Dear Editor,

Though Jamaica, like any other country, has moments of gold and moments of hardship, I am a proud Jamaican. We must not let our challenges cloud our vision to make Jamaica “the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business.”

At the rate we are performing none of these goals will be achieved within the next 50 years. We’ve lost our national airline, the crime rate is rapidly increasing, we nearly lost our vote in the UN, and now our land is being sold by our money-hungry leaders.

Our country is basically a Chinese colony. The very moment a country owns the infrastructure of another country that country is basically theirs because they may influence the affairs of that country.

China will benefit far more than us when the proposed logistics hub is completed: the construction will be done by Chinese contractors and chinese workers and the Chinese Government will have controlling interest and exclusive rights to a hub on

Jamaican soil.

It is clear that the reason our Goverment dropped the visa requirements for Chinese nationals is to faciliate the logistics hub. For matters like these the Gvernment should call for a referendum.

Madam Prime Minister, look further down the years when I — now a 16- year-old — will be leaving university to join the workforce. How will I and many others like me be able to repay or student loans when work will not be provided but it is a surety for immigrants?

We’ve been in the dark for too long and I believe all this corruption and dirty politics is due to the fact that many people vote for a party because that’s the party they grew up seeing their parents supporting. We need to drop that mentality and vote for the benefits of our nation, not as PNP nor JLP.

I intend to be prime minister one day, but until then we have to ensure our country is on the right track for development so as to make the future a little better for us teenagers.

Shaquille Ramsay

May Pen

theolefridge@gmail.com