Dear Editor,

The people of Jamaica thought that our country was suffering under the rule of a JLP Government. So they voted the PNP back into power. Looking back, I’m sure these voters would exchange any ‘sufferings’ we had during the years 2007 to 2011 for the ones we live with today.

Personally, I prefer an exchange rate that averaged about $80 than one climbing to $110. I prefer not having my patties taxed. I prefer my prime minister choosing not only to upgrade their and the Cabinet’s “work vehicles” to the tune of over sixty million dollars, but also justifying this move, while I and many others face climbing taxi and bus fares. I prefer my PM not supporting questionable acts of corruption by members of Government, regardless of their party affiliation. I prefer a PM who acknowledges wrongs and mistakes, rather than one who is not only blatantly silent on errors made, but also one who is nowhere to be found while we are made to feel the effect and consequences of their blunders.

Personally, I prefer an exchange rate that averaged about $80 than one climbing to $110. I prefer not having my patties taxed. I prefer my prime minister choosing not only to upgrade their and the Cabinet’s “work vehicles” to the tune of over sixty million dollars, but also justifying this move, while I and many others face climbing taxi and bus fares. I prefer my PM not supporting questionable acts of corruption by members of Government, regardless of their party affiliation. I prefer a PM who acknowledges wrongs and mistakes, rather than one who is not only blatantly silent on errors made, but also one who is nowhere to be found while we are made to feel the effect and consequences of their blunders.

On that note, I prefer having a PM who lives in the country in which they govern, rather than one who sporadically visits only to greet other PMs and pick up a new wardrobe as they continue along their game of “Where in the world is the PM today?” One who is not using the five years of power to travel the globe, funded by the tax I pay on the patties I can no longer afford. In any event, the PM can simply tax the air I breathe if all other means of funding trips fail. For the passing of that legislation, I guarantee the PM would be in the island.

I prefer a PM whose constituency is one in which its constituents are not suffering, and whose living conditions and circumstances are not deplorable and, in fact, laughable in the context of it being that the PM’s. I prefer a PM who gives me details on what issues the Government addresses every Tuesday and Wednesday, rather than one who attempts to suppress my concerns with the use of generic and meaningless phrases such as “building bi-lateral relations” and “continuing the good work for the people of Jamaica”. I don’t think this last request in particular is unreasonable given that I pay for the cars that drive the PM and the Government to Gordon House, their drivers, the large security details that ‘protect’ them and the paper which they use to write the laws to tax me.

As a young person I am astounded by the behaviour of the PM and the government. At my age, I was hoping that the leaders of this country would be setting an example for me to invest my time and my education into building this country, but they only make me feel hopeless and embarrassed. They are no longer interested in achieving the goals they so vociferously threw at us during their election campaign. Jamaicans, or at least the majority of Jamaicans, have a clear syndrome of battered woman syndrome. We keep coming back for more, while our abusers continue to abuse us. We keep expecting things to get better. We listen to the empty promises of better times ahead, and turn a blind eye to the open sores and wounds that cover our bodies. I guess my point here is, “If you cyaan hear, you will feel.”

Wendy Beswick

Barry Street

beswick_wendy@yahoo.com