Dear Editor,

I had a good laugh after reading Sophie-Ann Tennyson’s letter, “Mindless piece of junk parading as ‘Letter of the Day'”, carried in your paper on Friday, April 20, 2012. But even I have to admit that the subject matter it dealt with is no laughing matter.

Ms Tennyson’s letter refered to a Gleaner letter which sought to belittle Messrs Gassan Azan and Gordon “Butch” Stewart for opening distribution outlets, which the letter writer said provided only “lowly paid jobs”.

I wholeheartedly agree with Ms Tennyson that while The Gleaner has no less a right than the Observer to publish letters it receives, the choice of such a letter as letter of the day betrays The Gleaner’s own thinking on the matter.

Left to the letter writer, no businessman should think of opening any distribution outlet in Jamaica, and should close down those that are already opened, concentrating instead on “real production”.

The writer did not explain what would happen in the meantime to the people employed in these “lowly paid jobs”, what areas of “real production” businessmen should concentrate on, and where they would get markets for the goods and services produced.

I live and work in Manchester and I can say without fear of contradiction that the Megamart store to be opened by Mr Azan is eagerly awaited. The announcement has created quite a buzz and I am sure that the number of applicants for these “lowly paid” jobs will be far more than the store can handle.

As to why Mr Stewart was mentioned is beyond me, since distribution is only one part of his many business activities which include the Sandals and Beaches hotels which bring in vast amounts of foreign exchange and provide thousands of jobs, both “lowly paid” and highly paid.

Maybe we can all dream of one day reaching the point where all jobs created in Jamaica are highly paid ones. But then, naah! Because that would leave out the large numbers of Jamaicans who are not educated beyond basic levels to be able to carry out these jobs.

The Gleaner has to be more cerebral about the letters it holds up as “Letter of the Day”.

Joseph Deeds

Christiana, Manchester