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Parenting more than childbirth

September 23, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

Observe a dog or cat or any other dumb or wild animal and see how they approach the task of parenting their young. The animal goes out in its season and mate with one of its own kind.

In the case of the cat in the wild, when an offspring is born, it is nurtured to an age of competence while being taught (educated) by its parent in matters such as hunting (working), finding safe places to rest (making a house/housing), and how to stay healthy. Upon learning various essential skills the offspring leaves the parent fully equipped to interact with, survive and ultimately overcome its environment. The offspring will move on to eventuallycreate offspring of its own and the cycle continues.

In contrast, a human child, in mant cases, is not educated by his/her parents, but instead is sent to school where he/she is expected to "get educated".

Imagine a horse teaching a cat to hunt. Quite the scene isn't it? Why then does a human expect his/her child to learn from a stranger?

Simply put, being of the same genus does not mean being of the same aptitudes. Parents should educate.

Shefroy Rowe

shefroy.rowe@rocketmail.com

Parenting more than childbirth

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Red tape's casualty

September 23, 2013, 12:54 pm
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Dear Editor,

Gordon "Butch” Stewart is certainly deserving of high praise for steadfastly reminding the Government of the urgent need to free up the red tape that is continuing to strangle productive business possibilities in this country.

Indeed urgent attention is needed to clear the massive bureaucracy that continues to thwart the establishment of export expansion needed to move forward.

As much as 20 years ago, I composed the following limerick:

"The Income Tax building is round,

From the top right down to the ground.

Through reams of red tape,

They came up with this shape,

Better circles to send you around."

But the circles didn't end there! They extended outwards and run into wider and wider circles. They continue to permeate every government agency, and are further weakened by the appointment of unqualified political favourites.

In 1975, my late husband, Claude, and I moved Gauron Food Products from Kingston to the JIDC factory complex at Boundbook, Port Antonio. At the time, we employed over 200 workers. In addition, Claude called on his factory contacts overseas and was able to persuade American and Korean companies to fill the factory space still available. Then, Port Antonio produced gloves, slippers, hand luggage, browning, vodka, a variety of sauces, uniforms, syrups, pumpkin ketchup, and other items for Kingston and overseas labels, and also supported a coupon-sorting business for US supermarkets. At one time the complex supported over 700 workers in five separate operations, four of them exportonly and employed mostly women.

When Gauron Food Products finally capitulated in 2004, it manufactured only browning, had 22 workers fully employed, and was paying $60,000 per month to the Factories Corporation of Jamaica for a leaking zinc-roofed building.

Today the complex lies in ruins; deserted except for a few crabs and egrets and one small section that has been rented to a retail establishment. It had survived the 70s, but the increasing red tape of the 80s and 90s took its heaviest toll.

Raw supplies were expensive and scarce. Many had to come through layers of red tape to get to us. Utilities were uncertain, at best. In the end there was nothing to do but pay off the workers and dispose of whatever equipment remained. The vibrant businesses were simply strangled by the multiple layers of bureaucracy and unchecked “bandooloo and samfie-ism”.

We need to do a lot of thinking and unravelling if we want save the businesses we have left.

Speaking to Minister Anthony Hylton the other day, I suggested that there should be some serious house-cleaning before trying to bring in further investors. He agreed but said the matter was so complex that it would take "much more dialogue".

Have we got time for this?

 Marguerite Gauron

 hmgauron@gmail.com  
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Restore honour, Dr Thompson

September 23, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

Dr Herbert Thompson is someone I have admired for many years. I am very surprised that he could have exercised such poor judgement in receiving an award from the People's National Party.

His explanation that the award was for the Electoral Office of Jamaica and not for himself makes matters even worse because it brings that goog office into disrepute.

Dr Thompson must know that for any electoral official or representative even attending a function of that nature is improper and unacceptable.

There is a perception in the Jamaica Labour Party that the electoral offices covertly support's the People's National Party. I had always dismissed this idea as paranoia, but this award gives fodder to the argument.

One thing is certain, Dr Thompson no longer has the appearance of impartiality and neutrality required of his office. He should do the honourable thing and resign.

simon.casserly@gmail.com

Simon Casserly

Restore honour, Dr Thompson

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Video game addiction destroys family unit

September 24, 2013, 2:00 am
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AN inquiry carried out between 2,000 adolescents of the virtual community, Habbo Hotel, puts consoles and games as the requests preferred by kids. Only four per cent of the boys asked books.

For all parents the time employed whit consoles should not exceed one hour per day. These data correspond to an inquiry conducted among 4,000 parents in the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Parents are not involved in the games. Six out of 10 kids play alone.

On the other hand, video games are used by children as an alternative to isolation. The boy relieves his energies with the machine and eventually stops communicating and loses track of time, increasing his violent behaviour.

Sometimes violent or fanatic video games are hung on the network and distributed free of charge by fascist, racist or criminal organisations to attract addicts among youths. The boys agree to distribute their activities and spend some of their time to other tasks such as sports, theatre and reading.

MIT Professor Joseph Wizenbaum recorded as "Internet bohemians those bright young disheveled, with sunken and glassy eyes, sitting at computer keyboards, with tense arms and waiting to trigger their fingers, and working up to thirty hours straight, and whose menu is summarised in coffee, soft drinks and snacks. They sleep on cots next to the print-outs. Their clothes are wrinkled, their faces without washing or shaving and their disheveled".

Video games are identified with a super-tech society. The United States, Canada, China, and South Korea already have fantastic "detoxification clinics". The first harbingers of addiction appear when people decide not to eat. Then follows the drug intake to hold clear.

Finally, at the University of Amsterdam has been assessed that 80% of adolescents aged 18 play, often, a video game.

Clemente Ferrer is an author and journalist. He has led a distinguished career in Spain in the fields of advertising and public relations. He is currently president of the European Institute of Marketing.

clementeferrer3@gmail.com

Video game addiction destroys family unit

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'Butch' not alone, Americans tired of lethargy too

September 24, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

Americans, by 53 per cent to 25 per cent — more than ever — want their political leaders in Washington to compromise in order to get things done, rather than stick to their principles at the cost of getting nothing done, according to the latest Gallup poll.

When I read this I recalled that Mr Gordon 'Butch' Stewart wrote on September 16, 2013 that overtaxation and red tape were strangling Jamaica. In other words, it's hard to get things done here too.

I also heard Mr Martin Henry lamenting about the same thing, the lethargy of the bureaucracy, on the programme "It's a rap" on RJR on Sunday. Mr Henry made the point that merely going after Mr Richard Azan was doing nothing for Jamaica unless we improved the bureaucracy to be able to deliver projects to better the lives of the people.

It's ironic and very contradictory that, while some interest groups are calling for improvements in the lives of the people, they are also condemning persons who circumvent the bureaucracy to help these same people. The people in these interest groups clearly belong to what the late Mutty Perkins used to call the "intellectual ghetto".

The British at the time of Independence left us with a public sector and governance structure which they have long abandoned. It is full time that we restructure our bureaucracy to make it function and not criminalise people who are trying to help get things done.

Charmaine Jenkins

charmingjen@gmail.com

'Butch' not alone, Americans tired of lethargy too

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It's more than a mere leadership challenge

September 24, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive — Sir Walter Scott.

The game of politics is often overshadowed by clouds of deception. The ordinary voter is just a pawn to the whim and fancy of a political plan that is strategically carried out with much efficiency. Oftentimes the voter may not even realise that they have been hoodwinked or coerced blindly into some dark path.

It is with much disdain that I proffer these thoughts, but what has been brewing on the current political scene has confirmed my fears, that is my conspiracy theory.

On two previous occasions Audley Shaw had more viable opportunities to seize the throne of leadership of the now 70-year-old Jamaica Labour Party. Mr Shaw's first neglected opportunity was created upon the departure of the former Prime Minister Edward Seaga. Mr Shaw -- who was much younger and who had commanded substantial support from parliamentarians, including Andrew Holness, and a vast number of delegates -- decided, then, he would not contest for the leadership of the party.

Mr Shaw's second opportunity was created when former Prime Minister Bruce Golding resigned. Again, he chose not to enter the leadership race.

This proves to me that he does not possess the boldness, confidence and the courage for leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party.

On May 19, 2013, during an interview on CVM, Audley Shaw stated that it was a grand waste of time to even discuss his participation in a leadership challenge, and his name should be left out of such talks. Herein lies my confusion, am I suppose to assume that his leadership ambitions was stimulated sometime after. While I don't think this is the case, it may very well be that Mr Shaw was made to acquiesce to the agenda of the anti-Holness wing.

So now he, with all the financial backing, suddenly developed the courage to take on Andrew Holness. But to what end? Shaw is now 61, and as he has indicated on previous occasions he does not intend to remain in politics much longer.

Could it be that Andrew Holness is in the way of another young aspirant and getting Mr. Holness out of the way is the only possible way that the members in Anti-Holness wing's vision could ever be considered a possible candidate for leadership.

Why now? Now is the perfect time, since Holness is on the winning path and is becoming politically stronger. And if one delays in mounting the challenge to his leadership the opportunity could be permanently lost. Moreover, this winning momentum could be utilised in the next election.

It is my view that the JLP is going through this leadership challenge primarily because there are some among them with hidden and self-serving agendas — not necessarily with the interest of the party and the country at heart.

Marvin Forbes

forbesmarvin@yahoo.com

It's more than a mere leadership challenge

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Democracy at risk

September 24, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor

Our two- party system and our democracy are in crisis because the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has not been demonstrating that it has a true leader in Andrew Holness, who obviously is only leading a part of the party and the other part by Audley Shaw. The result of the election for leadership will not, in itself, unite the party and without such unity there cannot possibly be a credible leader to be prime minister. So Jamaica will by implication be a one party state for the unforeseeable future.

With reference to Audley Shaw, who made a fine Minister of Finance, there is no evidence that he will provide better leadership than Holness. In fact, instead of working with the current leader his challenge can only have the effect of literally revealing a divided party. Some will defend the challenge as a necessary precedent, but it is my considered view that that is far outweighed by the disadvantages.

Although Edward Seaga experienced the problem of vision, as a grandfather of the party and a proven philosopher and achiever, I think both Holness and Shaw should take counsel from him to unite the party against a one party state.

Absolute power too often corrupts.

Owen Crosbie

oss@cwjamaica.com

Democracy at risk

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We should commend Minister Paulwell

September 24, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

While it is true that most of us have run out of patience with the foolishness exhibited by too many of our politicians, I don't think we should allow this impatience to impede our better judgement. Specifically, I don't think that the calls being made by some for Minister Paulwell to resign are sound.

It is being imputed that Minister Paulwell's actions, in regards to the Office of Utilities Regulation's (OUR) selection of the preferred bidder for that major electricity project, amounts to incompetence and even corruption. I, however, think he should actually be commended.

Paulwell puts it best, while being interviewed on television recently, when he said that as a responsible minister, it was his duty to do all he can to get the cost of electricity as low as possible. If he could find a company that could provide electricity cheaper than the ones the OUR was considering, then he had a duty to let the OUR know. What's wrong with that?

If Minister Paulwell was being incompetent and corrupt in giving the OUR another company to consider that can provide electricity cheaper than the rest then I, as an electricity consumer who is struggling to pay these huge bills, would urge him to continue being incompetent and corrupt. It's a pity some of the other ministers don't venture into this kind of incompetence.

Also, I really don't understand these private sector leaders who boycotted the OUR's announcement of the preferred bidder. They keep demanding that the minister do something about the high cost of energy. Yet, at the same time, when he exerts some youthful exuberance and does something of worth they want to put his head on the chopping block. What up with them?

Anyway, for once, Paulwell's youthful exuberance may have actually done all of us a world of good for a change. There is no need for him to resign.

Michael A Dingwall

michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com

We should commend Minister Paulwell

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Silence does not mean level-headedness

September 25, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

The Jamaica Labour Party is at a critical stage in its 70th year of existence. For the first time in decades it will put into practice the democratic process that is an essential component of any democratic institution -- an internal election.

Within the imbroglio we hear mentions of Jamaicans and politicians not being "used to Andrew's style of leadership"; and how good this style is for the party. Is this the same style that has us still licking our wounds from one of the worst election defeats in history? Is this the style that fuelled questions of the JLP's relevance in the media a few weeks ago? Let us not be fooled or fool ourselves, good leaders are never mistaken for irrelevant or toothless leaders.

They say it is Andrew's level-headedness and laid-back approach that is being mistaken for poor leadership -- I can't fight the chuckle rising from my gullet. It is woefully misleading to presume that silence equates to level-headedness.

I find Audley's campaign as it is now to be more level-headed than Andrew's. If their campaigns are in any way reflective of whom they are, which it should be, Andrew would come up extremely wanting in the area of level-headedness and cool.

Derron Scarlett

dscarlett81@hotmail.com

Silence does not mean level-headedness

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Frenzied sharks headline unfortunate

September 25, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

It is with a heavy heart that I read your article in Monday's publication of the Observer. The headline itself is very unfortunate: 'Like frenzied sharks at the sight of blood, they went for Azan's jugular'. I would expect a more responsible kind of journalism, especially in a country tainted with corruption on both sides.

Richard Azan obviously breached a clause in the constitution, and for a public official he should have followed protocols and deserves to be punished severely. This happens in any civilised country in the world. Lee Kwan Yew was very severe on acts of corruption of this nature and today Singapore is a First World country.

So, I don't think I understand what your article is implying, or the message it is sending to one of the most lawless societies on the globe.

Bernard Rodriques

rodriquesjr@yahoo.com

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SLB not serious about loan repayment

September 25, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

The Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) has the task of providing thousands of students with financial assistance each year so that people, like myself, who do not have the financial resources can pursue higher education.

Upon completing my studies, the SLB wrote (via e-mail) advising that, as of January 2013, I should begin the process of repayment. Well aware that this is standard, I was glad I could begin covering my loan.

After days of calling the SLB --everyone can attest that this is a daunting challenge -- I finally got through to a representative who I asked some rather vital questions as it relates to repayment; such as, how often they produce statements and is there a system in place where persons can check the status of their loans for themselves. The answer to the first was 6 months; a statement would be e-mailed to me every 6 months. The answer to the latter was no, you have to rely on the statements issued.

Although technology is the modern-day tool for everything, one cannot possibly rely on e-mails in order to ensure repayment or to even to communicate important information. The SLB, after being advised of my current email address, which is (about 4 years old) still had my old e-mail on file, and thus was sending information to that address. The representative noted that the cost of paper is too expensive. Are they serious about repayment?

After making a request for a statement to be issued every three months and not the standard six months. To date I have received neither. Thus it makes you wonder, why pay if you don't get the sense that you need to. What does it take to generate a statement every 6 months? I'm sure it is far less than generating colorful ads that pertain to delinquency.

The SLB must put the same energy into repayment as it does in loan processing. Enough effort is not being made to collect the Government's money. Nor is there any effort being made to report on whatever funds they collect. I have called the SLB approximately 34 times in the last 3 weeks, but to no avail. And don't even mention going to their office, as that's even worse.

I believe in what the SLB has to offer and have encouraged many of my friends to go that direction, as that's the only way out for us. But, be serious SLB!

Shannon Guthrie

shannonguthrie@live.com

SLB not serious about loan repayment

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'Like frenzied sharks at the sight of blood...'

September 25, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

You do not need me to tell you that the piece in the Daily Observer of Monday, September 23, 2013 "Like frenzied sharks at the sight of blood, they went for Azan's jugular" is a bolt of lightning and ray of light. The reasons:

(a) It runs counter to the dominant narrative of bloodshedding.

(b) It relies on the facts of the OCG's report.

(c) It critiques the OCG on solid grounds.

(d) It takes account of the broader issues.

(e) It seeks to make neither friends nor enemies.

And on and on. Great piece.

What are the implications, if any, for the reputation of the OCG in this reaching for 'misconduct' that is not in the laws (political corruption), having not found any act of criminal wrongdoing, but yet referring to the director of public prosecution's office and recommending disciplinary action by the prime minister?

But what really is this construct called 'political corruption'? If I, as a minister of government, -- which I am not -- follow the procurement guidelines and fix a road in my constituency, or provide scholarships or build houses, the probable effect of which is that I solidify my fortunes of winning the next election, am I being politically corrupt (or just enlightened)?

Canute S Thompson PhD, CMC

Leadership coach, researcher, and equity advocate canutethompson1@gmail.com

'Like frenzied sharks at the sight of blood...'

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Save Lucea

September 26, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

I was born in Lucea and attended Rusea's High School. I left Jamaica many years ago, but have been returning often to enjoy the sun and the beaches in Negril and visit with my brother and friend.

Before I left for Canada, Lucea was a clean and beautiful town. Last August I returned to Jamaica with my family and we drove to Negril. While passing through Lucea we noticed how dirty the roads were. There were mounds of garbage blocking the main street by Ronald Young's store.

The Lucea parish council and the mayor should be fired for allowing things to reach this state. I have never seen so much garbage blocking the main street. It is a shame. People of Lucea, fire your councillors. I am ashamed to tell visitors to Jamaica that I am from a place looking like this.

Rupert Fernandez

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

rupert.fernandez@shaw.ca

Save Lucea

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'I knew so little about my dad's death...'

September 26, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor:

I write with regard to the article written in the Sunday Observer of September 22, 2013 'Crimes that rocked the nation' about my father Ian McMorris.

I am his daughter. I just wanted to say thank you for taking me a little closer to what happened on the night of his murder. I didn't know a lot of what happened on that night, and so I just wanted to say thanks to Mrs Sybil Hibbert.

Kia McMorris

kiannamac@gmail.com

'I knew so little about my dad's death...'

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Lapse in judgement, Dr Thompson

September 26, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

I take sides with Andrew Holness and Audley Shaw on the call for the resignation of Dr Herbert Thompson from the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ).

He has taken the first step to resign as chairman; however, he should resign from the ECJ.

The officers of the ECJ should not show any tinge of partisanship and should not be in any situation that would cause ambiguity or doubt, calling into question their fairness and objectivity.

Dr Thompson suffered a great lapse in judgement, and it is now too late for any explaining. It just does not pass the sniff test.

For some strange reason, I believe that he accepted the award on behalf of the ECJ. For who in their right mind -- with any honour - would want an award from either the PNP or JLP?

One thing is sure, if it wasn't the PNP doing this the JLP would be doing something similar. The JLPNP politicians are void of any moral code and are used to doing whatever pleases them, whenever it pleases them.

The people will continue to suffer under these two parties unless civil society and interest groups apply pressure and demand that they follow established codes of conduct.

Authnel S Reid

authnel_reid@merck.com

Lapse in judgement, Dr Thompson

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Deaf awareness on the rise

September 26, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

The fourth week of September is Deaf Awareness Week, and it couldn't come at a better time than when communication access — a human right of deaf persons was recognised at the PNP's 75th anniversary celebration. Lo and behold, there was a sign language interpreter beside the prime minister.

The theme for this year's Deaf Awareness Week is Equality for Deaf People. It does not celebrate the anatomy of the ear or celebrate finding a cure for hearing loss. It recognises and celebrates life as a deaf person. It cherishes sign language as the mother tongue of the deaf and communication access as a right. It's about the fact that the time has come for the Government of Jamaica to recognise this right.

We must now break the habit of inconsistency and only providing access during the election. Sign language interpreting should be mandatory for all public announcements, for all emergency announcements, and for all news that are intended for the people of Jamaica from the Government.

Kudos to the PNP and TVJ for setting an example, and I implore all governments and media houses to always recognise two very important rights of deaf persons: communication access and equality.

Jamaica Deaf Advocacy Team

Hope Estate

DeafAdvocacyJa@gmail.com

Deaf awareness on the rise

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Shearer's hard line was not 'shoot first'

September 26, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

It has been repeated often enough in recent times that I suppose history will one day record that former Prime Minister Hugh Shearer did, in fact, instruct the police to 'shoot first and ask questions after'. In my many years of close observation to public utterances, I cannot recall by memory or by research that Shearer ever used that phrase in any of his many public speeches to the police force. I clearly remember his statement about reciting the Beatitudes; and I think that what he said on that occasion is so relevant today that it should be published again in detail.

Addressing the Police Federation some time around 1967 he said some of these words:

As prime minister, I have a duty to...inform wrongdoers in Jamaica that the conscience of the society is hardening against violence to a degree never reached before. I have had proposals from responsible sections of the society to the extent where they have proposed to Government that wrongdoers in certain subjects like rape, assault, burglary, and assault on children should be punished by flogging in the public square."

I am bringing this to the attention of the nation so that the wrongdoers can understand the mood and tempo of the nation against whom they are doing so many wrongs.

I want the country to take note of what can happen in a society when you harass, abuse, and ill-treat as these gangs of hooligans have been doing; where the society itself can be aroused to such levels where people say 'do not flog them behind prison walls, bring them in the square and do it at midday.

In exposing this hardening against violence I expect to hear some outcry from do-gooders and all sorts of 'ologists'. But in the interest of the nation, when it comes to handling crime in this country, I do not expect any policeman when he/she tackles and a criminal to recite any beatitudes to him. With due respect to all the apologists, the police cannot attack the wrongdoer and talk about 'Blessed are the meek...'

So when all the 'ologists' in their comfortable air-conditioned quarters read papers I ask them to bear in mind the dependents of the policemen already killed; and to understand why the attitude has hardened against the criminal elements in this country, and why drastic action has to be taken to deal with this drastic complaint that is totally alien to our way of life.

I make no bones about it gentlemen, and I want all Jamaica to get the message that the police force under this government is not reciting beatitudes to anybody.

Nothing that I say here today could ever offend a citizen who is law-abiding. I expect the full backing of the nation for the stand I have taken in the name of the Government of Jamaica against this cancerous situation in our society.

At a later date, in 1971, when the criminals were getting on worse than before Mr Shearer addressed another meeting of policemen; and at that time he urged them, "Within the rules and within the legitimate limits for the preservation of law, stand firmly and keep on doing what you doing." None of this sounds anything like "shoot first..."

Ken Jones

kensjones2002@yahoo.com

Shearer's hard line was not 'shoot first'

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Today's leader can't shun Facebook/Twitter

September 27, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

In an age that is being touted as the information age, I was most disturbed by a jab against the JLP leader by his challenger Audley Shaw.

Among other things, Shaw sought to communicate to JLP delegates, and by extension, the rest of Jamaica, that were he to be successful in his bid for leadership he will not be a Facebook or Twitter leader.

As I understand it, both Messrs Shaw and Holness have digital presence. Shaw's problem, perhaps, is that Holness's following and presence on social media surpasses his many times over. I find Shaw's remark most disingenuous as his team is now busy seeking to ramp up his activities on social media in the face of his bid for leadership.

We now live in a world where everything is available to us at the touch of a button, or better yet at the click of a mouse or app. Doesnt Shaw recognise that technology is to be embraced as this is the direction in which our contemporaries around the world are heading? Or is it that he is altogether out of touch with the demographics of this Jamaican society?

Reaching out to people by way of social media is a key medium of engagement in the modern world and does not militate against other activities that the leader of a major political party, like Andrew Holness, is expected to undertake.

Camille Wedderburn

UWI Student

camillewedderburn@gmail.com

Today's leader can't shun Facebook/Twitter

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Where's the care for the poor?

September 27, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

Cabinet's approval of the 25 per cent increase in bus fares has further proved they do not care about the poor.

I admit that the JUTC's management consulted the populace for the fare increases. But it has been a great tragedy because with this raise it is the low and minimum wage earners and the unemployed who are going to suffer.

The current Government won majority seats in Parliament under the mantra 'People Power'. And Portia Simpson Miller was styled as poor people's champion. However, the Government seems to be conducting business without the people in mind.

Mrs Simpson Miller's frequent absences is noticeable, and she recently jetted off to China to woo potential investors, the results of that or any other trip seem not to reach the Jamaican public. Is this international bonding not the reason for a minister of foreign affairs and trade or a minister of commerce and investment?

The prime minister is not just a figurehead, but a representative of the people. The poor must now decide what they want. It's that simple. Do they still want to re-elect successive parties that promise change and do not deliver; who hand out a cap, shirt, drinks and box food for one day to result in a possible lifetime of continuous misery.

A government is of the people, by the people and for the people. If we do not speak, we cannot be heard and the Government must remember, if ever anything happens; 'Vox populi, Vox Dei'- the voice of the people is the voice of God.

Colette Campbell

rastarjamaica@yahoo.com

Where's the care for the poor?

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So that explains the smell!

September 27, 2013, 2:00 am
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Dear Editor,

The smell now emanating from Yallahs (small) Pond — there are two ponds — is due to gases; mainly hydrogen sulphide, apparently resulting from the growth of algae. This is a characteristic of brackish ponds in the tropics, but it is not a common occurrence.

I have visited the pond hundreds of times over the past 40 years — as a birdwatcher it is one of my favourite locations — and have taken note of the seasonal changes year after year.

The water level in the pond rises during the rainy season and falls due to evaporation during the hot dry summer months. In drought years the level gets extremely low, and the salt level very high. I once analysed this very salty liquid and found it three times as salty as the sea.

The phenomenon of algal growth and offensive smell occurs infrequently — maybe twice per decade — and I suspect is triggered by an optimum salt concentration. Since this year, it has occurred in August/September after the lowest pond level began to be diluted by rainfall. Heavy rains will further reduce the salinity and the algae will disappear; but this has not happened yet.

Although they look fragile, the ponds are ancient and appear on the earliest maps of Jamaica. I once found a Taino arrowhead there, which is not unexpected as they depended considerably on shellfish. The only time the ponds are joined to the sea has been when exceedingly heavy rains raise the water level and the excess water pressure breaks through the "safety valve" at the lowest point of the protecting ridge, where NWA is now excavating.

This has happened to my knowledge three times in the past forty years, and the event I remember best was in September 1979 when the water rose more than two feet overnight and burst through to the sea. A gap about thirty feet wide let in the sea, and the pond became, in effect, a bay. However, when I went back three months later the breach was completely closed by natural wave action on the seashore — I hope and expect that the same natural corrective action will close the gap now being created by the NWA.

Incidentally, at this same time September 1979, the famous Mother Rock Spring on the hill behind the pond came back to life after many dormant years

Although the pond is quite shallow, it contains a lot of fish, which are caught and used by local people. These fish are able to adapt to changing levels of salinity up to a point, but when it passes that point all the fish die and another source of offensive smell develops as the dead fish rot. But this is short-lived, as an army of John Crows come in to feast, leaving only bones. Strangely, as soon as the rains replenish the ponds and water levels rise, a new generation of fish appear.

John Fletcher

johnofletcher@gmail.com

So that explains the smell!

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