Dear Editor,
Jamaica has a prime minister who is afraid of the press and a leader of the Opposition who dislikes bright people, interesting. Now, if you are a bright journalist you will have a hard time interviewing either.
I am not being cynical, I believe that we are being a bit hard on the prime minister; after all, K D Knight and others have told us that the she isn't a spontaneous speaker, few people are. But that doesn't excuse her boorish behaviour towards members of the press who are only doing their job. We need to have hard questions answered and the prime minister doesn't get the privilege to decide what questions to answer.
If the prime minister hosted regular press conferences this wouldn't happen, we would have a well-informed public, whether the news was good or bad. But, then again, if she cannot think on her feet we would still be at square one.
I am slowly beginning to agree that the prime minister, Peter Bunting, Peter Phillips, Ronald Thwaites, and most of the Cabinet are doing the best that they can, but it just isn't enough. Oh, add to that list the commissioner of police.
The problems we face are seemingly insurmountable and the level of thinking to overcome them is sparse. Can the Opposition make a difference? I don't know. But unless we stop exporting bright people, stop shunting them aside instead of occupying their minds productively we will always be in trouble.
A country that utilises its bright people is clean and orderly. We have to find a way to revisit the waste to energy project, make garbage disposal into a business, like the scrap metal business. Then we will have a cleaner society.
We need bright people to come up with innovative projects in pharmaceutics, electronics and computer peripherals, farming, medicine, etc. As long as we have to export trained talented people we will always have developmental challenges. Bright people are innovative, always offering alternative ideas. A leader who is not secure, whether in government or business, will always fear bright people. Therefore, bright people need more than ordinary leadership or their ideas will be viewed as threatening and will be subdued by an insecure leader. If we had a secure, confident leader then Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago couldn't be treating our citizens the shameful way they do. Singaporeans don't have to put up with eye scans, fingerprint and have to remove their shoes or strip searches to enter the United States, because they live in a respected country. When will we?
Mark Clarke
Siloah, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
Jamaica's real leadership challenge
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Jamaica has a prime minister who is afraid of the press and a leader of the Opposition who dislikes bright people, interesting. Now, if you are a bright journalist you will have a hard time interviewing either.
I am not being cynical, I believe that we are being a bit hard on the prime minister; after all, K D Knight and others have told us that the she isn't a spontaneous speaker, few people are. But that doesn't excuse her boorish behaviour towards members of the press who are only doing their job. We need to have hard questions answered and the prime minister doesn't get the privilege to decide what questions to answer.
If the prime minister hosted regular press conferences this wouldn't happen, we would have a well-informed public, whether the news was good or bad. But, then again, if she cannot think on her feet we would still be at square one.
I am slowly beginning to agree that the prime minister, Peter Bunting, Peter Phillips, Ronald Thwaites, and most of the Cabinet are doing the best that they can, but it just isn't enough. Oh, add to that list the commissioner of police.
The problems we face are seemingly insurmountable and the level of thinking to overcome them is sparse. Can the Opposition make a difference? I don't know. But unless we stop exporting bright people, stop shunting them aside instead of occupying their minds productively we will always be in trouble.
A country that utilises its bright people is clean and orderly. We have to find a way to revisit the waste to energy project, make garbage disposal into a business, like the scrap metal business. Then we will have a cleaner society.
We need bright people to come up with innovative projects in pharmaceutics, electronics and computer peripherals, farming, medicine, etc. As long as we have to export trained talented people we will always have developmental challenges. Bright people are innovative, always offering alternative ideas. A leader who is not secure, whether in government or business, will always fear bright people. Therefore, bright people need more than ordinary leadership or their ideas will be viewed as threatening and will be subdued by an insecure leader. If we had a secure, confident leader then Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago couldn't be treating our citizens the shameful way they do. Singaporeans don't have to put up with eye scans, fingerprint and have to remove their shoes or strip searches to enter the United States, because they live in a respected country. When will we?
Mark Clarke
Siloah, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
Jamaica's real leadership challenge
-->