Dear Editor,
It is said that the current International Monetary Fund programme with our government has caused Jamaicans to face the "harshest austerity policies in world".
The report, published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research based in Washington, DC, also claims that our poverty- and debt-stricken nation "faces a budget more severe even than Greece".
Why blame the IMF? When our politicians and dishonest Jamaicans destroyed the economic platform of our nation, pocketed its wealth, and squandered its resources, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
When we appoint political cronies as contractors to carry out roadwork and hotel construction projects, and they raked up millions in overruns and did poor work, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
When billions of Jamaican dollars are shipped to offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and to Switzerland, while keeping our workers barely surviving on minimum wages, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
When we steal electricity and the copper cables of our telecoms industry; when we throw our garbage in our streets, our rivers, our gullies, the sea, and Jamaica's Kingston Harbour; when the agency responsible for our solid waste is politicised and we get poor work, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
When we confuse the functions of our members of parliament with those of our parish councillors; when we give constituency development funds to our MPs rather than to the Local Government; when parish councils, under the leadership of the mayors, should be leading the development of the parishes and employment for the people, but have failed to advance the welfare of our citizens, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
Dudley C McLean
Mandeville, Manchester
dm15094@gmail.com
Why blame the IMF?
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It is said that the current International Monetary Fund programme with our government has caused Jamaicans to face the "harshest austerity policies in world".
The report, published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research based in Washington, DC, also claims that our poverty- and debt-stricken nation "faces a budget more severe even than Greece".
Why blame the IMF? When our politicians and dishonest Jamaicans destroyed the economic platform of our nation, pocketed its wealth, and squandered its resources, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
When we appoint political cronies as contractors to carry out roadwork and hotel construction projects, and they raked up millions in overruns and did poor work, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
When billions of Jamaican dollars are shipped to offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and to Switzerland, while keeping our workers barely surviving on minimum wages, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
When we steal electricity and the copper cables of our telecoms industry; when we throw our garbage in our streets, our rivers, our gullies, the sea, and Jamaica's Kingston Harbour; when the agency responsible for our solid waste is politicised and we get poor work, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
When we confuse the functions of our members of parliament with those of our parish councillors; when we give constituency development funds to our MPs rather than to the Local Government; when parish councils, under the leadership of the mayors, should be leading the development of the parishes and employment for the people, but have failed to advance the welfare of our citizens, was it the IMF that did this to our people and nation?
Dudley C McLean
Mandeville, Manchester
dm15094@gmail.com
Why blame the IMF?
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