Dear Editor,

During the 1960s, Jamaica had the fastest-growing economy in the region, averaging over six per cent per annum. However, due to the failure of macro-economic policies pursued by successive administrations and a lack of capable leadership, Jamaica has failed to achieve her true potential. Parliamentarians should not be the only ones to shoulder the blame for the failures of the state, because the people have refused to hold them accountable for their shortcomings.

During the 1960s, Jamaica had the fastest-growing economy in the region, averaging over six per cent per annum. However, due to the failure of macro-economic policies pursued by successive administrations and a lack of capable leadership, Jamaica has failed to achieve her true potential. Parliamentarians should not be the only ones to shoulder the blame for the failures of the state, because the people have refused to hold them accountable for their shortcomings.

The inability of Jamaicans to demand better representation from their elected representatives has created a sad state of affairs. For example, acts of abuse by agents of the state like the recent killing of Kayann Lamont and the brutal murder of Janice Allen in 2000 aroused the anger of the public, but like so many other issues, this lasted only for a few days. Police reports were not forthcoming and the media decided to cease investigations.

In addition, Amnesty International reported in 2009 that Jamaica had the highest number of extra-judicial killings in the world and again, most of these cases have not been solved and the populace remains apathetic. Further, in 2005 Jamaica had 1674 murders, and the highest murder rate per capita in the world. Although Jamaica’s legislators have not created feasible policies to curb the upsurge of crime, the citizens of this country have accepted this mediocre performance. Furthermore, the economy has contracted over the past 40 years, and it is quite obvious that policymakers are implementing the same misguided policies while expecting different results. For example, in 1984 the debt-to-GDP ratio was 212 per cent; in 2002 it was 150 per cent and today it is 140 per cent, while in 2003 Jamaica had the highest interest-rate payment ratio in the world. The colossal mismanagement of the education system is also a cause for concern.

Over the past 12 years, the pass rate for CSEC mathematics has remained in the 30s, and English has continued to fluctuate. Most of the nation’s primary schools are unable to produce quality students due to insufficient resources. In 2011, more than 50 per cent of the schools located in St Catherine, Manchester and St Andrew failed to achieve 50 per cent mastery in the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy Test. The people of Jamaica have accepted the dismal leadership of mediocre politicians and this is the real tragedy of our nation.

Jamaica will develop only when its inhabitants begin to demand effective leadership from those who were elected to serve. Jamaicans should wake up and become militant like Americans and the Europeans who refuse to accept substandard performance from their leaders; in those countries politicians are impeached for mediocrity. Jamaicans must raise the bar for parliamentarians, and if this is not done, then the country will continue to regress for the next 50 years.

Lipton Matthews

lo_matthews@yahoo.com