Dear Editor,

The latest scandal in this beautiful country of ours is the cutting off of electrify by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to some of their legal, legitimate customers who are unfortunate enough to reside in some of the light-stealing communities.

Among the comments you hear from those trying to justify JPS’s actions is that most people who live in those communities are freeloaders who take what they cannot pay for as they figure society owes it to them. This may be true to a certain extent, but who are the real freeloaders?

In my book, it is not so much residents in those areas, but the members of parliament who do not live in the areas they “represent” but who are the the real beneficiaries of garrison politics. For, in these garrisons, although most residents may get free water, free light and free homes, they have to give up a great deal of their personal freedoms for these benefits, which may be free to them but not to us the taxpayers and consumers of electricity.

The real freeloaders get to enjoy the great benefits that come with being a representative in Parliament without ever having to do a day of campaigning; for the party support has been solidified over time and constantly maintained by the strongmen aligned to the parties. Because of the structure of these constituencies, the representatives have to do absolutely nothing to improve the lot of the residents. And, although from time to time you are assaulted by some pompous pronouncements about the many decades they “have spent serving the people”, when you visit these areas, you often see people living in conditions not fit for humans.

As far as the JLP and PNP are concerned, the seats of these garrison constituencies are top prizes to be awarded to the senior and elite of their parties for years of service to their particular political club, with no concern about what the maintenance of these garrisons is doing to the country and the future of our children.

In fact, it is totally disgraceful that, in 2014, while we profile about being a democratic county, almost 25 per cent of the constituencies can be described as garrisons or near-garrisons. Unfortunately for the JPS, they are the only private company that has to deal with the officially endorsed and encouraged theft that comes with garrison politics as the “free” houses and water comes straight out of taxpayers’ pockets. I wonder how this outrageous action that the JPS felt forced to take, thus exposing to the world the illegal nature of a large segment of our “democracy”, so the blessed ones can sit in Parliament and become our representatives on the world stage, will reflect on our reputation when those who compile the “ease of doing business” figures do their next survey?

Joan E Williams

Kingston 10

gratestj@gmail.com