Dear Editor,
For a poor, developing country it amazes me how we continue to waste millions of dollars on non-essentials, while neglecting the more important investments required for our advancement.
We are currently spending millions of dollars on an investigation into the Tivoli/Dudus affair to tell us what we essentially already know; ie that the gunmen in Tivoli, in defence of their "Don" Dudus, and in alliance with their cohorts from other parts of the island, took on the security forces in a mini-war which they obviously thought they could win.
Well, they lost miserably, and those of their number killed were simply casualties of war, along with innocent citizens who sadly usually are also casualties of war.
Now we are being asked by certain politically aligned voices to spend millions more on a referendum to decide on a final court of appeal, which constitutionally can be decided by a two-thirds majority vote in Parliament. Such a vote would not cost us one cent, while confirming participation in the Caribbean Court of Justice, a court which is already functioning and budgeted for, and which we helped to set up in the first place.
It is patently clear that calls for a Jamaican final court smacks of intellectual dishonestly, since it is known that with the overwhelming deficiencies of the justice system in Jamaica, a final court of appeal here would not be a reality any time soon. That proposal is simply a ploy for us to remain with the United Kingdom Privy Council, a body which has for years encouraged us to set up our own final court and so relieve their caseload which has become burdensome. The result has been major delays in our appeals to that body, not to mention the inordinately high cost of us making these appeals.
Apparently after over 50 years of Independence we still can't let go of Britain's apron strings and keep taking "one step forward, two steps backward" because of political opportunism and because we still have not managed to "emancipate ourselves from mental slavery". May God help us!
Paul Thorbourne
anthorpaul@gmail.com
We in Jamaica waste money and time
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For a poor, developing country it amazes me how we continue to waste millions of dollars on non-essentials, while neglecting the more important investments required for our advancement.
We are currently spending millions of dollars on an investigation into the Tivoli/Dudus affair to tell us what we essentially already know; ie that the gunmen in Tivoli, in defence of their "Don" Dudus, and in alliance with their cohorts from other parts of the island, took on the security forces in a mini-war which they obviously thought they could win.
Well, they lost miserably, and those of their number killed were simply casualties of war, along with innocent citizens who sadly usually are also casualties of war.
Now we are being asked by certain politically aligned voices to spend millions more on a referendum to decide on a final court of appeal, which constitutionally can be decided by a two-thirds majority vote in Parliament. Such a vote would not cost us one cent, while confirming participation in the Caribbean Court of Justice, a court which is already functioning and budgeted for, and which we helped to set up in the first place.
It is patently clear that calls for a Jamaican final court smacks of intellectual dishonestly, since it is known that with the overwhelming deficiencies of the justice system in Jamaica, a final court of appeal here would not be a reality any time soon. That proposal is simply a ploy for us to remain with the United Kingdom Privy Council, a body which has for years encouraged us to set up our own final court and so relieve their caseload which has become burdensome. The result has been major delays in our appeals to that body, not to mention the inordinately high cost of us making these appeals.
Apparently after over 50 years of Independence we still can't let go of Britain's apron strings and keep taking "one step forward, two steps backward" because of political opportunism and because we still have not managed to "emancipate ourselves from mental slavery". May God help us!
Paul Thorbourne
anthorpaul@gmail.com
We in Jamaica waste money and time
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