Letter of the Day: We don’t want pity, we want jobs
Published:Wednesday | November 25, 2015 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The Prime minister has certainly burst our bubble after setting the country on edge with expected election announcements. I guess by the change of mind, 'her Master' decided that the People's National Party (PNP) (and not the country) wasn't ready after being so voraciously stirred up. But what did not happen was the Master asking her to feel sorry for the new youth voters.
Approximately 37,000 new voters, majority being Jamaican youth, will be on the new voters' list to be published. I can understand why the PNP/current Government is running away from their nicely laid plans as they have not been so open with the youth. With no jobs on the horizon, education becoming more and more expensive, and the increasing threats against the youth, the PNP Government is trying to blindside us by saying they are giving us a chance.
I want to know who told the prime minister to feel sorry for us. We don't want anybody to feel sorry for us; what we want is a fair playing field in terms of education, job and investment opportunities, the chance to have our voices heard without being politically correct, and not to be trapped in the same system that has been circulating for 53 years.
Anyone checked the appointments for the new boards in the health sector? All of them are made up of old people. There isn't even one person within 30 years old! What qualifications does a hotelier and a businessman have to run a health board? The University of the West Indies recently graduated 240 new medical students. How many will be given jobs where it's most needed in this country? Even the young politicians are always having to pick a side and are not given the opportunity to create their own; and if they want to make a difference, they are sidelined as needing more experience. I'm not saying we don't need experienced guidance, but come on!
ATROPHYING PARLIAMENTARIANS
Look at even Parliament, if death doesn't take the dinosaurs, they are slowly atrophying in their elected seats. Yes, the race is not for the swift, but for those who can endure, but we can't endure anymore. There needs to be a retirement age. The political parties snap up youth and turn them into their 'robots' after sending them to school and 'Mama P' says she's giving us a chance. What a mother! Using election voters' list to trick us, she's afraid we will bite off her ears.
Giving new youth voters a chance to vote won't help any party's chances if some changes aren't made to the political process and system. The apathetic and the diehards will always be here, but the sensible ones will always go somewhere where their education and intellect will actually be used to further a country's development, not political parties or other people's businesses. "A justice a weh di yutes dem need overall!"
Colette Campbell