THE EDITOR, Sir:

RELUCTANTLY I listened to the joint presentation by the prime minister and the finance minister. As I listened, I thought how great a paradise nation we could have been had it not been for politicians of their kind. I tried to imagine where we would have been as a country had our leaders taken better advantage of the plethora of opportunities that flew past us. I thought about the mismanagement and waste of public funds that the hard-working men and women had to turn over to the government in taxes, then they would ask for more, year after year, and we would have no choice but to give more even though we earned less.

The prime minister, in her address, asked us to make even more sacrifice in the form of the national debt exchange. The country's economy is at its worst; the rate of unemployment discouraging and families cannot afford the basic necessities. We, however, understand that some critical, and many times unsavoury measures, such as this are required, but many Jamaicans now believe that our national sacrifices over the years have been and will continue to be in vain. This, because there is an abhorrent leadership crisis in our country. Personally, I would have liked for the government to have demonstrated a unilateral sacrifice by perhaps taking a sym-bolic cut in salaries and benefits or something to that effect, just to say that we do this together.

In closing, Mrs Simpson Miller noted that Jamaicans are world leaders, and the excellence of extraordinary Jamaican achievements. Many of these achievements that readily come to mind are not as a result of national leadership but the resilience of our people.

RANDOLPH LEDGISTER

randolphledgister@gmail.com