Dear Editor,

The real problem of dons and garrisons is the lack of opportunity, production and educational mobility which results in the destruction of a people. The phenomenon associated with the meaning of leader, or in the garrisons the “don”, has been glorified in our society. Political parties have fuelled the fire of garrisons through political strategy for years to control a seat and win.

“Curry goat politics” has engulfed the cranium of so many Jamaicans that many believe that this wrong can be corrected overnight. To eliminate garrisons must be seen as a process. Merely walking through troubled communities is one thing, but what happens when the leaders leave? Will walking through these communities change the residents’ socio-economic condition so they will no longer take orders from the don? The fact that the dons have so much power is the driving force to make younger dons every day. The mentality where most of the young people aspire to be the don breeds bad mind, and the outcome is crime.

I hope there will be measures in place to counteract the dismantling of garrisons because we have to remember that dons provide a service to their communities.

Until we realise that we are Jamaicans first and our political interest is secondary, garrison politics will prevail. In any case, Prime Minister Holness should be commended for extending a hand of friendship to Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller.

Rev Tanasha Buchanan

tanashabuchanan@yahoo.com