THE EDITOR, Sir:
MR. DELROY CHUCK continues to illustrate why we need a new set of leaders in this country. How could it be that a senior politician is pillorying the police even while giving plaudits to a man of ill repute? Are we all gone mad? Or is this some sinister attempt to curry favour in the face of upcoming general elections? Neither possibility gives much comfort.
If in fact Mr. Chuck is trying to win friends and influence people by his eulogy, this speaks volumes about who the politicians really need on their side. It surely is not the decent or law-abiding citizens of Jamaica. His remarks were clearly directed at the thugs and vagabonds who have maimed this country and to the people who have chosen to prostitute themselves in order to win their favour.
Even as our politicians lay prostrate before these strongmen, there are those in the society so bereft of any sense of morality and justice that they would have us believe that our only hope as a nation is to bow before these criminals. I refuse to live in a country where my affairs are controlled by murderers, rapists or drug lords. Though Mr. Chuck seems enamoured by this 'Andrew Phang' I am certain he would not like to live under the late Mr. Phang's 'jurisdiction'. He certainly would not be in favour of Mr. Phang controlling how he exercises his franchise, when he could demonstrate or when he should stop demonstrating for his rights. Not even for so-called 'peace' and 'safety'. Mr. Chuck would probably rightly assert his right to find his own destiny, and insist on the responsibility of the State to protect its citizens.
But while living in a 'donship' is untenable for our leaders, they all seem to feel it is good enough for the citizens, so that negotiation and not isolation and elimination is their response to the enslavement of a large part of our population.
The leaders of both the JLP and the PNP stand condemned of encouraging and allowing this enslavement to grow and entrench itself. The Jamaican people need to synthesize an alternative to these jokers, or we will continue in this state of anarchy and decay. It is not economics which is primarily to blame for our predicament. There are countries, even in the Caribbean, far poorer than Jamaica, that have never produced a 'Jim Brown', a 'Burry Boy', a 'Zeeks' or a 'Andrew Phang'. The problem lies in a corrupt political order which sees political power as an end in itself, not as a means to advance the people's interest, despite the rhetoric.
I am adamant that my forefathers did not resist the might of the British Empire to gain freedom from slavery only to have me and my generation simply sit back and allow ourselves to be enslaved once again.
I am etc.,
PAUL ELLIS
ellispaul@hotmail.com
St. Augustine, Trinidad
Via Go-Jamaica
