it was other people's turn now to live in the house!

When I suggested that I would go to the police with him to deal with the matter, you can guess the response.

The reality of garrison life is that the vast majority are decent people, but they live under the gun and are modern-day slaves as the concept of free will in most of those areas is nothing but a dream. So don't tell me that people can go into a garrison community and buy a repossessed unit and live happily every after in a home which has been sold for non-payment of mortgage!

Political representatives of garrison communities have a responsibility to liberate those who live under tyranny in these areas, but they pretend they do not know the enforcers and have nothing to do with them.

You know what is sickening about Jamaica, too? We are reputed to have more churches per square mile than any other country in the world and a higher proportion of persons professing to be Christians than probably anywhere else, but most of these "upright" persons and people of high morals have chosen to ignore the sections of the Bible which speak to being our brother's keeper. For, if Jamaica were really a Christian country, or if modern-day Christians were against slavery as were some of their counterparts centuries ago, they would have risen up with one accord long ago and united to demand from the political beneficiaries, the freedom of those thousands of Jamaicans who live under tyranny in the garrisons.

It was the late Martin Luther King who said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." I wonder what he would say if he reincarnated in Jamaica today where we seem all too happy to remain silent about the wickedness that passes for normalcy and democracy in this country, with the tacit complicity of the huge religious sector?

Joan E Williams

Kingston 10, Jamaica

gratestj@gmail.com

Did she say that with a straight face?

-->

Dear Editor,

I read with great interest the article by David Mullings in the May 5th issue of the Sunday Observer — "A Grand Coalition for Jamaica"— and in support of his well-considered and important article, offer my own comments.

Impartial observers agree that one of the main deterrents to the engine of national progress has been the inability of all elements of the country to contribute their skills peacefully — as opposed to aggressively — to the national good. This phenomenon is vividly demonstrated when, at the change of each democratically elected government, all talent belonging to the defeated party is replaced by a new cadre of political appointees.

This division, accepted and perpetuated by the leaders and followers of the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party, was consolidated at the time of Independence in 1962 and continues to this day. Not only did the rivalry continue, but because of the constant deterioration of Jamaica's economy and social fabric since Independence, the competition benefiting supporters of the respective parties progressively led to the great divide we feel today; once expressed by a commentator to be the "division of spoils between warring political tribes".

This view is based on my observation of the situation prior to, and since Independence. It is, again in my view, based on the historical and successful colonial concept using the method of dividing and conquering — a method of colonial control since Biblical times — and was a highly successful system employed by the British Colonial Office in regard to the then Empire, moreso in the case of Jamaica.

This strategy was demonstrated when King George VI invited the late Norman Manley to tea at Buckingham Palace while at the same time allowing his political rival Alexander Bustamante to bare his chest in the face of colonial authority at the head of a downtown Kingston demonstration. This firmly established the deep-rooted and often violent rivalry between the two nascent political parties.

Jamaica is now at an important crossroads in terms of national survival; an opportunity which may not occur again anytime soon. I refer to the recently negotiated agreement with the International Monetary Fund and its subsidiaries.

Apart from a sense of relief now that the agreement is concluded, the nation is aware that our future — and that of our children and grandchildren — depends on our ability to reconstruct our economy (together with all other social implications) within the timetable established by the IMF.

This, I would suggest, will be impossible without the contributions of all members of Jamaican society and not only the party in power. This will not happen under the present order of party politics, but the risk of inactivity is too great for us to continue down the slippery slope of "divide and conquer".

Therefore, I suggest that the eminent proposal of David Mullings — providing we all recognise the crucial importance of national success — is a temporary suspension of party politics; perhaps for a period of five or seven years — sufficient time to put our train of recovery back on track. I support the formation of a Coalition Government for this country; a new government devoid of political rivalry and self-destruction, one that comprises of the best brains, talent and capability that is currently available.

Additionally, in terms of the Senate, since there will no longer be any need for political appointees, the Chamber should be converted into a national think tank where persons of experience and intellect may convene to debate the philosophy of progress in terms of national development, for them to be able to so advise the legislators in the other House. An analogous undertaking to such a system would be the agreement not to diminish any civil liberties or basic freedoms, eg speech or movement.

Britain set the precedence at the beginning of WWII when Winston Churchill led his mixed team to

ultimate victory.

We are at war, not as the English were in 1940, but in a situation just as hazardous; let us all join in our fight for national survival. It really is Now or Never!

M J Stoppi, CD

Kingston

The case for a coalition gov't

-->

Dear Editor,

I stumbled onto the meaning of Indian Arrival Day circuitously, after a friend asked me to write a commemorative piece for Indian Arrival celebrations in Jamaica. I learnt then that although I have deep Jamaican pride, I also have an emotional attachment to my heritage.

History would record that the first East Indians to Jamaica landed on May 12, 1845 in Old Harbour, St Catherine. They came as indentured labourers with the condition that at the end of their indentureship they could return to India. Many did, while others settled in villages in parishes such as Clarendon, St Catherine, Westmoreland and other parts of Jamaica.

History would also record that the East Indians who came to Jamaica brought with them their culture, flora, traditions and religion in the form of Hinduism and Islam. One hundred and sixty-eight years after landing on Jamaican shores, many festivals such as Diwali, Phagwah and Hosay are celebrated annually at Club India, Sanatan Dharma Mandair Temple, as well as private residences in Westmoreland and St Mary; these festivals were later celebrated by Indian villages in Clarendon. Indian Arrival Day remains preserved in a time capsule, which is commendable.

In 2010, India was the world's fastest-growing economy — driven by shipping, pharmaceuticals, textiles and an IT industry permeating every sector from telecommunications, manufacturing, agriculture, education, natural resource extraction, to banking, finance and health.

In her budget presentation last week, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller underscored Jamaica's historic ties with Venezuela and the African continent, while stressing Jamaica's intention to deepen economic ties with several countries, including India. However, with ICT and tourism high on government's priority list, it is extremely disappointing that as we celebrate 168 years of Indian arrival in Jamaica, little effort has been made by successive governments to strengthen diplomatic, cultural, technical and educational collaboration with our good sister India. This lack of cooperation is frustrated by Jamaica not having a High Commission in that country.

For over 50 years, Jamaica's cultural and religious space has been dominated by one ethnic group. As descendants of Indian indentured workers commemorate the arrival of their ancestors, we urge that the neglect of minority ethnic and religious groups be replaced with cultural inclusion.

As a nation on a mission, let us build a country characterised by equality of opportunity, fairness, respect, freedom of expression, no matter the ancestry.

Happy Indian Arrival Day 2013!

Odaine Thomas

thomas.odaine@gmail.com

Jamaica-India relations lacking

-->

Dear Editor,

I have to agree with the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) that the establishment of a Commission of Enquiry into the military incursion of Tivoli, as recommended by the public defender, would be a grand waste of time and money. I also have to agree with the JLP leader that the better thing to do is to compensate the victims.

It's as if we never learn in this country. The last major Commission of Enquiry, which was related to Tivoli, was a very expensive one that cost us taxpayers millions. Yet, apart from making some well-connected lawyers rich, it achieved absolutely nothing. So why go through this again?

I know that a lot of our better-connected lawyers are now salivating at the prospect of earning huge amounts of money if they are asked to serve on such a commission. The tens of thousands of dollars that they are looking forward to would, again, cost us dearly. That money would be better spent on the victims - the people of West Kingston.

I wonder if any of those who are calling for this expensive commission have ever taken a good walk through those communities? I have reason to go through them often; it is not a pretty sight. The buildings are overcrowded, old and dilapidated. Too many of the residents live in abject poverty and are unemployed. Broken public sewer mains are the norm, and many young people seem to have little hope of better.

I would want to suggest that the millions of dollars that would be spent lining the pockets of these lawyers be instead spent on giving the people of Tivoli and adjoining areas real hope.

A fund could be established giving those with bright business ideas low-cost loans. Many of the young ones have to drop out of school due to a lack of funding. Why not establish a school fee grant fund with that money? How about using some of that money to fix the many broken sewer mains that make these areas smell bad?

At the end of a commission, if approved, the residents of Tivoli and surrounding areas would remain in the same poverty-stricken position. Let's not use the taxes that some of these residents are paying to enrich well-connected people; let's direct it to addressing the plight of the victims.

Michael A Dingwall

No to Tivoli enquiry

-->

Dear Editor,

I see the National Water Commission has taken its rate increase request on the road. Mr President, a word of caution: don't bring your appeal to Port Antonio at this time. Why, you ask? Because most of us have been without water for over a week due to a malfunctioning pump, and we are in no mood to pay you more money for a commodity we don't have.

Titchfield High School sent students home early because the toilets cannot flush. Why does it always take so long to repair these pumps?

If you do get your rate increase, I hope you will use it to move us out of this third world 'chaka chaka' water delivery system.

Mike O'donnell

mikeodonnell39@yahoo.com

Don't come to Port Antonio, NWC!

-->

Dear Editor,

One of the original commandments in Animal Farm was: "All animals are created equal". Upon gaining leadership, however, the pigs eventually replaced it with the following: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".

The situation in the novel, which highlights the corruption of the revolution by its leaders through self-serving attitudes, wickedness, indifference, ignorance, greed, and myopia, seem to mirror the Jamaican landscape.

On March 31, 2013, a room in which Minister of National Security Peter Bunting and his companions were lodged at a Portland villa was robbed of very valuable items. Within three days, the accused burglar was held, the items were recovered and the accused brought before the courts.

On Thursday, May 2, the brother of the Honourable Prime Minister was robbed and assaulted at his businessplace in downtown Kingston. Almost immediately, the police rounded up over 60 men from various communities across Kingston, and on Monday, May 6, it was reported that a suspect was in custody and will be charged for the assault.

In both cases, the accused attackers were apprehended in three days. This island of roughly 2.7 million people has recorded in excess of 1,000 murders annually over the last decade, most of which have still not been solved. Yet, it took only three days for the accused perpetrators against the prime minister and her security minister to be arrested.

My sister was brutally murdered on February 17, 2012. The police, with all their efforts and resources, are yet to get a single breakthrough in this killing. But why am I complaining when there are countless family members who are yet to get closure for their loved ones? It's not yet three years.

My sister's killer is still at large, but I continue to pay taxes. I am left with the belief that Jamaica is a modern-day Animal Farm.

I regret that I'm not a member of parliament as my sister's killer would've been found within three days and brought to justice.

CE Senior

frenne17@hotmail.com

Ja modern-day Animal Farm

-->

Dear editor,

I would like to suggest that instead of being fixated on the Gross National Product (GNP), we really try hard to achieve gross national happiness. It is possible — and is happening — where countries have been recording consistent increases in the goods and services produced by its citizens (GNP), hand in hand with increasing poverty, starvation, deprivation, suicides, mental illness and crime, all of which reflect a deep unhappiness and unease existing within the society.

The rise of corporations worldwide and the very special relationship developed between them and the peoples' representatives has, in some cases, led to the theft, ownership, control and privatisation of more and more goods and services formerly within the public domain.

Indigenous knowledge on curative herbs and plants is being replaced with experimental genetically-engineered vaccines and pharmaceuticals. Family farms and bio-diversity in crops, food and animal feed are being overtaken by mono-cropping agriculture and industrial animal factories with grain-fed animals, and in some countries both water and electricity have been completely privatised.

There is rural to urban drift existing in Jamaica. However, the experience in other countries is that this drift quickly becomes a flood of dispossessed small farmers and land owners who have to flee the might of the corporations that are seeking more and more lands for mono-cropping. We have to decide on the kind of development we wish to pursue: Do we want a development where there are rampant mental disorders — one in every 20 persons being severely depressed and on psychiatric pharmaceuticals; one in four persons having cancer; one in 50 children having autism; allergies and birth defects; agricultural lands dying as a result of industrial farming and chemical spraying; and water resources contaminated with

cancer-causing endocrine disrupting chemicals, and so on?

If our development trajectory continues along the existing line, we will definitely have this unhappiness to deal with — much of which is almost overwhelming us already. We could concentrate on the development of our farmers and farms, particularly our small, medium and family farms, and growing organic foods in our urban spaces. Agriculture could be incentivised to encourage both young and old onto the land, and the unearthing and transferral of indigenous knowledge on seed-saving and agricultural practices.

We could use sustainable organic agro-ecological methods to produce niche crops and medicinal herbs, the protection of our biodiversity being non-negotiable. Our people would be guaranteed wholesome nutritious foods and medicines that work without side effects and are created without ecological contamination and destruction of our ecological heritage. Gross national happiness would increase — and that's what we all seek: happiness — and so would gross national product.

Carlton Stewart

Willowdene, St Catherine

stewart.carlton@gmail.com

The pursuit of happiness

-->

Dear Editor,

At the rate at which Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is dipping into the National Housing Trust's (NHT's) funds one would think that the money falls from the sky and, therefore, has no owners.

I'm sorry to break it to you, Prime Minister Simpson Miller, but the National Housing Trust money does have owners. I have money in the Trust and would like to be able to get it when I'm ready to buy my house; and no, I don't plan to live in a garrison community.

I don't understand how people in garrison communities who never work a day in their lives can qualify for houses while people who have been contributing to the Trust all their lives can't.

Then again, maybe I do understand, but I really wouldn't want to think that our PM would go so low to secure her next election victory. I hope you realise, Madam, that what you are doing is not resting well with many people and could come back to bite you in

the rear.

Shantelee Brown

bshantelee@yahoo.com

It's the contributors' money

-->

Dear Editor,

The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) has taken note of the article headlined "Unlicensed Cable Company Lands Ja on IP Watch List", which was published in The Daily Observer on May 9, 2013.

It is unfortunate that many readers have been given the distorted view that Jamaica is on the watch list because of "an unlicensed" cable company. The Broadcasting Commission is not aware of any such "unlicensed" cable company operating in Jamaica and the issue of cable company licensing by BCJ forms no part of the reason that Jamaica is on the USTR watch list.

The "serious concern" of the United States, as outlined at the very beginning of the 2013 Special 301 Report on Jamaica, is "the need to enact the draft Patents and Designs Act". This has nothing to do with the cable sector. However, the report goes on to add that "Jamaica's largest cable operator has not yet compensated performing rights organisations for the public performances of the music".

The following points should set the record straight:

1. The Broadcasting Commission has received no complaint or report from any rights holder alleging that Jamaica's largest cable company has failed to compensate rights organisations for the public performance of music. Were such a report made, the Commission would investigate and take the appropriate regulatory actions. Any suggestion of regulatory laxity in dealing with copyright matters in the cable sector is therefore false; and

2. The public should also be well aware that copyright has a direct bearing on the work of the Broadcasting Commission because of previously widely publicised enforcement actions. Even anecdotally, it should be evident that great progress has been made to bring about copyright compliance by cable operators. Indeed, it is a credit to our work that Jamaica is no longer being cited on the watch list for piracy of cable channels.

Finally, the public is being assured that the Broadcasting Commission will continue to enforce compliance with the Copyright Act, and maintain its close collaborative relations with rights holders, locally and internationally.

Cordel Green

Executive Director

Broadcasting Commission

No unlicensed cable operator in Jamaica

-->

Dear Editor,

I read with disbelief the report in the Jamaica Observer about the rejection by the PNPYO of the decision to hold an enquiry into the Tivoli Gardens incursion and the resultant killings. The position of the PNPYO is both alarming and disappointing.

On what basis has the PNPYO rejected an enquiry? Is it because the victims are "labourites" or just poor ghetto people and therefore are not deserving of the effort to clarify for all Jamaicans the entire incident?

I would advise the PNPYO to broaden its perspective and to consider that injustice to one set of Jamaicans is an injustice to all Jamaicans. It may be the sons of Tivoli residents today, but whose son tomorrow?

That being said, we cannot conclude with any certainty if there were injustices carried out unless resources are allocated for unearthing the truth by a non-partisan entity. Certainly, we cannot prematurely close the file on the over 70 people who died and the many other allegations of atrocities.

I am in agreement with the youth organisation's suggestion of providing counselling, private interventions and government support, but it's far from sufficient. This is not about flogging dead horses, as the PNPYO is reported to have said. That suggestion is an insult to the victims and the country should hold the PNP leadership accountable if that language is not condemned.

This is just not distasteful coming from the PNPYO, it is disgraceful. I hope sober members of the PNP establishment move to enlighten these youth on the importance of standing up for those in our society who are disenfranchised.

Vinton Grant

rugsdat@ppeoj.org

Why reject the enquiry, PNPYO?

-->

Dear Editor,

What is going on at the Jamaica Observer? I have noticed in some of your recent editions where one of your senior staff, Desmond Allen, has spent a lot of time and news print trying to defend Richard Azan.

How can the Observer waste precious time and newsprint trying to defend the indefensible?

Allen, in one of his articles defending Azan, stated that the Clarendon Parish Council knew about the arrangements with Azan and his contractor to build the shops on the market grounds. The Parish Council, at the outset, said it was not aware that the shops were being built.

Minister of Local Government Noel Arscott said on TV that it was wrong for the shops to be built on the Council's lands without its prior approval. Mr Azan himself said permission had not been received from the Parish Council.

How then can Mr Allen justify the action of Mr Azan and in the same breath excuse the prime minister for ignoring the voice of civil society who called on her to ask Mr Azan to step down from his ministerial position until the inquiry is completed?

What is so earth shattering about such a decision? This is the normal practice in situations like the current one in question.

Mr Kern Spencer stepped aside when he was accused of wrongdoing; Mr Joseph Hibbert stepped aside when he was accused of wrongdoing; so why can't Mr Azan?

Mr Desmond Allen also wrote in the article that JLP supporters got most of the shops that were built on the market grounds by the contractor. The big question is: Why is Desmond Allen reducing this matter to JLP and PNP supporters? Why is he politicising and trivialising such a serious matter?

Editor,I would like to know why Mr Azan's contractor would give most of the shops to JLP supporters and not his supporters? Does this make any sense to you? Certainly not to me.

Why did you publish these foolish and nonsensical articles by Mr Allen?

Mr Desmond Allen, as a senior member of your staff, must stop trying to fool Jamaicans. Some of us are not fools, we have brains and yes, we do think and analyse and come to conclusions.

This certainly was not Mr Azan's or Mr Allen's finest hour.

Roy Wilson

royhwilson876@gmail.com

Desmond Allen's defence of Richard Azan in Spalding shops matter

-->

Dear Editor,

Clovis' cartoon of May 7, 2013 — "A nuff milk in deh"— had me in stitches. It presented an image of Mama P milking the big National Housing Trust (NHT) cow for what it's worth, while the poor cow mooed in distress, and prominent Cabinet ministers stood in line, each with empty buckets in hand — some with heavy bang bellies, others with sashes — eagerly awaiting whatever Mama P could deliver from the cow.

It is funny how a simple cartoon, by itself, can convey so accurately the topical news. The facts, merged with irony, sarcasm, put a humourous spin on otherwise very serious issues. They also, more often than not, reflect accurately public perception for quite often, these are the very views of the ordinary man in the street and what we hear as 'verandah talk'.

It is interesting, too, how simple graphic arts can be so effective in translating news using very few words and how images, through body language and interaction, manage to convey and reflect messages, thoughts, and sentiments.

Our leaders could take a cue from many of these cartoons and perhaps strive to ponder their direction and image.

I must commend Clovis on another brilliant cartoon! Let's hope he is not declared an 'enemy of the state' for this one.

On the matter of the additional NHT drawdown, though, I believe raiding trust funds is immoral, desperate and reflects bankruptcy of ideas. We have to be a lot more innovative in finding ways to increase resources and curb expenses.

P Chin

Chin_p@yahoo.com

Brilliant cartoon, Clovis!

-->

Dear Editor,

It is inconceivable that many intellectuals are still clinging tenaciously to the notion that communism-cum-Marxism, is a viable alternative to capitalism. It should be understood that empirical evidence has shown that in spite of its many shortcomings, capitalism is definitely more enduring than its counterpart, communism/Marxism. The precipitous collapse of communism in the Soviet Union is a good example of the tenuous framework of communism.

It is well known that communism is based on the Marxist theory that advocates a classless, egalitarian society in which property and the means of production are owned collectively. Thus, the concept of individualism is non-existent. However, the notion of a classless, egalitarian society is a hollow theoretical construct that was never practised by its foremost proponent, the USSR.

In the Soviet Union, communism meant totalitarianism, in which the state owned and controlled property and the means of production. The idea of a classless, egalitarian society was always an illusion. It is well known that the Communist Party was the ruling class that dominated the proletarian or working class.

Many intellectuals are led to believe that what happened in the Soviet Union was a perversion of Marxism, and that Marxism in its pure form is still a viable alternative to capitalism. But these intellectuals fail to realise that the concept of Marxism is flawed and impractical. They fail to realise that human beings are basically individualistic. Therefore, they cannot be herded like horses or cattle into a collective corral.

It should be noted that individualism can be repressed, but it cannot be crushed into a state of oblivion. Sooner or later, it will start to emerge and take root.

It is that yearning for individualism that finally brought about the demise of communism in the USSR and it is my firm opinion that the potency of individualism will finally burst forth in other communist countries such as China and Cuba. As a matter of fact, these totalitarian states have started to acknowledge the inevitability of the capitalist creed. A vibrant capitalist class has started to emerge in China, and the Cuban state is now allowing individuals to buy and sell in a capitalist style marketplace.

It is only a matter of time before the rising capitalist class in these countries demand their rightful place in the Government.

It is true that in recent years capitalism has become somewhat of a dirty word with sinister connotations. And it is also true that with the demise of communism in the USSR, capitalism has been linked with sheer greed, exploitation, and insatiable profiteering. Nevertheless, with proper governmental regulations, the dark side of capitalism can dissipate significantly.

Even with all its flaws, it is still a viable free enterprise system in which the individual has the freedom to invest, innovate, and take chances in the marketplace. And there is no doubt that innovation and risk-taking have benefitted human beings over the years.

If former Prime Minister of Britain Winston Churchill were alive today, instead of making his profound comment about democracy, he would have focussed his remark on capitalism by saying: "Indeed, it has been said that [capitalism] is the worst form of [economic system], except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

Rupert Johnson

r.b.johnson@sympatico.ca

Toronto, Ontario

Communism versus capitalism

-->

Dear Editor,

Based on the editorial, "Reparations debate needs to be settled", which appeared in the Jamaica Observer of Wednesday, May 8, I would like to say that the only worthwhile thing that will emerge from the reparation debates is a more balanced view of history.

Caribbean nationals are not entitled to, and will never get reparation for slavery because from ancient times until it was abolished in the 19th century, slavery was regarded as a natural institution and was practised by all ancient civilisations. Since the dawn of civilisation, all nations have practised some form of slavery. There was no universal law against it and it was regarded as a natural part of life for humans to enslave humans deemed weaker by virtue of economic standing and military might. As such, it was an unspoken agreement that slavery was right.

Starting in Greco-Roman times, slaves were regarded as "tools with voices", which means that slaves were purchased and used in any capacity their owners desired. Planters in the Caribbean were not slave raiders; they obtained slaves by purchasing them from sellers. Since the planters used their money to purchase "tools with voices", then legally, these "tools" were added to the planters' assets, which would be used to bring them greater wealth.

The first slaves in British colonies were from predominantly Roman Catholic regions of Great Britain and Ireland. Scots, Irish and other poor white Britons were ripped from their homelands and sold to planters in the US and Caribbean. The eventual need for African slave labour arose because European slaves could not handle the heat and died in huge numbers.

Eventually, some black and white slaves in Jamaica and other British colonies obtained their freedom and became planters. They, too, purchased slaves because within that historical context, they were doing what was culturally natural. Planters had to provide their slaves with three meals a day, clothing and shelter, and when slaves were sick or too old to work, planters had to provide for them for the rest of their lives. Planters were responsible for the complete welfare of the slaves.

Edward Long, in 1774, went as far as saying that 20 per cent of the total money in circulation in Jamaica was in the hands of slaves, who were allowed to sell their produce in the Sunday markets.

Two major things happened when slavery was abolished: the governments of the day paid planters, who in turn figuratively handed off their slaves to the government. In other words, governments purchased the freedom of the slaves from the planters. It would be ridiculous for the planters, who were business people, to lose their "assets" without any form of compensation. Not only did the governments purchase the freedom of the slaves, but they also allowed the freed slaves and their descendants to keep all these beautiful Caribbean islands.

If the British are foolish enough to pay reparation, shouldn't Caribbean nations also be repatriated to Africa so as to allow Europeans and descendants of the Tainos to decide what will become of all these islands? I think our Caribbean intellectuals are masters of myopic thinking and wasting time.

Howard Rennis

rehnis@msn.com

Caribbean nationals not entitled to reparation

-->

Dear Editor,

I note with keen interest the pending move by the KSAC to require handcart operators to be licensed. I also note that this is not the first time this idea has come up (based on an RJR news report on December 23, 2010).

Some social media friends and I had a few questions with regard to this issue: Will handcart operators be assigned routes and issued licences for those routes? Will there be clearly marked handcart road lanes? Will a maximum carrying capacity be set?

Will a handcart operation manual/driving code be published? Will operators be required to adhere to the speed limit? Will they be required to have insurance? Will there be handcart driver training and a licensing exam?

What happens when I want to sell my handcart? How do I get my handcart to pass the fitness test? Will there be special parking spots for handcarts? Will handicap stickers be issued for impaired operators? If I park my handcart in a no parking zone, will it be towed or clamped? Will those who disobey the rules of the handcart road code be ticketed? Will there be a handcart traffic court? How will one be able to identify the make and model of one's handcart for licensing and registration? Is there a registration hot line number and when is the last day to register?

Will a "loader-man" licence be next? Just thought we'd ask.

Durie Dee

mizd2u@yahoo.com

Where's the sense in handcart licencing ?

-->

Dear Editor,

Windsor Road, located across from the salt factory on the Spanish Town bypass, has been a dust bowl for many years. It was simply awful.

I became aware of it when I had to drop off one of our youngsters who lives in the area and I decided to do something about it.

I set about getting petitions from the school in the area, and from Mustard Seed, but got nowhere. I called the Transport Ministry to speak with Dr Davis on more than one occasion, with no possiblity of ever speaking to him. It was then that I thought about the MP for St Catherine South Central, former mayor Andrew Wheatley.

I asked him to consider the children, the aged, the vendors who sell their wares on those roads, and as an advocate, to help me. MP Wheatley and MP Warmington (South West St Catherine) together fixed the road, which is now a magnificent stretch and now cars, trucks, children and the entire community can enjoy and take care of this stretch of road.

My thanks to these two MPs who understand nation building.

Rosemarie Greene

Spanish Town Citizens Against Gun Violence

rosie_08@cwjamaica.com

Thanks to MPs Wheatley and Warmington

-->

Dear Editor,

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to express the reason I was willing to accept the bitter medicine offered to be dispensed by then Prime Minister Andrew Holness with a view to righting the economy during the height of the worldwide economic recession.

According to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) 2011 report, a litany of bitter medicine (otherwise known as economic stimulation action plans) has been dispensed in other countries. Therefore, Jamaica would have been in the company of those other countries.

Before we go forward, let me define the term bitter medicine. According to the Oxford Dictionary, it is "a situation that is unpleasant, but must be accepted".

At the time of Mr Holness' speech on dispensing the bitter medicine, I personally did not believe it would have been that awful, for there are ways to mitigate the bitter taste. One can squeeze one's nose in order to shut off the air flow while gulping the medicine down. This action reduces the potency of the bitterness.

Once ingested, one would eventually start to feel the medicine's curative effects. Eventually, you would have felt elated that you had chosen to accept the bitter medicine, no matter how much it tasted like your grandmother's cerasee tea.

You see, this economic bitter medicine would not have been hard to swallow, but based on the outcome of the general election held on December 29, 2011, you can't tell that to the majority of the Jamaican populace. At that time, most Jamaicans believed that there would not be a need to accept the bitter medicine because they were promised by the present government that an IMF deal would be reached within two weeks of negotiation. Thereafter, we would all be eating "oxtail and curry mutton".

However, the people did not know that by not accepting the bitter medicine, they would instead be accepting a scalpel for an open cavity economic surgery, which is now being performed by Dr Peter Phillips. This surgery entails broad-based tax increases, major cuts in government spending, drawing-down of more than $45 billion over four years from the National Housing Trust and the introduction of the National Debt Exchange (NDX) in order to plug the fiscal shortfall.

We all can agree that most Jamaicans are having their worst nightmare because many chose the scalpel over the bitter medicine. It is therefore safe to conclude that Jamaicans are greedy for punishment.

Patrick Callum

patrickcallum@yahoo.com

J'cans chose scalpel over bitter medicine

-->

Dear Editor,

On behalf of the board of directors, management and staff of the HEART Trust/National Training Agency, we wish to express profound regret at the passing of Dr the Honourable Joyce Robinson, OJ, an icon and the first managing director of the Trust, who pioneered the development of the HEART Trust/NTA before her retirement in 1991.

Under her guidance, the HEART Trust/NTA gained prominence in Jamaica's training and education system, to position itself as the premier Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Agency in the Caribbean.

The HEART Trust is indebted to Dr Robinson for the grace, humility and fearlessness with which she guided the operations of the Trust during its early development, and today, three decades since its inception, the HEART Trust/NTA proudly stands on the foundation influenced by her, our great matriarch.

We wish to express our condolence to her family and wish for them continued strength and courage during this period of bereavement.

Dr Wayne Wesley

Executive director

HEART Trust/NTA

HEART Trust indebted to Dr Robinson

-->

Mixed messages about sex

How do we survive on $25,000 a month?

Did she say that with a straight face?

The case for a coalition gov't

Jamaica-India relations lacking

No to Tivoli enquiry

Don't come to Port Antonio, NWC!

Jamaica modern-day Animal Farm

The pursuit of happiness

It's the contributors' money

No unlicensed cable operator in Jamaica

Why reject the enquiry, PNPYO?

Desmond Allen's defence of Richard Azan in Spalding shops matter

Brilliant cartoon, Clovis!

Communism versus capitalism

Caribbean nationals not entitled to reparation

Where's the sense in handcart licencing?

Thanks to MPs Wheatley and Warmington

J'cans chose scalpel over bitter medicine

HEART Trust indebted to Dr Robinson