Jamaica Observer

Dear Editor,

I read an article that indicates Mr Doran Dixon's reluctance and stubborness to apologize to the minister of education for his most unfortunate use of a mongrel dog analogy. There is indication that JTA immediate Past President Paul Adams will be apologize. Let me hope that he will do the honourable thing.

Having said that, by all indication, Mr Dixon will want us to move on from this matter and focus on the more substantive issue, that of the benefits that teachers are fighting hard to keep. I want to say to Mr Dixon, until you apologize to the nation and the minister, we will not move on. We will not move on without your apology. We will not move on because we expect better from a man who holds such important offices and has ambitions of others.

We cannot and will not move on, Mr Dixon, apologise or be left out in the "dog house".

Ralston Chamberlain

Toronto, Ontario

Dear Editor,

The crime wave which is now sweeping the country is unbearable. The security minister has given up. He has thrown his hands up in exasperation, seeking divine intervention. The last time I checked all human beings were equipped with a brain, and not as a souvenir. We all, including the security minister should utilise same.

During the election campaign, the minister was beaming with confidence, sounded so competent and came across quite well. This is always the case when seeking power. Having now got power the minister should find innovative ways to deal with the crime problem.

In the last weeks, a spate of robberies, abduction, rape, beheading, and murder has been visited upon the country. The callousness of these crimes is beyond human comprehension: In Trelawny, a four-year-old girl was found mutilated after she went missing. A newborn was retrieved from a pit latrine. An eight-year-old girl was also brutally murdered. A 75-year-old woman was brutally raped, and the list goes on.

We thought we were crime-saturated, but a new low has been reached in crime. Just Thursday last an 83-year-old woman, a newspaper vendor, was almost decapitated by a young man, downtown. It was alleged that the man was of unsound mind. If this is factual, then the problem of the mentally challenged people on the road needs to be given prompt attention (again!). And by this I don't mean put in a dump truck, bound with rope, and head for a mud lake. If the Government is serious about street people of all categories, they must act now.

From time immemorial "madmen" have been walking the streets of towns and cities of Jamaica. Successive governments have ignored them, not realising or caring of the impending danger. The security forces should be engaged and these people taken from the streets and placed in a place of safety built for the purpose.

All Jamaicans should be catered for and not just one set. The Government should get its act together and stem the maladies and sinful deeds which face the country.

Concerned citizen

St Andrew

Dear Editor,

Though I have no cock in this fight between these two lovers — the People's Nation Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) — I will attempt to persuade others not to enter the fray.

The JTA has been courted by the PNP over many years. This common-law union has produced many offsprings in past general elections. This common-law husband and wife are therefore inseparable. Some even say the PNP has used the JTA as attack dog against the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) for many years.

As they also say, money is the root of most break-ups. And it appears that this couple is quarreling indeed. Will this quarrel end in an outright bar brawl or will they make up and fall in love again? Or will the JTA separate and live single and free to date whomever she chooses?

You see, the rule of thumb is, whenever couples are quarreling with each other; one should not enter the boxing ring to part the combatants, as they both may turn against you in defence of each other. Like the Jamaica proverbs goes, "cockroach no business inna fowl fight".

Hence, it is in all our best interests to take a seat on the sidelines and watch how this plays out.

Public Spectator Callum

patrickcallum@yahoo.com

Dear Editor,

It has been about nine months since my long-awaited graduation from university. Much so, it is quite unsettling to think that after four hard years of a college experience, with that promised expectation of employment and living the Jamaican dream, I still do not have a job.

It's not that I haven't been making efforts at getting one. I have sent out several resumes, with nearly five times as much follow-up calls, and the many days of fasting and prayer to seek divine intervention. But it would seem as though the repeated responses I get return like a recorded message on an answering machine that resonates the phrase: "The Government has no money, and you'd probably have to wait until after the IMF talks and budget has been read for the new financial year before anything can happen."

Now that the IMF agreement has been approved, the situation remains the same. May I add that I happened to have majored in one of those programmes at college that has a majority of its workforce within the public sector. At the moment, I just wryly relish in the process of writing up resumes and being addressed with the title of Registered Nurse.

In the beginning, there was hope. The hope that fuelled the unrelenting lamp that lit the pages of our books when we had to study hard for those exams and tests; when we had to write those case studies, and report to the hospital ward for long hours to take care of the nation's ill and dying. There were no encouraging stipends, but there was hope.

There was even hope when we heard pleasant stories of being able to migrate to foreign for a better pay and a sweeter life. And for those of us who insisted on staying back, there was a glimmer of hope when the leaders we so trustingly looked up to took to the podium with all confidence to make promises we hoped so dearly they would keep to.

There was hope whem the Jamaica Observer carried an article on May 13, 2012 titled "Health minister delivers good news to nurses":

"I wish to assure you that there is no conflict between Jamaican nurses and their Cuban-trained counterparts in the public health sector, and all efforts will be made to absorb locally trained nurses into the public health system," Ferguson said. "This Administration is committed to establishing a creative incentive programme aimed at attracting and retaining health care providers in the system, including neglected rural areas."

Sir, it has been seven months since our Regional Examination for Nurses Registration and yet no one is really saying much to calm our anxiety or provide reassurance of this promise made. Where do we stand? What really is going on?

The Students' Loan Bureau has already begun, from January 2013, issuing requests to pay back borrowed loans. There's a mother and her two children waiting on that job call from the regional health authority. Please, don't get me wrong, we understand the times that are currently plaguing the nation's economy, and as our professions beckons, we do empathise.

And we also understand what it is to be able-bodied and industrious, with the capacity to find other lucrative and worthy means of earning a decent living, be they outside of our professional calling. But there was a reason we chose nursing. There was a reason we chose to serve the nation's citizens in the capacity of health. The hope we have that we can able to touch a life and make a positive difference, however little.

Today we only humbly ask that our leaders do not let this hope totally fade into oblivion. We really would like to go to work. I thought the hospitals and health centres were understaffed, Minister?

Uchenna Obi

chobi_xl@hotmail.com

Trained nurses lay idle

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Dear Editor,

The debacle in which the Jamaica Teachers' Association and the mnister of education find themselves begs for much clarity and reconciliation, both for the sake of the nation's education system and the well-being of the students who might unfortunately become pawns in the present confrontation.

Somewhere along the line there has been a telling lack of understanding of certain aspects of the Sectoral Debate on education presented in Parliament by the Honourable Ronald Thwaites, the minister of education. That debate had to be coloured by the International Monetary Fund conditionalites.

The heated discussion during the recent JTA St Elizabeth Chapter meeting has produced much heat, but little light. Up to the presentation of the IMF-forced Sectoral Debate on education, the ministry — in particular the minister himself — and the JTA seemed to have had a reasonably amicable relationship reflected in ongoing consultations. Why, then, this sudden debacle with daggers drawn to dispatch "mongrel dawg" and "Backra Massa"?

The Jamaica Council of Churches is very disappointed in such a despicable description of any human being, and strongly urges that both known educators who used such offensive words offer an apology to Minister Ronald Thwaites.

However, the council would like to move the discussion beyond apologies. The Sunday Gleaner's Focus (May 26, 2013) article, "Belling the JTA Cat at Last," written by Robert Wynter throws some light on the root of the matter, in terms of emphases. The emphasis or mission of the JTA is clearly teacher-centred: "A democratic organisation responsible for the enhancement and protection of the economic welfare, professional development and personal well-being of its members..." In contrast the Ministry of Education's mission is student-centred: "To provide strategic leadership and policy direction for quality education for all Jamaicans to maximise their potential, contribute to national development..."

There must be a dialogue/probe for some common ground that would ensure the objectives of both emphases while arriving at a synthesis that would secure the common good for all concerned: teachers, students, and the nation's much-needed development.

Two of the factors that must be taken into consideration in this dialogue/probe are:

(1) the nation's present penurious economy with IMF conditionalities in tow, and

(2) the opportunities of technology (eg online courses) for teachers' ongoing development.

Given the recent National Education Inspectorate report on the pathetic performances of 40% of the 205 schools examined, it is more than obvious that a transformation in our education system is long overdue.

Both the Ministry of Education and the Jamaica Teachers' Association — along with parents and corporate society — must be in dialogue to ensure that this transformation becomes a reality, beginning now. Is it too farfetched to appeal to our Jamaican patriotism to transcend our individual interests so as to buy into this much-needed transformation?

Donald J Reece

President

Jamaica Council of Churches

Thwaites misunderstood, says Church

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Someone needs to explain to me why the Portia Simpson-led Administration has kept Patrick Atkinson as the Attorney General of Jamaica.

Mr Atkinson has thus far presided over the pension opinion muddle, the return of millions of dollars to Area Don "Zeeks" without any request for source of funds, the authorisation of the withdrawal of $45-b from the National Housing Trust (before the drafting of a Bill to amend the NHT Act) and now, his latest, the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) matter.

Having lost the application to the Supreme Court to prevent the OCG from examining certain projects at the pre-contractual stage, and having filed an appeal against the decision, he has now announced that a minister will propose to Parliament that the Contractor General's Act be amended to exclude the power of pre-contractual reviews. He then stated that if the Cabinet finds favour with the proposal, he would then file a notice of discontinuance of the appeal. Can some luminary explain from the perspective of legal strategy or otherwise, how this public announcement makes sense for the chief legal advisor to the Cabinet?

Is he admitting that the appeal is unlikely to succeed? Isn't a new law coming to create a whole new anti-corruption agency? Doesn't a ruling of the Court suffice until then? Is the plan to chop and cut away the powers of the OCG until there is a new agency with no powers?

At such a critical time in Jamaica's development, how can the Government, or we, the people, have faith in his stewardship of the AG's Department?

Melissa Brown

Toll Gate

Clarendon

Attorney General blunders again

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Dear Editor,

I commend Russia for banning all foreign same-sex couples from adopting Russian children.

Men and women with homosexual tendencies must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Nonetheless, homosexual acts must be considered wrong and intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

Same-sex unions discriminate against children, since those adopted by two men or two women will no longer have a mother and father, but a "Parent 1" and "Parent 2". Such children are deprived of half their origins.

The family -- and through it, all human society -- has its source and origin in marriage. Marriage is still ordered to the procreation and education of offspring even if this has eluded the minds and hearts of contemporary man. As the basic expression of man's social nature, marriage can only be understood as the lawful union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

In rejecting erroneous opinions that support gay unions and adoption one does not limit but rather defends personal freedom and dignity realistically and authentically understood. Let us hope that all nations will follow Russia's lead in upholding traditional moral values.

Paul Kokoski

Ontario

Canada

Follow Russia's example

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Dear Editor,

The month of May marks the 168th year of arrival of Indian indentured immigrants (and Hindu presence) to Jamaica to supply cheap labour to sugar estates. On May 10, 1845, the SS Blundell arrived at Old Harbour Bay in St Catherine with the first group of East Indians, some 261. They had spent over 100 days at sea. The immigrants were contracted to work in the sugar cane, rice and banana estates in Westmoreland, Clarendon, St Catherine, and St Thomas.

In many ways, they brought India to Jamaica, They continued with their traditions of Hinduism and Islam. One major challenge encountered by immigrants in Jamaica was the legality of Hindu and Muslim marriages. Non-Christian unions went unrecognised in Jamaica until 1956.

Descendants of these Indian immigrants commemorated the arrival of their ancestors, who had crossed three oceans to travel halfway around the world to reach the Caribbean. The commemoration took the form of music, dances and the annual Roti festival which was held on May 12, 2013 in Chedwin Park, Old Harbour.

The Government of Jamaica, in 1995, proclaimed the Indian Arrival Day, May 10, as the Indian Heritage Day in recognition of the Indians' contribution to the social and economic development of the country. Unfortunately, this most auspicious occasion is no long included on the government's calendar of activities. Historians emphasise the common experience of Africans and Indians under colonial rule, and the links between indentureship and slavery. Both Indian Arrival Day and Emancipation Day demonstrate the historical similarities and experience of our people. Therefore, I beseech the Culture Minister Lisa Hanna to reaffirm the 1995 proclamation to protect and preserve our small but rich diversity.

Andrew King

abking020@gmail.com

Whither Indian Arrival Day

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Dear Editor,

The clash between the minister of education and the Jamaica Teachers' Association must not be allowed to obscure the core issue — the needed transformation of education in Jamaica. The Jamaica Civil Society Coalition considers the plan put forward by Minister Ronnie Thwaites in his presentation to Parliament to be extremely impressive; both in its comprehensive detail and in its courageous thrust for change.

It is all the more remarkable set beside the earlier $5b extracted from the National Housing Trust by the PJ Patterson Government for an Education Fund that was precisely to bring about a transformation. The state of present-day education makes very clear the limited effect that those scarce resources actually had on curbing the inefficiencies and bringing about systemic change.

The JTA, for its part, is legitimately defensive of genuine union rights. We assume that dialogue with the relevant government ministries will soon resolve all legitimate concerns.

However, after the outrageous remarks by two former presidents, who displayed a deeply offensive arrogance, the JTA has a long way to go to regain public respect. We have heard too little about teachers' share of the responsibility for the state of education in the schools in their care; too little also about their commitment to the country in its present fiscal and production crisis. Teachers should waste no time setting these priorities in place.

Jamaica Civil Society Coalition

2 Fagan Avenue, Kingston 8

Jamaicacsc@gmail.com

Focus on the issue, JTA

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Dear Editor,

This is an open letter to the Office of the Contractor General:

Was the new Contractor General chosen for his silence?

Admittedly, we became used to a contractor general who perhaps spoke publicly more than many of us thought appropriate for his office, but if we expect the scourge of corruption to be eliminated any time soon it would be regrettable if the Office retreated into the other extreme of inaction, silence and cowardice.

Apart from reports of a few speeches on your commitment to the elimination of corruption, we have not seen or felt your power, Sir. I, therefore, have a few questions on behalf of my fellow citizens:

1. As there was no stay of execution granted by the Supreme Court in the matter which reaffirmed your office's right to requisition information at the pre-contractual stage of four major projects, has your office since made any requests of the Government to comply?

2. If so, have these requests been met?

3. What is your office's position on the proposed changes to the Contractor General Act? Have you been consulted in this regard?

4. Will your office apply for dismissal of the Attorney General's appeal on the basis of the Attorney General's statements in Parliament regarding the plans to amend the Contractor General Act?

5. Given that your office stated that it had been investigating the Spaldings Market affair before it came to the public's knowledge, and given the public admissions made, have you yet finished your report? Has it yet been submitted to Cabinet? If not, when do you think it will be completed and submitted?

Dwight Maitland

Portmore, St Catherine

onlydwight@gmail.com

CG, you still there?

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Dear Editor,

No one can deny that the world today is nowhere near what it was like 20, or even 10, years ago. What with the Internet, cloning, 9/11, and a rover landing on Mars; we are living in times where we have to wonder seriously what is coming next.

Even old proverbs have not been immune to the effects of the passage of time, and we now see some of them being rendered inaccurate, and in some instances obsolete. Take, for example, the one that says "Better late than never," I seriously doubt people diagnosed with cancer or AIDS would agree with that. There is also one that warns against "Looking a gift horse in the mouth". With this in mind I see where the Chinese people have taken a noticeable interest in Jamaica of late.

As recent as yesterday, it was reported that the Chinese Government will be making $3 billion of concessionary loans available to a few Caribbean nations, including Jamaica. Is there anyone out there still naïve enough to think that this is merely a good neighbourly act on the part of the Chinese?

Jamaica can ill afford to look this gift horse in the mouth, as we are in dire financial straits. In the meantime, the Jamaican Government patiently waits for the other shoe to drop.

Please don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the Chinese, but I can't help feeling like I now have an idea how the American Indians felt when they saw the first white settlers moving in.

Based on the evidence in the commercial districts near where I live I wouldn't be surprised if Jamaica, in a few years from now, became another "Chinatown". At the end of the day all this could make the current spirited debates re Jamaican Standard English and patois as obsolete as some of the proverbs/idioms, since the language of the Chinese could displace them both! Ridiculous? What did the Jamaican proverb about the longest river say again?

Robert Mitchell

Christiana PO

Manchester

mitcib@yahoo.ca

Looking the Chinese gift horse in the mouth

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Dear Editor,

I share the sentiments as Keith Walker as quoted in the Observer on Sunday, May 26, about the crumbling of the quarrying industry in St Thomas: "After 35 years this is the worst I have seen." The entire parish has been despondent since the cutback in the quarry business as owners and workers alike have been struck with the consequences tailgating the weight station in Harbour View.

It is unfair that the people of St Thomas are being robbed of business because of the restrictions implemented on this side of the island. The new policy has caused persons looking to purchase aggregates to go to the areas operating under a free-for-all basis.

I do hope Minister Davies will look into the petition the quarry owners have signed and will act upon it in full fairness. Minister Davies and Madam Prime Minister, it is hard keeping up with the economy as it is, with the layoffs and salary cuts, and now having to send home more workers.

We support the weight limitations, but it is only fair that all quarries be subject to these rules to level the playing field. Equipment and the necessary machinery to run a quarry is a huge investment for quarry owners, and with the downturn in business there is no turnover coming in from investments. And, as such, owners are struggling to stay apace with monthly overheads and paying the few workers who have been kept on the job.

The downfall has affected a large number of residents, from the quarry owner right down to the food stall operators, because of the loss of business. The economy of the parish of St Thomas and its surroundings are set up on the aggregates industry and business has been withering down since the introduction of the scale.

Every business contributes to the sustenance of the economy and should be given the same treatment and chance to survive. Set up scales in the other areas or discontinue the scale operation in Harbour View until all quarries islandwide share the same restrictions. Equal rights and justice are basic elements to the running of a stable society, and it is time we see our Government standing for this cause.

I hope this petition will have some impact and the cries will be heard before the quarry business on the eastern side of the island bellies up and the livelihood of these communities are crushed by the unfair circumstances on account of our 'entrusted' Government.

Donald Morrison

Seaforth,

St Thomas

Basket fi

St Thomas quarry...

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Dear Editor,

Has it occurred to anyone that we're all playing into Doran Dixon's hands by rewarding him for his Neanderthal behaviour with daily headlines and TV interviews, making him a media star overnight?

Had he been ignored, no one would remember him as anything but a boorish, indisciplined, poor excuse for an educator. Thanks to our appetite for "giving the people what they want", ie sensationalism, Dixon has been elevated to celebrity status on TV, in headlines, peddling his particular brand of indiscipline and lack of manners.

Even his colleagues have taken the bait, seeking to banish him from their elections, making him a martyr. I would not be the least bit surprised if he doesn't leave Mico to open his own university, to grant degrees in how to behave like a spoiled brat.

Mary Morris

Kingston 5

Dixon's 10 minutes of fame

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Dear Editor,

Our nation’s youth are in a very sad state and will remain there until they get rid of the notion that somebody owes them something. It is like a disease that has been left untreated. Everywhere you turn, there is a youth calling on the Government, and business owners to give unto them what is ‘rightfully’ theirs. Quite often they are demanding more job-related or educational and training opportunities that they believe should be created and given to them. I am often angered by their demands.

The reality is, many of them do nothing for themselves but count on others to do ‘something’ for them. It is time our youth wake up and realise that nobody owes them anything. It is the law of survival that you work hard for what you want in life. It is time they realise that they need to take the first step then ask for help, and not the other way around. The nation cannot and will not progress with the lacklustre attitude of these young people.

I am by no means suggesting that all youth are the same. However, too many are like this. Something must be done about their lax ways. We hear the cry every day that there are not enough jobs for young people, but to be frank many of those who complain have never filled out an application form. Persons may also argue that the only way you will ever get a job is by knowing somebody who is already a part of an organisation. This may be true to an extent, but wouldn't it be easier for that person to help you if you actually applied for a position then sought their assistance?

It just cannot be business as usual for us youth; it just won’t take us any closer to personal and or economic development. In order to be better leaders in the future we must change our approach to how we operate. Your current situation is not a valid reason for not taking the first move. Your story is not unique, and self-pity will not take you anywhere, since thousands of others — like the current prime minister and me — grew up in poverty, but have managed to excel far beyond expectations.

Nobody is asking that you to make blood from stone, nor are we asking that you take bigger steps than you can handle, but what I ask is that you at least take a step. Get up off the corner. Please stop behaving like the world owes you anything. Be more appreciative of the many opportunities created for you and capitalise on them. I am starting to think we have watched too many movies and hence have not been able to separate real life from the ones we see on television. Jamaica is a developing country and is doing a whole lot to improve the life of each citizen.

So for a brighter future and a more progressive country, please remember the world owes you nothing.

Tasha Smith

Youth Advocate

Dear Editor,

We live in a world of plenty, where food production outstrips demand, yet 870 million people are undernourished and childhood stunting is a silent pandemic. To create the future we want, we must correct this inequity. We must ensure access to adequate nutrition for all, double the productivity of smallholder farmers who grow the bulk of food in the developing world and make food systems sustainable in the face of environmental and economic shocks. This is the vision of my Zero Hunger Challenge, launched last year at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

One way to narrow the hunger gap and improve the well-being of the most vulnerable is to address the massive loss and waste inherent in today's food systems. Currently at least one-third of all food produced fails to make it from farm to table. This is foremost an affront to the hungry, but it also represents a massive environmental cost in terms of energy, land and water.

In developing countries, pests, inadequate storage facilities and inefficient supply chains are major contributors to food loss. Those who grow for export are also often at the mercy of over-stringent expectations of buyers who place a premium on cosmetic perfection. In developed nations, food thrown away by households and the retail and catering industries rots in landfills, releasing significant quantities of methane — a powerful greenhouse gas.

Food loss and waste is something we can all address. That is why the United Nations Environment Programme, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and public and private sector partners have launched the “Think, Eat, Save: Reduce Your Foodprint” campaign to raise global awareness and showcase solutions relevant to developed and developing countries alike.

Infrastructure and technology can reduce the amount of food that perishes after it is harvested and before it reaches the market. Developing country governments can work to improve essential infrastructure and maximise trade opportunities with neighbours; developed nations can support fair trade and rationalise sell-by dates and other labelling systems; businesses can revise their criteria for rejecting produce; and consumers can minimise waste by buying only what they need and reusing leftover food.

On this World Environment Day, I urge all actors in the global food chain to take responsibility for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable food systems. The current global population of seven billion is expected to grow to nine billion by 2050. But the number of hungry people need not increase. By reducing food waste, we can save money and resources, minimise environmental impacts and, most importantly, move towards a world where everyone has enough to eat.

Ban Ki-moon

UN Secretary-General

Dear Editor,

Yesterday I got a call from a senior citizen, aged 82, asking me to stop by on my way to work. When I did so, I was given a prescription for her daughter who has been mentally ill for over 25 years. She needed me to fill the prescription as she was told by the mental health nurse that the ministry can no longer afford to give the monthly tablets.

She said that she took the prescription to the nearby clinic, but they didn't have any of the prescribed tablets. I find it appalling that a change in policy such as this was not communicated to the beneficiaries before introduction to give them time to make other arrangements. This lady and her daughter are both on PATH. Why are they not exempted? How will others like them be able to cope with no tablets? Will this lead to an increase in violent behaviour by mentally-ill patients who are not properly medicated?

I know Jamaica's economic situation is in dire straits, but to treat the vulnerable among us like this suggests that we are losing our moral compass as a nation. I hope the minister will look again at any policy change and ensure that mentally ill patients and those on PATH will be able to access health care. I also hope that future changes will be communicated to the general public and not done in this clandestine manner.

K Morgan

St Ann

Dear Editor,

I note with interest Labour Minister Derrick Kellier's contribution to the 2013 Sectoral Debate wherein he made reference to the required amendment of, among other laws, the Women (Employment of) Act of 1942 to facilitate the coming into being of the long-promised flexi-work arrangement.

Interestingly, only last week I was doing some research and came across the Women Employment Act, which prohibits women from working between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am, except in a few limited circumstances.

This law restricting the employment of women, though not followed by many, is in need of instant repeal, as it serves not much, if any, useful purpose in today's society. Frankly, but for society's then primitive view of women, it was, in my view, equally not relevant in 1942.

Be that as it may, the long-proposed Occupational Health and Safety Act, for instance, could have provisions for, such as, the protection of pregnant women, especially when employed in certain industries. Women do not otherwise need any special protection, so provisions otherwise ought to be gender-neutral.

There are too many obsolete laws on our books that ought to be repealed or provisions thereof updated and incorporated into other laws as necessary, as they otherwise have no relevance to the modern Jamaican society. This ought to be the major focus of the law reform unit in the ministry of justice.

Understanding that budgetary and staff constraints may be of concern in that regard, law students at the Norman Manley Law School could be engaged to so assist, doing same as a clinical for which academic credits would be awarded. Retired lawyers could also lend their time and talent to expedite this process.

Kevin KO Sangster

sangstek@msn.com

Editor: previous submission, upon reflection, did not state what the Act at issue was specifically about; hence, this replacement.

Kevin K.O. Sangster, Esq.

Labour law primitive view of women

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Dear Editor:

Once again we have heard another remark from agent of the state the Commission of Police commenting on the perceived ease with which alleged criminals receive bail. Not that I share the view, but it is the right of every citizen who is charged with a criminal offence.

The granting of bail to an individual does not mean such a person is acquitted, neither is it a barrier of a custodial sentence if such a sentence is warranted.

In my humble opinion, the issue of concern should not be the granting of bail, but rather that of conviction.

What is the percentage of persons charged with serious offences who are acquitted either at the end of a trial or on a no-case submission being upheld?

My experience would lead me to conclude that the percentage is rather high. Are the judges to be blamed for that? Is the hierarchy of the Jamaica Constabulary Force desirous of introducing the concept of 'Pre-Trial Sentencing' into Jamaican jurisprudence?

The role of the police is to investigate cases and gather evidence; if this is not adequately done it results in an acquittal. Should not that be of more concern to the hierarchy of the Jamaica Constabulary Force?

It is a rather loathsome practice to berate judges publicly, knowing full well that they are unlikely to respond. After all, it is highly improbable that our judges will take to the streets blocking the roads with placards bearing the words "We want justice".

Marcus Greenwood

Attorney-at-law

Justice for judges

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Dear Editor,

Commissioner Owen Ellington has laid out his road map for achieving Vision 2030, it is thought-provoking, analytical, well-researched, offers a perspective and comparison with Wilmot Perkins' Singapore without once mentioning the great man.

The commissioner sounds like someone who should be designing policy for the force and not operation. But with his minister abdicating that responsibility to the divine one, why not? Unfortunately we have heard all this before without any difference in approach. Mr Golding was asked while hosting his Wednesday evening talk show, why don't we benchmark Singapore? His response was dismissive, he said that any leader who went to Parliament and passed a law against spitting in public is not someone to emulate as his brand of governance couldn't work in Jamaica.

The commissioner sounds like someone who should be designing policy for the force and not operation. But with his minister abdicating that responsibility to the divine one, why not? Unfortunately we have heard all this before without any difference in approach. Mr Golding was asked while hosting his Wednesday evening talk show, why don't we benchmark Singapore? His response was dismissive, he said that any leader who went to Parliament and passed a law against spitting in public is not someone to emulate as his brand of governance couldn't work in Jamaica.

Maybe Mrs. Simpson-Miller will have a different perspective. Mr. Ellington believes that long prison sentences, executions and denial of bail especially for drug smugglers, gang members and persons caught with a gun or ammunition will ensure that Jamaica fulfills Vision 2030. He wants to cut out fines also. There is one problem, a trustworthy police force.

Trust is essential for co-operation. The Jamaican police force, headed by Mr Ellington, is killing innocent Jamaicans at an alarming rate. They are a law unto themselves and Mr Ellington didn't even mention that. We want to trust the police, but on too many occasions are statements by eyewitnesses fundamentally different from that of the police. The Jamaican police's credibility isn't only suspect by human rights bodies, the ordinary Jamaican, over time, has realised that the nursery rhymes trotted out as serious communication by CCN after shootings are too incredulous. Hence road blocks, street protests, demonstrations and fires whenever Mr Ellington's men kill us with impunity.

People who supported the police wholeheartedly have become lawbreakers because, Commissioner, they have lost faith in your force. Therefore before you can espouse measures about regulating our society you must first clean your own house. We are becoming more and more cynical when you kill a fireman and his relatives before a witness and label it a shoot-out;shoot at a car with young people allegedly on a robbery spree, again before witnesses, and kill a young lady. But even more egregious, one of your members shot a man lying injured on the ground, before the whole world to see, and your policemen who were present turned their collective backs.

Please, Mr Ellington, your arguments seem cogent but lack merit simply because you will not take responsibility for the ills of your dysfunctional organisation. Fix the police force and then your actions will convince us to support the policy directions you enunciate. Fix the police force so that every time someone is killed we believe the police over the most strident citizens. We don't want to know that when we dismantle criminal organisations we replace them with members of our police force who are rapists, murderers, butchers, child molesters and various sick individuals in uniform. Convince us commissioner that Vision 2030 will not pose for us a police state, since the only persons who can police a police state is the police.

Mark Clarke

mark_clarke9@yahoo.com

Clean your own house first, Mr Commissioner

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Dear Editor,

National Water Commission is causing the gastro epidemic. Since the drought started and the country have been having water lock-offs, whether scheduled or otherwise, the quality of the water when it returns is not fit for drinking.

I got gastro twice in a month and I do not live in Kingston 11 or 13, I live in Kingston 6. So I guess because I can afford to see a private doctor I am not among your statistics.

I love water, so I drink water throughout the day, sometimes directly from the tap. Well, when the water lock-offs started, I went home one evening, turned on the pipe and held a cup (coloured) under the pipe. I caoght some water and drank it. I went to the bathroom to shower, when I turn on the pipe and looked down I saw muddy dirty water. I screamed and wanted to vomit after realising that I just consumed this same water. Maybe if I had drunk the water from a glass I would have seen the state of the water, but when it hit the white tub in my bathroom that is when I saw it. That same night the bellyache started, by morning I was on my bathroom floor vomiting then diarrhoea. When I went to the doctor, he advised that I had contracted the gastro virus. I had to stay home for a week.

Since then, I have learned my lesson, so I pour water into a glass and wait to see the colour before drinking or boil the water before drinking. However, two weeks after my first incident, I made Sunday dinner for my family and made juice. I turned on the pipe and caught the water in a glass pitcher and waited then I made my juice. At the dinner table my son asked me how the juice tasted so funny and smelled as well, so I drank the juice for myself to find out what he meant. The juice had a funny taste and smelled of 'chemical'. I turned on the pipe and smelled and sipped the water, it was the same smell and taste as the juice. The following day we were all sick. We went to the doctor who confirmed that we all had gastro.

Needless to say I have now resorted to bottled water as I do not trust NWC water anymore. So it is not water stored that is making the people of Kingston 11 and 13 sick, but people from all areas are getting sick from the water that is coming from the tap.

Leroy Brown

leroybrownman@gmail.com

NWC causing gastro

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