Jamaica Observer

Dear Editor,

Any entrepreneur who is interested in long-term sustainability will refrain from making unwise business decisions. Unlike government bureaucrats, private entrepreneurs are actually punished by the market if they fail. Bureaucrats, therefore, do not understand the dynamics of market and so their decisions can be influenced simply by political idealogues.

Government involvement in the management of businesses remains a mystery. Despite the divestment of some entities, like the Wallenford Coffee Company, the Government of Jamaica is still too bloated.

Too many of our politicians aim their sights on 'solving' social ills to get cheap points, when these issue could be easily rectified by entrepreneurship. And what's worse, we act surprised when social initiatives don't result in long-term growth and development.

For example, the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) mission statement displayed on its website is quite clear: "Our mission is to contribute to the improved quality of life of all Jamaicans through social transformation by facilitating and providing quality affordable shelter solutions with security at tenure." The problem with agencies like the HAJ is that their main intention is not to make a profit, but rather only to provide some form of assistance to the poor. The situation is further compounded as, unfortunately, these government entities are usually managed by political operatives who lack technical expertise. And then we are surprised that the HAJ's deficit is over $300 million.

For example, the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) mission statement displayed on its website is quite clear: "Our mission is to contribute to the improved quality of life of all Jamaicans through social transformation by facilitating and providing quality affordable shelter solutions with security at tenure." The problem with agencies like the HAJ is that their main intention is not to make a profit, but rather only to provide some form of assistance to the poor. The situation is further compounded as, unfortunately, these government entities are usually managed by political operatives who lack technical expertise. And then we are surprised that the HAJ's deficit is over $300 million.

Managing a business is not the forte of the government, and most government businesses have a social objective not a truly economic one. Abolishing the HAJ should be considered a practical solution since the existence of such an agency is a burden to the country at large. There are other agencies and programme carrying out the function more successfully.

The first time the HAJ made a profit was in 2010, and it was due to the sale of company-owned real estate, not its core operations of land and housing development. The private sector, where efficiency is measured, would have no use for such a business.

But the HAJ is not the only state agency that needs to go, the Jamaica Racing Commission should also suffer the same fate. Now this body was created to regulate the horse racing sector, although we don't need a commission to enforce rules. Furthermore, jockeys can create their own professional organisations to safeguard and invest in the industry. There should be no reliance on the commission's welfare programmes.

No political party in Jamaica, especially the present administration, has an interest in reducing the size of government, because a growing bureaucracy expands the power of government. And since most members of civil society and the public at large are statist, there is no group to lobby for less government. But when government agencies fail, these are the same people who complain. Jamaicans needs a real free market party to rescue us from the politics and quickly too.

Lipton Matthews

lo_matthews@yahoo.com

Do away with pork-barrel tactics

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Dear Editor,

The disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight M370 is both bizarre and frightening. The flight, which originated in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, was heading to Beijing, China, with over 200 passengers and crew when it simply vanished into thin air. This most unfortunate incident has stunned the aviation world as the governments of many countries, including China, USA, India and Malaysia, have joined in an international search effort to locate the plane.

As it expected, many theories are being circulated regarding what might have happened to the plane since its disappearance just over a week ago. Many experts and the ordinary man in the street have been asking themselves and wondering whether this incident was a case of mechanical difficulties with the plane or a more ploy of piracy. The Malaysian Government recently said that the missing jetliner had its communications systems deliberately turned off. As a result, a hijack theory is now being viewed as plausible as the search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 intensifies and enters its second week.

How it is that in an age of unprecedented advances in communication and technology we are no closer to knowing what exactly happened to this plane? Are surveillance cameras installed in the cockpits of all passenger air planes? This could have been a useful measure as the ground crew would have been able to see exactly what was happening in the cockpit before the disappearance of this flight.

This incident has left us with so many unanswered questions. How is it that in a time of increased scrutiny on matters of security two passengers could have travelled on stolen passports?

Whatever the outcome of this incident the families of those aboard the ill-fated jetliner need closure. We can only hope that the authorities will learn from this incident and put in measures to prevent this stranger-than-fiction incident from happening again.

Wayne Campbell

waykam@yahoo.com

www.wayaine.blogspot.com

Stranger than fiction

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Dear Editor,

I must admit that, while I was convinced that a guilty verdict was the only thing that the "World Boss" could get, I was preparing to throw in the towel in the expectation that the artiste would be freed -- especially after it was revealed that certain pieces of evidence were tampered with. Alas, there is still hope for Jamaica.

While our entertainment industry is seemingly over-saturated with near-criminals — and, as we have seen, some outright ones — all sort of riff-raffs, ignoramuses, and misfits who are constantly being charged for murder, assault, rape, scamming, gun possession, drugs trading, and other crimes, they continue to get support from very powerful sections of our society.

Indeed, it took 10 very ordinary Jamaicans to send a very potent message that those of us who want to save what's left of our country have had enough of the crap. Hats off to those very brave jurors.

What we now need is for those very powerful sections of our society to follow the lead of these good jurors. Time for our politicians, intellectuals (including eminent professors), business leaders, media owners, and others to stop supporting these vile "entertainers".

We have seen how they have turned many of our people, especially our young men, into wild animals with their so-called music. The intellectuals must stop intellectualising these gangsters. Our politicians must stop using them to gain power. Our business owners must stop profiting from their acts. Our media owners must stop polluting our airwaves with these gangsters' filth.

What is it with our culture that we love violence and ignorance so much? I feel a little better that there are at least some of us who are prepared to say to these goons enough is enough.

Michael A Dingwall

michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com

The 10-strong message

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Dear Editor,

Discussions and media reports on the Vybz Kartel murder trial and his subsequent conviction, and that of his three associates, have once again demonstrated the multiple support that criminality has in Jamaica. But, in the midst of bewilderment, hope comes from unusual quarters.

Just hours before Kartel and his friends were found guilty of the slaying of "Lizard", I stopped at a tavern in Kendal, Manchester, where I had a sip. In my company were three beautiful bartender ladies. Their beauty was not just in features, but also in their thought process.

West Indies and England were engaged in a T20 cricket match, the ladies were enjoying the game, while my delight was coming from old hits being played from a small music system. Television Jamaica broke coverage of the match to inform that Supreme Court judge Justice Lennox Campbell had turned over the Kartel case to the jury.

An argument (very civil) ensued, with persons predicting what they thought the verdict would be. There was one Kartel sympathiser, a male person. The view was expressed that a section of the Jamaican society wanted to see the DJ behind bars because they disapprove of his music.

"Vybz Kartel is the best thing for dancehall, wi nuh si nug DJ fi entertain an just vibes up the place like Kartel in a long while. But, murder is murder. The evidence show seh him know wha happen. If him guilty, him fi face di same penalty weh mi wouda face if mi murder people," stated one of the bartenders.

I pause to state that most regular bartenders do that type of work because they have not benefited from the formal education system as a university professors might have.

Later that evening, while listening to post-verdict talk on Nationwide Radio, a professor from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, described the day as "sad", because the jurors had found an idol guilty of murder.

For the scores of people who gathered near the Supreme Court calling for the freedom of "World Boss" and by the views expressed by the professor, the evidence presented in court was of no significant to them. The more important thing was that the DJ is too important to be put away.

All civilsed people must show revulsion to crime and to those who are guilty of crime, anything else, and we will forever be victims. I would more freely expose my son to the Kendal bartender than a university professor who disregards evidence presented in a court of law and finds other spurious arguments to support a man guilty of murder.

Garfield Angus

Mandeville, Manchester

garigus@yahoo.co.uk

Bartender vs professor

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Dear Editor,

Students from the University of the West Indies have revealed their shock relating to the lack of transparency and accountability in local institutions. We as citizens complain, protest and wail about issues that have been present in our society for decades when all that is truly required are truthfulness and genuineness. These characteristics are relevant to the establishment of any

good relationship.

At present, Jamaica is viewed as lacking. We have adopted the norm of settling. We have stopped asking pertinent questions and actively demanding transparent actions from our elected politicians. Nowadays, it is perceived that the withholding of information deemed valuable, both at the representative and individualistic levels, is acceptable. The socialisation of this practice has led to our detriment.

There is no sense of altruism, not even a true sense of transparency nor accountability. This aspect of our political culture is even present within our own tertiary institutions. Students just lack that drive to demand better conditions to improve their learning opportunities. We fail, as individuals, to ensure that the people we elect to represent us are actually promoting and upholding the principles of good governance.

All institutions have problems; as a matter of fact none is perfect. When a government, or any institution for that matter, is transparent, it establishes trust and promotes equity in order to give people the satisfaction that they are involved and are major players. The Government's numerous initiatives do not take into account the minorities within the majority. Theoretically we encourage the tenets, but we do not practice what we preach.

UWI Mona Governance Society

A project of the Department of Government

governancesocietymona@gmail.com

Why are we not transparent?

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Dear Editor,

The Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) in its drive of transforming the teaching and learning landscape is adamant that they are under no circumstance in sympathy mode.

The criteria being used to move teaching to another level has to be approached with a much more keen and objective look at the varied experience of schools across the isalnd.

Some schoolteachers will be victimised in the thrust of the JTC to see their way without looking at latent problems which exist.

Independent persons should be placed to monitor schoolteachers who are being ostracised by their co-workers. When under the microscope the real truth will be seen. If proper evidence gathering is pursued the platform for justice will be mounted. But if proper mechanisms are not at the forefront of the teachers' needs then the archaic measures are going to take center stage and cause chaos.

What can impotent teachers do when the individuals who are vested with the critical responsibility to oversee their affairs are not true and are corrupted by the system as crucial middlemen? The JTC must now wake up to see the concerns of teachers before this agonising legislation is in full gear.

Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) must continue in the interest of the teachers and seek mechanisms to block this legislation from being a part of the way forward. The transgressions against teachers must be corrected urgently. There are too many people in this system with axes to grind. I implore the JTA to take these teaching council proposals very seriously, because when it has been enacted it will be hard for some schoolteachers.

Paris Taylor

Greater Portmore

paristaylor82@hotmail.com

Stay the course, JTA

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Dear Editor,

Money, power and influence can be corrupting, and maybe that is why when God asked Solomon what he wanted he chose wisdom.

Warren Buffet and Bill Gates — two men among the richest on earth -- are busy finding ways of giving away their wealth. Soon after accumulating all their wealth, these men realised that they can only drive one car, eat until their belly is full, sleep in one bed even if the house has fifty bedrooms.

Few of us will ever reach self-actualisation, most of us will live a life on the edge where one illness or an accident will wipe away our life savings. But for those who have six cars parked at one home, have credit cards galore, and are able to determine who, what and where, theirs is a burden that is unbearable.

Therefore, what if Vybz Kartel had decided that he would use his fortune to make Calabar High School the best school in the Caribbean. He would have returned to somewhere that he had failed, but which didn't deter him. The same way Shaggy is making the Bustamante Hospital for Children a premier institution for child health care. Our athletes, philanthropists and musicians can take away valuable lessons from this case. How you use power and influence leaves a lasting legacy.

The people who throughout history have lived selfless lives have left indelible footprints on the sands of time. Those who have chosen to use wealth, power and influence to hurt and coerce the powerless to cower and be afraid are soon forgotten or mentioned in hushed tones. The Hitlers or Osama bin Ladens would have been respected had they used power and influence to create rather than destroy, to wreck people's lives rather than help, those who silence the thoughts of others will forever be remembered as the tyrants they were.

Mark Clarke

Siloah, St Elizabeth

mark_clarke9@yahoo.com

To whom much is given...

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Dear Editor,

It is universally recognised that from the earliest days counsel has an overriding duty to the court, except not to disclose to the court a confession of guilt by his client without the client's permission. This duty naturally includes a duty to bring to the attention of a judge errors in his summation to a jury and not to use those errors as grounds of appeal when counsel recognises the error was made.

On the other hand, it is a mere convention that during such summation counsel on both sides say nothing to the judge. As a convention, it is not on the same footing of the lawful duty of counsel to assist the court at all times subject always to the exception shown.

Counsel for Vybz Kartel was threatened by His Lordship for trying to correct him during summation, and so I am calling on Parliament to legislate for the right of counsel on both sides to do as the counsel in this case did in trying to assist the court during summation.

No judge sitting with a jury should give the impression that he is an advocate for either side by expressing opinion on facts from which such influence can be drawn. The natural tendency of a jury is to accept the opinion of a judge and appeals have understandably been successful when a judge has so behaved. Appeals could be avoided if a judge is made by the legislators to refrain from so conducting his court, and counsel be allowed to take steps to correct the judge if an 'over-step' is made.

By the way, I must commend both prosecution and defence in the performance of their duties and the judge for surviving the trial which involved such legal technicalities and precedence. The Lord has made the judge not only bright but most durable.

Owen S Crosbie

Mandeville, Manchester

oss@cwjamaica.com

Judges can make errors too

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Dear Editor,

It was with great alarm that I read the front page story of the Sunday Observer on March 16, 2014 about the mother of convicted murderer Vybz Kartel defending her son and calling for his release.

We are mothers, too, and on some level we can understand Teresa Palmer's pain. Unfortunately, Vybz Kartel's mother seems to be in denial.

Mothers like this are all that is wrong with Jamaica. Many mothers do not know the difference between "protecting" their children and "enabling" their children's bad behaviour. Some know that their sons are involved in immorality and criminality but make excuses for them. They instead blame everyone and everything else for the actions and subsequent downfall, rather than placing the blame where it squarely belongs. Miss Palmer herself admits that she listens to her son's music. Is she trying to say that she believes the lyrics he utters are edifying and uplifting?

We cry down the women of the ghetto who come out on the streets and beg for their criminal men and sons, but Miss Palmer is no different. She may not be out there in the streets bearing a placard that yells "Free my son" but that is in effect what she is doing. I guess supporters of criminality come from good homes too.

We wonder why our beautiful country is in the state that it is in. Jamaica used to be a place where if a man committed a crime and his mother knew about it, she would grab him by the ears and take him to the police station herself. Now we are a country in decay. Women, mothers, stop and assess yourselves. Your sons are not angels. Take off the rose-coloured glasses and face the facts.

Tanison Scott

Kingston

Mothers must not enable their children's ill deeds

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Dear Editor,

The 19th century antislavery leader, Frederick Douglass once said: "Education means emancipation. It means light and liberty. It means the uplifting of the soul of man into the glorious light of truth, the light by which men can only be made free."

On Thursday, March 20 and Friday, March 21, each student in their final year of primary education will be writing their own destiny. With high expectations in the air, it's apodictic that as GSAT approaches and the final few days of preparation are at hand, nerve-racking thoughts will flood the minds of many students.

A total of 40,676 students are confirmed to take the test and it is important that each student be enlightened that success is only attained through hard work. Without a struggle there can be no progress.

As a resident of the White Hill community, I implore each GSAT exam candidate of White Hill Primary to realise that their educational success will benefit not only themselves but also their parents, teachers, community, country, and the world. Individual students must spend time meditating on their future and on the legacy he/she wants to pass onto future generations.

I encourage you to focus on positive role models like Nelson Mandela who once said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

Each pupil should aspire to change the world and use their weapon to defeat the foe of poverty, ignorance and injustice. The White Hill Primary School has produced many stalwarts in our nation's history. Greatness fertilises the soil of the noble primarylevel institution. Each White Hill GSAT student should continue this legacy of greatness. Good luck in your examinations.

Gavin Dixon

gdixon11@stu.ncu.edu.jm

Dear Editor,

Veronica Campbell Brown's (VCB) complete exoneration lays bare the argument of many of the critics of this world, and I hope gives commentators pause when they stand behind microphones self-righteously pontificating behind the mask of purveyors of logic and reasonableness. Some are on record for unapologetically expressing shock that the ordinary man in the street was supportive of VCB to the point of concluding that Jamaican track supporters are the most biased in the world.

Imagine a comment like that. I have always felt that the response of the Jamaican public was a matter of simple common sense. Why would an athlete nearing the twilight of her career, with a perfect track record of sportsmanship, suddenly decide to cheat? One commentator, Higgins, really tore into VCB, challenging her for a public apology and her silence thereafter.

Go figure. Her apology was a matter of common decency out of respect to her fans, not an admission of guilt. On the matter of silence, it is common for accused persons, as a way of handling the media, to say as little as possible, rather than making comments to fan the flames of controversy even while a case against them is pending.

It would be in order for the naysaying commentators, if they have any sense of correctness and decency about them, to publicly apologise to VCB. It is a dangerous road when people get carried away with their own sense of importance to the point of making ill-conceived comments not carefully thought through.

Certainly VCB's well-timed press conference sheds a new perspective on some of the comments by some of our 'professionals' inclusive of Ann Shirley and Paul Wright. There is a lesson in this being taught by VCB and her team. In sum it is: “Think carefully before you open your mouth.”

Clive Stewart

clive.stewart262@gmail.com

Dear Editor,

The first time I did it I was 40 years old. No, I don't mean sex, that happened 14 years earlier when I got married. I mean reading the fine print on my passport.

I was on a flight to England to pursue further studies and, while leafing through my passport, I saw the notice on the back flap captioned Registration at Consulates Abroad, which advises citizens of Jamaica who are resident abroad to “register their names and addresses at the nearest diplomatic mission or consulate of Jamaica…” Address changes and departure from a foreign country “should also be notified to the mission or consulate”.

About a week or so after settling in Sheffield I called our High Commission in London to register my family and the person who answered the phone politely asked me why I was doing that. Now, I was baffled, so I simply said I saw it as a requirement in my passport. The details were then taken albeit a bit reluctantly.

What was even greater news to me was that any talk about 'my passport' is technically wrong. The last heading on the said back flap of the passport is a Caution. This caution informs: “This passport remains the property of the Government of Jamaica and may be withdrawn at any time.” So you thought that having paid for a passport it became your property.

Not so at all, you and I paid for the privilege of having use of the property of the Government of Jamaica.

You really should open the passport you have and look at the wording of the front flap. It reads: “The Minister of Foreign Affairs requests and requires in the name of the Government of Jamaica all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.”

So then the passport you and I have really belongs to the Government of Jamaica and is a document requesting the courtesy of admission of a Jamaican citizen into a foreign country. How many of us knew this bit of fact?

Clinton Chisholm

clintchis@yahoo.com

Dear Editor,

It appears that the so-called experts with many degrees and technical knowledge have not kept up to date with the current technology that makes emissions from coal-powered plants environment-friendly.

Modern-day coal-burning power plants, if fitted with a Circulating Fluidised Bed (CFB) boilers would significantly reduce the noxious emissions. There are also additional features to reduce unfavourable emissions.

Jamaica is a land with an abundance of limestone, and this, when included in the operation of a CFB, reduces the levels of adverse emissions even further. The suppliers of this equipment are in a position to guarantee emissions at or better than World Bank standards, and certainly better than the current Jamaican standards.

Coal with up to 4 per cent of sulphur can be handled without too much additional expense. Colombian coal contains 1 per cent and less sulphur, which would make coal-burning plants less hazardous. As a matter of fact, the USA has bought low-sulphur coal from Colombia notwithstanding the lower cost of high-sulphur coal available in the USA.

The capital cost per megawatt would be higher than that of reciprocating engines or units which utilise other fuels. With use of clean coal technologies, however, the pay-off is in reduced cost per megawatt hour generated.

Importantly, the price of coal is one of the most stable when compared with the prices for other generating plants. It is indicated that the price of coal is not trending up, but trending down. Because of this, the low cost of this fuel in the full operation of coal-fired plants negates or compensates for the higher capital cost.

There are expressions of concern regarding the residual ash from a coal plant. This ash can be used in the aggregate mix of cement. In the event of no cement company becoming involved, the ash can be spread on the fields or used in the ballast in the construction of roads. With this process, the potential hazards in the ash could be eliminated making this by-product safe.

There is talk of heavy pollution in China, which is a fact. However, China is not employing the modern technologies for emission controls as is done, for instance, in Europe and the US.

It should be remembered that London had terrible coal emission problems years ago which has been cleaned up significantly.

We would suggest that the experts who have influence in the selection of generating units arrange to visit manufacturers and operators of modern coal-burning plants operating at very low emission levels and familiarise themselves with the technology.

I see no reason why a coal plant should not be utilised by the bauxite industry and the construction plans of the Chinese in Jamaica. As I understand it, the proposed site for the power plant will not be at Goat Islands but further inland in the industrial zone. The bottom line is that the potential impact of emissions and hazardous solids can be managed.

Hylton Daley

Boiler specialist

St Andrew

Wait a minute... there is clean coal!

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Dear Editor,

The world is once again teetering on the verge of yet another military stand-off. However, this time it is between Russia and the West. Ever since the public demonstrations in Ukraine, which resulted in the ouster of the elected president, the region has been plunged into chaos, despite diplomatic overtures.

While the Russian president is adamant that the move to seize Crimea was done to protect the minority Russian population, his strategic manoeuvrings have driven a wedge in Russia and EU/USA relations. The move by the Russian president has been denounced by many world governments and also triggered the debate as to whether Russia has a ploy to annex other countries which were once part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

It can be argued that this stratagem by Russia was long in coming — ever since the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Realistically, other than going to war with Russia — which is very unlikely — there is not much the USA/Europe can do to punish Russia for this aggressive move. In fact, the symbolic sanctions which the they have placed on Russia will do very little to quench Putin's Czar-like ambition to recapture Russia's glorious past.

The ongoing tension is perhaps the most serious crisis since the end of the Cold War. We should therefore all pay attention to this crisis because of the potential to push the world into another recession should it escalate much further.

Russia supplies a significant amount of gas to Europe, especially to Germany, the so-called workhorse of Europe. I am sure Europe will not want to risk their stable gas supply and economic recovery especially over a non-NATO member like Ukraine.

Nonetheless, the Russian president needs to be reminded that the Cold War is over and that no matter what he does and says Russia will not be as mighty as the former USSR.

There is no room in a post-Cold War world for nations to use their military might to bully weaker nations. All nations need to respect and observe international law.

Wayne Campbell

waykam@yahoo.com

www.wayaine.blogspot.com

Putin's Czar-like ambition must be tamed

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Dear Editor,

On Thursday, 13th March, two things happened that gave me great hope that all is not lost, as many people, including myself, are fast believing.

The first was the assistance rendered to me by a young woman whom I had never seen before. She walked all over the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies in the hot midday sun assisting me to look for my car, as I did not remember where I had parked it after attending a mammoth service in memory of the late Michael Pickersgill, the younger brother of the Minister of Water, Land, Environment, and Climate Change Robert Pickgersgill.

The second was the conviction of entertainer Vybz Kartel and three co-accused for the murder of Clive "Lizard" Williams.

Based on the evidence presented by the prosecution I had no doubt about the verdict rendered. And I would like to say a very big thank you to all of the people involved in securing the verdict of guilty. It goes to show that the justice system is still very much alive and very well in Jamaica.

Ken Spencer

Kingston 8

ken3_1999@yahoo.com

All is not lost

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Dear Editor,

This is an open letter to Member of Parliament for the community of Mafoota in St James, Derrick Kellier:

Sir, it has not escaped me that since your election you have not cast a backward glance in this direction. Since it has obviously slipped you, please be reminded that this community was also instrumental in putting you in office.

I do not wish to accuse you of being aware of what has been happening in this community, so let me bring you up to speed:

We do not have any roads. For all the many years I've been living here I cannot recall the road being properly fixed. There is no proper drainage and, therefore, when it rains, the water settles which makes patching an absolute waste of resources.

Taxis do not wish to travel beyond a certain point due to the bad road. There is heightened frustration of passengers and motorists alike. Motorists continuously have to spend money to fix their vehicles because of the extreme wear and tear of vehicles.

There has also been a major water challenge as we no longer have a constant water supply. Now, I understand that climate change and global warming may be playing a part, I think, but what I don't understand is why we're paying water bills and not getting any water. For the entire month of February, and even before that, I did not get a drop of water in my pipe, yet the NWC has the audacity to send me a bill.

The NWC has advised that they only possess one water truck for the parish of St James and it does not always work. When we are without water, they cannot transport water to us due to their limitations.

I bring your attention to a big tank in the community getting rustier each day. I recommend that it is fixed and used as a reserve. What are your thoughts?

The street lights in the community need to be fixed and the power company cannot say when they will be fixed. I've counted more than 20 between Anchovy and Mafoota that There are residents desperately in need of some help, one in particular. Take a walk through the community, Mr Kellier.

A concerned and frustrated resident

Mafoota

St James

Mafoota needs roads, water and street lights, Mr Kellier

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Dear Editor,

It is with great concern that I write about the recently concluded case involving Vybz Kartel et al in the Supreme Court of Judicature.

I followed the case very closely through the media, both audio and print, and I truly believe that the police officers who were a part of this case should be cited for dereliction of duties and some form of disciplinary action should be handed down to them.

As it is not the purview of the honourable judge to deal with the officers in that manner, there should be an internal court for the Jamaica Constabulary, as there is one for the Jamaica Defence Force, where these Officers would be tried by legal officers within the force. If found guilty, then they should face stiff penalties.

It ought not to be business as usual with the officers just going back to their duties when it is clear that they all fell down on their duties. A precedent must be set from which other officers may learn.

Michelle Neale Welsh

muffy_neale@yahoo.com

Put the officers on trial now

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Dear Editor,

Both PNP and JLP governments have led our country along a path of tribal division once labelled by an honourable leader as a society of warring tribes fighting over scarce benefits.

The social chaos and economic malaise facing us today were spawned by both JLP and PNP machinations. Of course, both PNP and JLP sycophants, when confronted with this fact immediately point blaming fingers at each other. But facts don't lie. Both parties should be held accountable for the ugly state of our country.

Since Independence, the average growth rate has hovered around one per cent, a miserable performance by governments from both the PNP and JLP. That is a bad enough record, but then along came the advent of Garrison politics. Both parties resorted to the Garrison system to cement perpetual power, often with the aid of gunmen and militias

Consequently, large areas of urban Jamaica became dependent on party largesse for survival, thus relinquishing civic freedom for the rule of dons. This has ensured a life threatened by poverty, depravity, second-class citizenship, and hopelessness. Large swaths of our population fell from our economic and social mainstream.

After 50-plus years of Independence, we are still victims of this cancer. No party or government can escape condemnation for our pitiful economic condition, our overwhelming crime, and persistent levels of corruption.

"None but ourselves can free our minds" Bob Marley once wrote.

R Oscar Lofters

Kingston 8

lofters1@aol.com

Politics to blame

for Jamaica's demise

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Dear Editor,

We are obviously buoyed by the optimism expressed by Senior Superintendent of Police Egbert Parkins about arresting the level of crime plaguing the second city. However, we wish to make a formal appeal to the member of Parliament and minister of state, Mrs Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams and the Jamaica Public Service on behalf of the Retirement community.

This community is very mixed as residents range from the solid middle class to the very needy. The Retirement community has seen its fair share of crime along with the lottery scamming. That said, the community's safety is hampered by the pitch blackness at night as there are no street lights. As soon as dusk falls the community loses life and a sense of remoteness and isolation sets in.

We are humbly asking our MP and JPS for some assistance in getting the community better lit to support SSP Parkins' work and dissuade

would-be criminals.

Junior James

Montego Bay

jukijames@

gmail.com

Take retirement out of darkness

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I think the effort to gain reparations from the British and/or Spanish for chattel slavery will be unsuccessful and prove to be a grand waste of time. When will people stop fantasising and attempt to hold up others as indisputable moral exemplars?

Mankind creeps along morally, advancing at a snail's pace, and thank God we have reached this position today, which is a far cry from the days of the savage maurauders who enslaved Africans for forced labour in the New World.

Sad to say, but it was Africans and Arabs who were the first aggressors in this regard, descending on the Iberian Peninsula in 711 AD, and from there spreading destruction and slavery in Europe; remaining there for 700 years until expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in the late 15th century at the battle of Granada. Columbus, thereafter, received financial support from these royals to find a new, shorter route to be able to exploit the wealth of India. But his famous navigational "mistake" led to Spain taking the lead to open up the New World for European exploitation. The African/Arab troops even demanded 100 white virgins per annum for their harems; which led to the "Third Race" in Europe, in effect the "browning" of many areas. Beethoven, Goethe, and Haydn were noted products of this. The history books were purged of much of these events, but we still have Othello and the remarks about the dark mulatto complexion of Charlotte, wife of George III to contemplate,

inter alia.

Some may say this is merely tit for tat, but other than that the English Euros are likely to feel, and say, "Well, yes, that was a horrific wrong, but you inherited Jamaica, and what have you done with it? We hear it is the murder capital of the world, and moreover we allowed immigration in fairly large numbers, why did you not grasp opportunities with both hands and feet for that matter? Some immigrants even tried recently to burn down London."

I think we better get busy fixing our problems ourselves and stop waiting for a magical handout.

Cathy Brown

cathy291181@yahoo.com

History will absolve the need for reparations

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