Government waging class warfare

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I read the attempt at an explanation for the massive salary increases for politicians written by Dr Nigel Clarke, the minister of finance, that was published in The Sunday Gleaner. I would like to respond.

As he has done since this imbroglio erupted last week, Dr Clarke has consistently associated the increases given to civil servants with the financial self-aggrandisement of the political establishment. I am not aware of any civil servant, including teachers and nurses, who have received 100, 200 and 250 per cent increase in pay.

The worst thing about this is how disconnected the PM, the finance minister and the rest of parliament are from the Jamaican people. They have no sense of the anger and frustration reverberating throughout the country.

Neither the JLP nor PNP seem to understand the plight of the Jamaican people, and the daily hardships they face dealing with the terrible infrastructure throughout the island.

The Jamaican government is waging class warfare against its own people; this is an economic apartheid of the haves versus the have-nots.

I would like to lend my voice to those who are opposed to this. If this increase stands, it will set Jamaica back for years to come.

GODWIN BARLEY