THE EDITOR, Sir:NEARLY 20 years since application and still no phone - is Cable and Wireless really moving forward?
As a business investor from overseas, we are often encouraged by the Jamaican Government to invest in Jamaica. I have businesses in the UK, USA and Jamaica. I am somewhat surprised that my effort to obtain a telephone line for my parents in a rural part of St Thomas (Patto Gully, Seaforth) has been unsuccessful. My parents are returning residents from the UK and applied for a telephone line in the 1980s.
They are still waiting for a residential line. I decided to carry out a survey recently to see how many households in the area required a residential telephone line. More than 50 residents signed my petition and advised me that they are sick and tired of applying to the local Cable and Wireless office in Morant Bay. In fact an employee of Cable and Wireless resides in the area and has two complete lines, how can this be justified?
My aim was to provide voluntary computer/Internet courses for youngsters in the area. How can this be done without communication? How can we give these children the same opportunities as overseas children if we cannot provide a simple service like a telephone line. I am totally frustrated when I visit my parents as I am unable to connect to the Internet to monitor my business, and calls to my parents' physician have to be made via Digicel cellular.
This is the type of incident that turns away returnees and investors to Jamaica. Why bother invite foreign investors or returnees to bring their money into the country when it takes over 10 years to obtain a simple service like a telephone. A residential telephone line is a very simple service. It has be nearly 25 years since my parents made their first application. Will it take another 25 years before they get a service?
I am etc.,
CHRIS HENDERSON
hendoss44@aol.com
Via Go-Jamaica
