THE EDITOR, Sir:

OUR ISLAND home is in a deep crisis, and this is not because we are yet to reach any form of agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It's a crisis of leadership. Where is the leadership of the country? Who is in command?

This current Government returned with an overwhelming majority, translated to mean the electorate entrusted them to guide us to a better place. For better or worse, they were given, and accepted, the mandate. They must now act or if they are not sure what to do then they must resign as a government. The alternative to them might not be the most attractive, but if they are willing to administer the "bitter medicine" that they promised, and lost the election because of this, then so be it.

Our crisis is similar to cancer; chemotherapy is not pleasant, but must be done if you want to continue living. If this Government fails to act for much longer they will be asking the public at large to do whatever is necessary to survive. The signs are already there of a democracy slipping into anarchy: vigilante justice is creeping in, child abuse increasing in our homes and schools, daring robberies, including scams of all sorts, are occurring, there is no regard for rule of law on our road, there is an an emerging foreign exchange black-market, and the list goes on.These are signs that things are falling apart in the absence of an effective government, with no clear leadership for the nation.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

We need our entrusted and mandated leadership to tell us what if we are unable to secure a deal of any sort with the IMF. They need to tell us where do we go from here. One gets the feeling that they have given up and do not understand that they are where they are because they told the people that they can chart the course to move us from where we are now to where we should be economically. Collectively, we cannot escape the fact that we have given our nation to be governed for too long to political parties that are self-serving and do not have the country's progress at heart. After 50 years as a nation, it is time we make a change. We must ask them to serve or resign.

HOWARD HAMILTON

Portmore Pines ,Greater Portmore

How-hamil@yahoo.com