Gleaner Blogs

Dozens of readers are commenting on stories at
www.jamaica-gleaner.com. Here are some of their views:


Diaspora group needs revamp

I am a Jamaican residing in South Florida for the last 21 years and I don't see or know anything about the so-called 'Diaspora Group'. It's an organisation that does not align itself with the normal Jamaican.

Before anything is considered, a complete overhaul must be done to make sure this group is broad-based with the people of Jamaica, the mother and the father who send home dollars to help their relatives in Jamaica. We in the community do not support this group; it's an 'elite group'.

I am concerned as to where we are going, we need a proper leader who talks to the people. The South Florida Diaspora is not broad-based and needs new direction.

- Bevan 'Duke' Earle

Use education to fight crime

Solving crime is simple. If you should divide the society into two, and have one side made up totally of educated intellectual men, gainfully employed with professional careers, and the other side made up of poorly educated 'ghetto men' who 'can't get a big job' and, therefore, define their manhood and self-worth through an anti-establishment macho gun-pon-teeth don gorgon bad man culture; which of the two sides would be more prone to guns and drugs running 'to make a big money' and being the most violent? You know the answer.

Solution: Produce far more highly educated professional men and fewer handcart 'ghetto men' who can hardly spell their names. Take a look at the universities and you'll see why crime has got worse. You all know this. No amount of peace management initiative, police intelligence gathering or paramilitary hit squads can solve crime.

- Solving Crime

Stay in 'foreign heaven'

I definitely do not think those in the diaspora should be allowed in our Parliament. Let them stay in their 'foreign heaven'.

As soon as these people's feet touch foreign soil they think Jamaica is no good. Sometimes I hear them and shake my head. A friend of mine became a teacher here and spat at our education system. I had to tell her I sat GCE and it was more difficult than the Grade 12 courses my children were writing, and I speak from authority about both systems.

- Jakan

No time for this!

It is a negative development for Jamaica's future to cloud the many, many issues which we urgently need to resolve, with a nothing debate about offering parlia-mentary representation to those in the diaspora.

We can claim to love Jamaica as much as we like but a man, in my opinion, cannot choose to love his wife, love his household and also choose to be detached from them. If I can commit to being part of the political process I must commit to being resident of the nation.

This smacks too much of having one's cake and eating it.

- Ricky

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