Development at what cost?

Dear Editor,

The Government is chasing the IMF as the last resort to avoid national bankruptcy. In 1995 PJ Patterson said "ta-ta" to the fund, considered to be the devil for the draconian conditions it attaches to its loans to poor countries. Now it is the saviour and it is calling the shots, one year after the election and no agreement, which Portia Simpson Miller promised in two weeks.

With its back against the wall, the Government is now grovelling at the feet of communist China. In the mad rush to give away land, sovereignty and self-respect to the Chinese for their money, the Government is embarrassing itself by taking court action against the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) which it created to stem corruption in Jamaica.

With the sugar lands and factories gone to Complant, the Government is fighting the OCG in a bid to bulldoze people's houses, farms, heritage sites, disrupt centuries-old artefacts and give away Jamaica's land for superhighways and ports and God knows what else.

God knows we need the money, the infrastructure and the development, but at what cost? Must we sell our soul and trample national institutions like the OCG?

Mark Pinnock

USA

pinocchiofred@hotmail.com

Development at what cost?

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