Letter of the Day | Embrace values and ethics-driven approach to development

THE EDITOR, Madam:

There is a dim light at the end of Jamaica’s proverbial tunnel, according to remarks by Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton during a tour of the construction of the new outpatient department at May Pen Hospital.

As reported in The Gleaner on August 7, Tufton acknowledged that, having committed resources to expanding health infrastructure, the country must now address “the care with compassion component”. He added: “Buildings alone don’t improve or enhance service provision at the optimal level. It is how people treat people that makes the difference.”

Compassion is a core human value and a moral virtue. Tufton’s words therefore affirm what I have long advocated in these pages: Jamaica needs a values- and ethics-driven approach to development. Modern buildings, sophisticated equipment and impressive capital expenditure are necessary, but they are insufficient without people-centred service, ethical leadership, and sound management systems. Putting new facilities around unchanged attitudes is like pouring new wine into old wineskin.

Over 64 years of Independence, Jamaica has repeatedly pursued this anaemic model of development. We build highways and modern toll roads, yet indiscipline and disregard for other road users contribute to carnage. Billions are invested in educational infrastructure, yet educational quality and outcomes lag. Religious groups readily stage public prayer and fasting, yet values and ethics are too often absent from their preaching and from the institutions they operate. High-rise buildings and housing developments transform our cities, while corruption continues to plague municipal governance.

Tufton’s remarks must therefore be translated into policy, training, accountability and consistent practice. Values- and ethics-driven development is not a short-term project whose fruits can be harvested within a single electoral cycle. It requires sustained national commitment across generations. Regrettably, political leaders often favour initiatives that yield visible results before the next election.

I continue to grieve that former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson’s Values and Attitudes Programme was not pursued with sufficient continuity and national resolve. One wonders what kind of Jamaica we might inhabit today, had that initiative been consistently nurtured over a generation.

Amid the darkness of our national tunnel, Tufton’s words offer a flicker of light. Yet, words alone cannot preserve it. Government, Opposition, schools, churches, families, businesses and citizens must shield and feed this flame. Let us ensure that the winds of short-term gain, political expediency and self-gratification do not extinguish it. The minister has named the challenge; the nation must embrace it.

FR DONALD CHAMBERS

frdon63@hotmail.com