Dear Editor,
Presently, Jamaica is marred by corruption and poverty. But despite the liberal nature of the press and the rise of modern civil society groups, very little is being done to ensure that those who opt to become parliamentarians perform to the best of their abilities.
Politicians are usually blamed for every possible evil, but in reality the people of Jamaica are the architects of the present state of affairs. If a boss accepts lacklustre performance from his executives they will never succeed. Likewise if voters tolerate the complacency of their leaders then they too, like the executives, won't achieve much.
We accuse politicians of being "smooth talkers", but if they are not pressured into acting no execution will take place. A few years ago the Jamaica Observer of 12th June 2005 carried an article titled 'Gov't sets sights on idle land'. It read: "The Government is aiming at bringing at least 20,000 acres (8,094 hectares) of public and private lands into production starting this fiscal year, says minister of agriculture, Roger Clarke."
Now this was expected to be a three-year programme, but cleary its results were not fruitful.
It is the duty of a mature populace to constantly remind ministers of government of their promises. Some of us believe that we can set low standards for our leaders, forget their empty promises and then overnight, they will become star perfomers. Do you know how much politicians love public apathy? They also know that it is easy to placate citizens by announcing grandiose projects, because we don't care to remember unfulfilled promises.
We all agree that the economy is greatly in need of a stimulus. We cannot afford to entertain idle assets; they can either be divested, which is the preferable route, or redeveloped. But erupting into a frenzy whenever you hear that billions of your tax dollars are being used to maintain idle buildings won't solve the problem if you forget about it by tomorrow.
Well-thinking citizens are not suggesting that anyone should dump tonnes of manure outside Parliament in order to show our disapproval of politicians, like that disturbed French horse breeder, but we insist that Jamaicans should do more than talk for a few seconds.
Lipton Matthews
lo_matthews@yahoo.com
Action, not bag a' talk
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Presently, Jamaica is marred by corruption and poverty. But despite the liberal nature of the press and the rise of modern civil society groups, very little is being done to ensure that those who opt to become parliamentarians perform to the best of their abilities.
Politicians are usually blamed for every possible evil, but in reality the people of Jamaica are the architects of the present state of affairs. If a boss accepts lacklustre performance from his executives they will never succeed. Likewise if voters tolerate the complacency of their leaders then they too, like the executives, won't achieve much.
We accuse politicians of being "smooth talkers", but if they are not pressured into acting no execution will take place. A few years ago the Jamaica Observer of 12th June 2005 carried an article titled 'Gov't sets sights on idle land'. It read: "The Government is aiming at bringing at least 20,000 acres (8,094 hectares) of public and private lands into production starting this fiscal year, says minister of agriculture, Roger Clarke."
Now this was expected to be a three-year programme, but cleary its results were not fruitful.
It is the duty of a mature populace to constantly remind ministers of government of their promises. Some of us believe that we can set low standards for our leaders, forget their empty promises and then overnight, they will become star perfomers. Do you know how much politicians love public apathy? They also know that it is easy to placate citizens by announcing grandiose projects, because we don't care to remember unfulfilled promises.
We all agree that the economy is greatly in need of a stimulus. We cannot afford to entertain idle assets; they can either be divested, which is the preferable route, or redeveloped. But erupting into a frenzy whenever you hear that billions of your tax dollars are being used to maintain idle buildings won't solve the problem if you forget about it by tomorrow.
Well-thinking citizens are not suggesting that anyone should dump tonnes of manure outside Parliament in order to show our disapproval of politicians, like that disturbed French horse breeder, but we insist that Jamaicans should do more than talk for a few seconds.
Lipton Matthews
lo_matthews@yahoo.com
Action, not bag a' talk
-->