Sameer Younis pushes family values
Published:Wednesday | May 28, 2014 | 12:00 AM
BUSINESSMAN AND chairman of the Civic Affairs and Inner-City Development Committees, Sameer Younis, has appealed to policymakers to urgently address the breakdown of family life in the country.
Speaking at the Youth Leadership Training Programme graduation ceremony, held at the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce Civic Affairs Office, downtown Kingston, last Thursday, Younis said young people must recognise the importance of good family values.
"If we are to elevate ourselves as a country, we must fix family life in Jamaica," he declared.
"Our family structures are broken. More and more children are growing up in dysfunctional families, which then lead to petty crimes, among the other ills that we face daily in the society," he said.
Younis added: "It will take a drastic reshaping and a shift in focus, on the part of our policymakers. We must see the value of life and caring for each other in order for there to be a change in the current moral decay within our country."
Meanwhile, minister with responsibility for information in the Office of the Prime Minister, Sandrea Falconer, encouraged graduates to be focused.
"It's very encouraging to see that we have young people who are still determined to press through, despite the odds. Quite a few of our young people have been caught in a web of hopelessness and despair, which usually ends up on a path to destruction, but each of you has the power to make a change," she charged.