Jamaica Observer

Dear Editor,

The recent guilty verdict handed down in the murder case of a Trinidadian teacher in St James could not really have been any other. The verdict, while the best outcome one could have hoped for, related to a violation that should not have happened in the first place.

On this 26th day of May, an anniversary that my family and I endure with loathing every year since 2008, I pause to give God thanks. I also wish to commiserate with this growing band of victims of violence in our beloved land, especially with those whose cases are forgotten or are not sufficiently high-profile to command a high level of investigative fervour. The unanswered questions, the sleepless nights, the tears which flow, the uninvited comment "just move on with your life".

I still hasten to commend those who are responsible for the prompt conclusion of the case involving Michelle Coudray-Greaves. That said, please allow me a simple request: that the justice system demands that investigating officers fervently pursue a solution to all cases, without favour. That, as a matter of priority, they attend court and have the necessary reports ready for the matters to proceed. On behalf of the many, I demand it.

Today, our wish is to see the bloodletting in this nation stop. May God grant peace to our beloved nation. Shalom!

Joan Simpson

Wife of Rev Dr George V Simpson

Mount Carey Baptist Church

St James

A prayer for justice for all in Ja

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Dear Editor,

It is unfortunate what happened to Queen Ifrica recently as detailed in the Jamaica Observer on Saturday (May 2). However, this is not only about the gay community. I find the behaviour of some musicians most offensive. I do not appreciate how women are described, and some songs are too explicit; to dance to music calling for murder is frightening, and the constant attack on our gay community is unacceptable.

The blogs are being read worldwide and we have increasingly appeared as barbarians to be kept away from the gates of other countries. Do we realise how unwelcome we have become in the Caribbean and across world in the last 30 years? Every summer, a number of reggae concerts are cancelled in Europe. This is always followed by a flood of articles in the newspapers relating to the general crime situation and homophobia in Jamaica. This is also the peak European travel season, and as such it has implications for Jamaica's tourist industry.

I am old enough to remember when we were welcomed in the Eastern Caribbean and required no visa for Canada and Europe. This was not before Independence. I think Barbadians and Trinidadians still do not need visas to enter the UK.

Doreen McGann

Orionvägen

Sweden

Artistes must see the bigger picture

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Dear Editor,

I hold the view that UWI acted appropriately by removing Prof Bain as director of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Resource Training (CHART) Network. He is entitled to his personal views, of course, but there is now a serious conflict of interest which could also be divisive.

How can he lead this organisation if he is of the view that consenting adults who engage in same sex relations should be imprisoned? Why would he even want to work with this organisation, which may involve dealing with persons he feels should not be part of society and should be behind bars simply based on who they love? How effective could his work be with these underlying views? How can he be expected to work towards meeting CHART's objectives to build human resources aimed at effectively improving the quality and coverage of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support, when he is against very basic human rights principles of many of those affected? And, how could he effectively work with other regional and international groups such as US Centre for Disease Control, Global AIDS Program, US Agency for International Development, or UNAIDS? These same international organisations, and more, currently fund the operational activities of the CHART Network.

How can he lead this organisation if he is of the view that consenting adults who engage in same sex relations should be imprisoned? Why would he even want to work with this organisation, which may involve dealing with persons he feels should not be part of society and should be behind bars simply based on who they love? How effective could his work be with these underlying views? How can he be expected to work towards meeting CHART's objectives to build human resources aimed at effectively improving the quality and coverage of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support, when he is against very basic human rights principles of many of those affected? And, how could he effectively work with other regional and international groups such as US Centre for Disease Control, Global AIDS Program, US Agency for International Development, or UNAIDS? These same international organisations, and more, currently fund the operational activities of the CHART Network.

Let's not be misguided into thinking CHART is funded by the Jamaican Government or Jamaican interest groups. UWI, therefore, acted appropriately. They listened, they investigated, and acted swiftly, making the right decision in the interest of all parties including Prof Bain.

CHART does not operate solely for Jamaica's benefit; it is a regional body with regional and international interests. UWI did what any First World organisation would've done, by immediately relieving Prof Bain of this specific assignment. He is now free to focus on his scientific research and any other interests he may have. He is also free to advocate vocally or politically for the imprisonment of all gays in Jamaica and elsewhere, if this is his calling. He is free to endorse or not endorse any law based on his views, and this includes the antiquated buggery law which remains in some countries like Jamaica — laws which were created hundreds of years ago by some of the very same persons who legalised slavery.

Yes, there is freedom of speech, but it is what you say, when you say it, where and how you say it, which makes the difference. Bain should've done the right thing and not accepted this position in the first place. Or, if his views evolved after assuming this position, he should've voluntarily removed himself long ago instead of waiting for UWI to act. As the old proverbial saying goes, "you can't have your cake and still eat, too". Prof Bain, you just can't have it both ways.

Pete Delisser

pdelisser1988@yahoo.com

UWI did the right thing

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Dear Editor,

Jamaica's Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to freedom of expression "as is demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society".

Every individual/organisation, including the University of the West Indies, is obliged to protect this right. However, no one has to pay you for misrepresenting facts in pursuit of your own personal ideology.

Professor Bain is a devout fundamentalist Christian and objects to homosexuality. He further alleges that threatening consenting adult males with 10 years in prison at hard labour for their private acts of intimacy is an effective way to prevent the spread of HIV. However, this is simply not true.

The fact is, Jamaica's 1864 anti-buggery law has not prevented the country from having the highest HIV prevalence rate among men who have sex with men (MSM) worldwide. Further, this rate is nearly two times as high as any other country that has decriminalised same-gender intimacy.

Professor Bain's stance on scientific evidence has probably hurt the reputation of the region's premier university, which is known for its intellectual rigour. He has also lost the confidence of those groups across the region that are coordinating the HIV response. The UWI, therefore, had no choice but to terminate Professor Bain's contract as director of the regional programme responsible for training health care professionals in managing HIV.

As the minister of health recently reminded us, tough decisions have to be made to end cultural and religious-inspired stigma and discrimination, which are driving the spread of HIV.

Maurice Tomlinson

Montego Bay

mat@aidsfreeworld.org

Tough situation, tough decision

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Dear Editor,

After listening to the midday news today (Tuesday, May 27, 2014) of a report of another outrageous outburst by Damion Crawford referring to JLP supporters as "dutty labourites", I am forced to make an urgent appeal to you Madam Prime Minister to rope in this young man.

How much more damage is he going to be allowed to do before the well thinking members of the Government and the party stop him? I think he is doing a lot of damage to the image of this Government and Father Manley's party.

I am so embarrassed and disappointed. This young man is not ready for prime time at all. Instead of being grateful for the opportunity and privilege to learn and develop as a first-time parliamentarian, he has chosen to display his classlessness, ignorance and arrogance time and time again.

I am sick to my stomach of the constant barrage of garbage shamelessly spewed out from this 'yout'. Can we be spared from him for the next two years until he has learnt to conduct himself with the level of decency and decorum, worthy of the people's representative?

It is shocking that he has been allowed so much latitude without any apparent restraint. Why?

When he came out two weeks ago lambasting the Jamaica Public Service in the manner he did, it did not look good and it was not good. Who appointed him spokesperson and why is he being projected as the face of the Government and the PNP?

He is no role model for his constituents. There is not much evidence that any education he has received is helping him to behave in an appropriate and acceptable manner. The thoughtless utterances recently from politicians are most alarming and scandalous. They are surely doing a good job of turning off decent people. Madam Prime Minister, you are not only PM, you are Mother of the nation. Some of the persons in Government need guidance, clearly. Guide them. I truly feel a little despondent today.

Eileen Powell

Manchester

Dear Editor,

Kindly consider the following hypothetical scenario that, to me, could shed some light on the current Bain-Harris-Gomes-UWI-LGBT mess.

Let us suppose that a recently retired academic is rehired by the UWI as a programme manager and a physician/psychologist specialising in treating addicts of bamboo rum, fermented marijuana tea, double-boiled cocaine crack and mauby liqueur.

This UWI-executed programme, funded by non-university sources, is one aimed at promoting therapeutic services, in a non-threatening environment, to the Caribbean's community of (illegal) drug-takers.

Let us further suppose that this academic were to be called on to assist a Surinamese court of law by giving expert testimony in a case involving the constitutionality of Suriname's old, Dutch colonial-era laws which criminalise 'driving under the influence'.

Should the academic, an authority on the relevant pharmacological issues, debar himself from giving scientific evidence in court because of objections raised against his testifying by Alcoholics Anonymous, Drug Dealers Inc, Unlimit All Weeds Ltd, The Caribbean Basin Association of Automobile Associations, and the Paramaribo Brigade of Motorcar-Afflicted Dare-Devils along with most of its regional sub-branches, etc?

And should the UWI be allowed to sanction its employee, winner of the Enerplan Prize for University Teaching and Advanced Research, for presenting to the court of law his and related findings on the physiological and psychological outcomes of a surging Caribbean-wide epidemic of motor vehicle accidents which are statistically co-related to such use of illegal drugs?

And should one's response to these questions depend upon any credible allegation that the academic considers all auto racing, without seat belts, particularly while driving under the influence, risky and even reckless?

Dennis A Minott, PhD

Scientist

Is what's good for the goose also good...?

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Dear Editor,

In justifying the dismissal of Professor Bain as head of Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training (CHART) Network, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies used the analogy of a person opposed to blood transfusion being in charge of the Blood Bank. The use of this analogy is revelatory. What is at issue is the professor's assertion that published data have to date not substantiated the hypothesis that "decriminalising the practice of anal intercourse between consenting adults would lead to a reduction in the incidence rate of HIV infections among MSM". The belief that the homosexual lifestyle carries adverse outcomes for the individual and the society presents no conflict whatsoever with the care of persons living with HIV/AIDS or with the training of health care professionals to deliver this care. It is, however, in grave conflict with the promotion of the homosexual lifestyle as good and normal.

Should the reading public then infer from the analogy that the core mandate of CHART is the promotion of the homosexual lifestyle, rather than care of HIV-infected people from all walks of life?

Doreen West

Kingston 6

drbradywest@gmail.com

What really is CHART's mandate?

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Dear Editor,

For too many years, the Riverton garbage disposal site has remained one of Jamaica's most active polluting hubs. The habitual conflagrations at this site continue to undermine our fiscal advances and militate against all our efforts at maintaining a healthy environmental in the quest for Jamaica to be the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business.

Resultant to the unabated myopic practice of operating a pre-21st century-type disposal site in the nucleus of several well-established corporate enterprises and formalized housing schemes taxpayers are tediously obliged into depositing their hard-earned funds.

Furthermore, despite the wasting of public funds, taxpayers are mandated to be signatories in the austerity diet — the public sector workers under a Memorandum of Understanding can tell the tale more than any other group.

I maintain the notion that these 14 acres of prime land should be converted into a business community and/or expand the housing solution for the mushrooming medium and low-income earners whose financial ability is out of sync with the high cost of sourcing a house at existing market prices.

With much political acumen to be desired on the Riverton's malaise, one remains tentative as to whether or not our gerontocratic thinkers are able to revamp their decisions.

How much longer will the elected political directorate continue using our well-needed monies to fuel this financial incinerator?

Ian Henry

Scott's Hall

St Mary

ianhenrya@yahoo.com

Riverton, the burning ground for taxpayers' money

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Dear Editor,

I recently read that Captain Horace Burrell will be returned unopposed to the position of president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF). As I read about this I began to reminisce about the 'Road to France' campaign and the differences with those that have followed.

Upon review, I believe that there are some fundamental reasons we qualified for that campaign but have not qualified since.

I remember the then JFF team mounted an excellent marketing campaign. It was so extensive that the top 18 players became household names; everyone knew who they were, where they were from, and what they were capable of achieving. This, in my view, has not happened since.

The hype that was created around the 'Road to France' theme attracted support from all over. Support came from the financiers and also from the masses, who wore Jamaica's colours, displayed flags in support, or journeyed hundreds of miles on match day to the National Stadium for the next match, be it a World Cup Qualifier or a friendly international.

Captain Horace Burrell at the time was able to organise dozens of practice matches and friendly internationals to give the players exposure and grow their confidence. This played a fundamental role in the team making it to France for the 1998 World Cup.

The players were not the best we have ever produced, but it was one of the best teams of players, where all wanted the same thing, and that was to qualify.

It became the type of campaign where all hands were on deck. The then Government supported the programme; the private sector, and the ordinary man on the ground all supported the team going to France.

Let me commend Captain Horace Burrell for the commitment he has given to the national football programme and congratulate him on his reappointment as JFF president. I believe you did it once before and you can do it again. Create the necessary hype, organise the practice matches and see to the selection of the players who possess that fire that will ignite their spirit to want to qualify for the next World Cup.

Gary Rowe

magnett0072004@yahoo.com

You can do it again, Captain Burrell

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Dear Editor,

Some years ago a high Japanese official remarked that if too many black people start moving into your community then you should move out as your community will become a ghetto. While that official got a lot of flak for his remarks, I sometimes wonder if there is any truth to them.

I grew up in east Kingston and my late grandma came to Kingston when she was a young woman. I can still remember areas like Rollington Town, Vineyard Town and Rockfort being very different when I was a child -- which isn't that long ago.

I spent much of my childhood on Heslop Avenue, which is off Windward Road, and I can remember when most of the people who used to live there were expatriates. Those roads that led to the sea -- there was no highway then -- were so calm you could hear a pin drop. Rollington Town and Vineyard Town were very different then. The noise that was heard was from us kids playing.

So why are they mostly ghettoes now? On Heslop Avenue, most of the expatriates have either left or passed on. Many of the very educated folks who were living in Rollington Town and Vineyard Town, for instance, have migrated. It seems to me that the situation in many other communities is the same.

My late grandma used to tell me that these east Kingston communities were even better before my time. It is sad to say, but from where I sit, I can definitely say that the quality of many of the people moving into these communities is not the same as those moving out.

On too many street corners there are mostly young people idling. Groups of calm people have been replaced over the years with gangs of thugs who gladly intimidate others with their criminality. Simple habits like cleaning one's front yard or even painting one's house are vanishing. We don't talk out our differences anymore; we fight and shoot them out.

My late grandma used to tell me that Rae Town wasn't the ghetto that it is now. It used to be peopled by many Jews, and it was a very quiet and "well-to-do" area. Hard to believe that now, isn't it?

I remember when I was on Heslop Avenue, we had some east Asians living next door us. I think they were Chinese or Korean. When they moved out in about 1980, I couldn't understand why. Beginning in the late 1970s, many non-black residents started leaving my east Kingston communities. In retrospect, it seemed that they knew what was coming.

I think a large part of the problem is this culture that we have -- one bursting at the seams with violence and disorder. While I would want to, I am being forced by my own experiences not to completely disagree with that Japanese official. There are uncomfortable elements of truth in what he said.

Michael A Dingwall

michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com

Do ghettoes really follow us?

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Dear Editor,

The concern over the spread of AIDS is a valid one. After all, which Jamaican wants an AIDS epidemic? But is it the only issue? Is it even the most important issue in this debate about repealing the buggery law?

J-FLAG calls for "the fair and equal treatment of gays and lesbians under the law..." So let's see where this "fair and equal treatment" got the Americans.

Let's ask Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes Bakery in Oregon: For refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian wedding last summer, because it goes against their Christian beliefs, they were sued, received hate mail and death threats, and ultimately had to close their store. According to the lesbian couple, the bakery had "violated Oregon laws that prohibit discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in employment and public accommodations". So, folks, that's what it feels like under this "fair and equal treatment" law that J-FLAG is demanding. Your private business could end up being shut down and you labelled a bigot because you do not support the homosexual lifestyle.

Let's also ask Jason and David Benham, whose HGTV'S renovation show Flip It Forward was cancelled this year even before it premiered, simply because their father is a pastor and they do not support the gay lifestyle. Who cared that their show was about helping people to make improvements to their homes? The only thing that mattered was that they opposed the homosexual lifestyle.

"Fair and equal" only seems to apply to one side.

So if we repeal the buggery law, as J-FLAG demands. What's next? The situation that currently exists all across America and Canada, and notably in Nottinghamshire, England, where the biggest sector fostering and adopting children is homosexuals and lesbians. The BBC reports that one in nine children were placed in a same-sex household in Nottinghamshire last year. According to the county council, they were "busting the old myths about who could adopt".

So, while the AIDS argument is a convenient banner under which to hide, let's not stick our heads in the sand and ignore what is happening around the world in countries that have repealed their law. Let us look beyond the AIDS issue.

Concerned

noche@flowja.com

Looking beyond the AIDS issue

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Dear Editor,

I heard recently that MP Damion Crawford referred to Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters as "dutty Labourites". Since then he has sought to make amends for the comments on Facebook, claiming that he meant no harm.

But, where did this term come from? In 1938, a group of perceived intellectuals, namely O T Fairclough, N W Manley and others formed the People's National Party. The JLP was founded some five years later by Bustamante, LG Newland, Harold Allan, and a few others.

The main difference between the two was that the older party was made up primarily of the intellectual elite of the society, while the younger party was supported by the poorer uneducated people and merchants who understood the link between labour and capital.

Hence, there was a group of comrades who thought that Bustamante was nothing but a rabble rouser and his supporters had only their self-interest and not that of the nation as their main priority.

After coming through slavery and bondage and having some level of achievement, these people looked down on the cane cutters, farmers and dock workers -- Bustamante's crowd -- as inferior. Those workers, as a result of manual labour which they performed, would often have dirt on their clothes. Hence, the "dutty Labourites" label from the intellectual elite.

So, it is interesting that nothing much has changed as PNP supporters, now in the form of Crawford, still refer to JLP supporters in that way.

Today, nearly 80 years after their formation, the PNP still has the bulk of government workers and professionals, while the JLP still has at its core support from the poor and the entrepreneurial class of people, along with a diminishing gap between the PNP middle class of professionals and the growing support in the 25-39 age group for the JLP.

However, it is the JLP that has done a better job at creating jobs and rescuing Jamaica's economy. Sadly, the party has been absolutely pathetic in communicating to the common man, something the PNP has got good at.

In the end, the JLP would do better to remember its early history and sell a vision to the people, instead of marketing itself as the party to turn to when the PNP messes up.

A few more election victories under its belt and more time to govern and one day the JLP will ensure that no one in the PNP will even think of the term "dutty Labourites" ever again; as it is my opinion that the JLP governs better.

Damion Heslop

damionheslop@yahoo.com

'Dutty Labourites' coming from far

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Dear Editor,

This is an open letter to the Negril stakeholders:

If three learned doctors diagnose a patient, it is possible that they may each arrive at different diagnoses. Therefore, instead of arguing science about the cause and remedy of the Negril erosion problem, let us look at it from a purely common sense point of view.

The beach in Negril existed long before Columbus arrived here, so let us very conservatively estimate that it has been in place for even a couple thousand years. Now, let us ask, how many hurricane events have impacted the beach in this period? A good guess is probably a 100, and yet the beach has recovered again and again, up to the point where we came along and figured out that it was a good place to build hotels.

Now that it is proposed to install breakwaters to protect the beach from such storms, let us ask the proponents of these structures: Are you willing to wager all your possessions, that the crazy seas accompanying a hurricane coming from any direction will be tamed by these breakwaters? Don't hold your breath for any takers.

The real longevity of a beach has more do with its natural ability to recover than with protection from rough seas. Note that some of the best beaches in the world exist in the very high wave-energy waters of Hawaii.

Reducing wave energy can lead to reduced water circulation and stagnation, and Negril needs neither.

We all agree that the ability of the beach in Negril to recover is related to the overall health and balance of the ecosystem, which includes but is not limited to the health of the morass, reefs, seagrass, and water quality, etc. In the long term there is no substitution for the regeneration of a healthy ecosystem. Also, importantly, the wholesale removal of seaweed washed up on the beach must be controlled as it contains significant amounts of sand.

However, in the short term, commerce demands that we fast-forward the beach-recovery process, and the state-of-the art method for accomplishing this feat worldwide is called beach nourishment; returning the sand that has been washed off the beach-face and into the near-shore waters is the logical choice.

"How long will it last?" is the question, but no one knows when the next act of god will occur. We take a similar risk with buildings regarding earthquakes. How long will a hotel last?

The fact is that any anthropogenic intervention requires maintenance, and therefore a portion of the budget must be reserved for this.

There is no one-fix magic bullet. Economics is the greater part of engineering and the cost/benefit ratio must be carefully analysed.

It is said, "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, but the second best time is now". There is no escaping it, we must begin the long haul.

Pierre Diaz

Director, Sea Control

Oceanographic Consultants

seacamp@gmail.com

Concerning the Negril Breakwater Saga

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Dear Editor,

Over the years, there have been a number of concerns relating to security at Princess Margaret Hospital. And there was an incident that prompted the appropriate authority to erect a perimeter fence. The job has been completed for several weeks now and, as part of safety measures, the back gate on Nutts River Road has been locked since then.

For a while, as a custom, people of Lyssons and surrounding areas use the compound as a thoroughfare, take public or private transportation at the main gate and, on Sundays, youth from the community would access the premises in order to play soccer. As a result of the 'shut-out', those who are accustomed to accessing the premises have had to go all the way around to the main gate, which is frustrating.

Though I understand the security concerns, it is unclear to me why people are not allowed to use the gate, except for hospital delivery and vehicles from funeral homes. Also, there is a newly erected security shed at the back gate, but it is not being used.

For weeks now, there have been a lot of issues regarding the closure of the back gate, which is a change that many people cannot deal with due to their unwillingness to adapt or resistance to improvement. Even though the Princess Margaret Hospital is over 50 years old, I assume that the health facility is the last one in Jamaica to be fenced. Can the Government afford to let people damage the newly erected perimeter fence in order to gain access?

Charlie Brown

Lyssons, St Thomas

charliebrown1004@gmail.com

Locked out of 'Princess'

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Dear Editor,

It is widely acknowledged that globally competitive small businesses will rescue Jamaica from its present economic malaise. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are major providers of employment, accounting for 60 to 70 per cent of jobs in most developed countries. Although the country's economic fortunes are hinged on the prosperity of SMEs, it must be noted that the road to success will be arduous.

According to a 1996 study conducted by the OECD, less than one-half of SME start-ups survive for five years, with a small number of survivors transforming into high-growth firms. A more recent report compiled by Harvard researchers asserts that about three-quarters of venture-backed firms in America don't return investors' capital and ultimately fail.

It is not the intention of anyone to discourage prospective entrepreneurs from starting a business due to the possibility of failure, but this is the reality of entrepreneurship, it's a risk, and if you are averse to risk maybe you shouldn't be an entrepreneur. This point was reinforced by entrepreneur Paul Saffo when quizzed by the British media about the success of Silicon Valley: "Failure is what makes Silicon Valley's success to hard to replicate. Would-be competitors only see, and try to copy, the Valley's success. But to succeed you need an ecology of fearless players from venture capitalists to banks, suppliers, and myriad other supporting businesses unafraid to risk all by helping with often flakey and unpredictable start-ups. So if you want to be the next Silicon Valley, don't copy our success. Learn to support and encourage novel and ultimately successful failure," he said.

It is not the intention of anyone to discourage prospective entrepreneurs from starting a business due to the possibility of failure, but this is the reality of entrepreneurship, it's a risk, and if you are averse to risk maybe you shouldn't be an entrepreneur. This point was reinforced by entrepreneur Paul Saffo when quizzed by the British media about the success of Silicon Valley: "Failure is what makes Silicon Valley's success to hard to replicate. Would-be competitors only see, and try to copy, the Valley's success. But to succeed you need an ecology of fearless players from venture capitalists to banks, suppliers, and myriad other supporting businesses unafraid to risk all by helping with often flakey and unpredictable start-ups. So if you want to be the next Silicon Valley, don't copy our success. Learn to support and encourage novel and ultimately successful failure," he said.

Venture capital financing for small businesses has also become a popular topic, some are even clamouring for Government-supported schemes. But such an activity is the forte of the private sector. A growing number of young Jamaicans are creating start-ups, therefore the local private sector must embrace the challenge by providing these initiatives with financing. This Administration may be dithering on business reforms, but the private sector can no longer continue to put off investments due to a fear of failure, because failure is an essential ingredient to success.

Furthermore, private entrepreneurs should not give the impression that government bureaucrats are to be blamed for everything, because some things are not in their control. Nothing is stopping the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica from starting a venture capital network similar to organisations in developed countries or a wealthy investor from creating a venture capital firm. Not even fear should.

Lipton Matthews

lo_matthews@yahoo.com

SMEs are our future, support them

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Dear Editor,

Arising from the firing of Brendon Bain by the University of the West Indies, I hope well-thinking Jamaicans wake up to the duplicitous and diabolic nature of the 'rights' advocates who hog column inches and airwaves spouting calls for justice and freedom of expression.

Bain's credentials and dedicated work have been without question over the years. No one has cited anything but the integrity and excellence of his work as the basis for him being entrusted with leadership of the US Government-funded, UWI-managed CHART Project.

Bain's credentials and dedicated work have been without question over the years. No one has cited anything but the integrity and excellence of his work as the basis for him being entrusted with leadership of the US Government-funded, UWI-managed CHART Project.

CHART, we understand, was set up to tackle the problem of providing effective health care to persons -- not just the LGBT community -- afflicted by HIV/AIDS. We have not heard of any failure on Bain's part to do his job. Yet, because he presented testimony, based on the findings of his work and independent research, in a Belizean court case which would have been considered inimical to the 'rights' advocates position Bain has been jettisoned by the capitulating university of weaklings and iconoclasts.

Well people, be warned. The 'rights' movement will stop at nothing in its efforts to silence empirical scientific evidence, hard-won freedoms or the common good. After all, their ilk have already questioned the basis for the police attempting to intervene in safeguarding the children of Western Kingston by way of a nightly curfew. Obviously, having children running loose late at night in a volatile environment is not a concern of these 'rights' advocates. There is no cause, no truth, no value as important as doing what is 'right' in their own eyes, and even if the university must shelve the bedrocks of its credibility and right to exist, in order to remain in their good books, the 'rights' movement and their benefactors will demand nothing less. In the Bain case, they have claimed a significant scalp -- the English-speaking Caribbean's premier institution for higher learning. A very sad day indeed.

E D Edwards

Kingston 19

Warning! The 'rights' lobby will stop at nothing

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Dear Editor,

The Opposition leader continues his political rants about how the Government lacks leadership and a clear vision for Jamaica. He speaks of himself as being a transformational leader in order to try to win over the hearts of Jamaicans but, in my view, he is nothing but a young, tribal politician who is finally revealing his true colours.

All of a sudden he can address pressing issues frontally and not beat around the bush and also 'talk up' to the prime minister. It seems as if Audley Shaw's challenge has awoken him from his slumber and has given him a voice.

Over the weekend, he warned his supporters in Westmoreland about not believing in the "false prophets" who had promised them oxtail, curried goat, and an IMF agreement within two weeks. But Holness fell short of telling the people exactly why we are experiencing the "bitter medicine" he had forecasted. It wasn't due to any failed policies of the now PNP Government, but that of the JLP.

Must I remind him that the Government that he led abandoned the Stand-by Agreement with the IMF to prepare for upcoming elections? Putting well-needed reforms and multilateral trust, which would have advanced the country's ability to achieve sustainable growth and development, on the back burner. It was his Government that mismanaged State-owned resources and planned a massive lay-off in the public sector.

That isn't transformational leadership; it's more like partisan politics. Holness needs to acquire a dictionary and find out what is the true meaning of a transformational leader, because he certainly isn't one. The Jamaican people need to wise up and not allow certain people in society to make fools of them.

Shemar Barnes

shem_scb@yahoo.com

Holness is no transformational leader

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Dear Editor,

I am compelled to weigh in on the discussion about UWI's separation of Professor Brendan Bain from a sensitive job position. The media might have muddled the issue in its all too frequent rush to satisfy the perceived public craving for sensational news and commentary. This couldn't have happened if his contract did not have a clause supporting it. So, the media, especially, must discharge its public information role responsibly, in giving the matter exposure.

The nature of the job with CHART required him not to make members of the gay community feel, in any way, judged, or opposed, by him. I think, at the very least, it was an error of judgement for him to have taken the job, knowing the obligations imposed on him by his spiritual conviction -- long-standing Christian Brethren fundamentalism.

The action in no way detracts from his standing in academia or the medical profession and scientific community as some have misused their privileged access to the media to infer. "I was young, but now I'm old and I have never seen the righteous forsaken [by God]". That is why Christians are "called out". "Come out from among them and be separate".

H W Dennis

Mona

peeceepress@yahoo.com

Bain shouldn't have taken that job

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Dear Editor,

I hope that despite you obviously being a journalist, you will be kind enough to allow my letter to enter into print in your newspaper.

I began in this manner because the observations I am about to make have to do with people in the journalistic fraternity.

Quite frankly, while they may seem like small things, the repetition of certain oft-used phrases by many of your colleagues in both print and the electronic media grates on my nerves.

The first is the use of the phrase "bring the curtain down" when referring to the end of an event. Why do they constantly add the unnecessary "s" to curtain? The correct phrase, at its origin, refers to the fall or closing of a theatre curtain at the end of a performance or act.

The second, is when in reporting on a trial, they say the accused was granted $1-million bail. I am positive that every accused would gladly take the million. I am sure the true story is that the accused was offered bail in the sum of $1 million, or that his bail was set at $1 million.

The third comes when reporting a death; sometimes a murder or motor vehicle fatality. They say "the accused died on the spot". Which spot? Does somebody walk around with a spot for people to die on? They may want to try: "Mr Smith died at the scene."

Finally, for now, 'the artiste's real name is John Doe'. No! His is real name can be anything he chooses. What your colleagues mean to say is: The artiste's given name is John Doe.

My nerves need a break.

Stephen Harrison

St Mary

stepharrison28@gmail.com

Media slip-ups grating on my nerves

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Dear Editor,

It is all well and good for former Prime Minister P J Patterson to be pontificating at this time about governance and morality and the standards to which politicians should be held. What I would like to know, however, is whether any of the journalists present at his interview asked him about the various scandals under his administration, and what his responses were to each.

I would like to know if after he returned, following the sordid Shell waiver affair with which he was embroiled, he demanded or accepted the resignation of any of his ministers, as scandals and allegations of ministerial negligence, corruption and massive cost ove-runs on projects proliferated?

What did he do about the increase in crime by some 400 per cent and the ravages wrought by unemployment, poverty and the Finsac debacle. And to think, while the world economy was in boom, growing 5 per cent on average each year during Patterson's tenure, Jamaica's economy merely hobbled along with growth out-turn ranging from decline to anaemic growth at best.

I would like to know how, as the former head of an administration proliferated with questions of fiscal indiscipline and other undesirables, like the 'eat-a-food' mentality and handouts, Patterson now expects to be taken seriously. Although he promulgated a values and attitudes programme in 1994, it was no more than another failed PNP initiative; a fanciful announcement void of the effective and strategic implementation that would secure its success.

I would also really like to know how Mr Patterson views his role in the various losses of time, money and procedural standards visited on this country by his protege Minister Phillip Paulwell. The phrase "youthful exuberance" to excuse a loss of almost $200m and a failure to produce 40,000 promised jobs, rings loud but hollow in the ears of Jamaican taxpayers who have borne the burden of several subsequent failures by Paulwell. Lest we forget, instead of meting out sanctions to his errant minister as per the Westminster system, Prime Minister Patterson, at the time, simply dismissed the 'foul-up'. As the youthful exuberance phrase did then, Patterson's current calls for good governance rings loud and hollow as there is no moral authority behind it.

Marlon Morgan

Deputy Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture

marlonandremorgan@gmail.com

Patterson's call for good governance hollow

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