Dear Editor,

This is an open letter to Michael Lee Chin, chairman of NCB Jamaica Limited and chairman and president of Portland Holding Inc:

I read with great admiration a newspaper article regarding your “generous donation to Canada’s Joseph Brant Hospital” in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, the amount being CDN$10 million, “the single biggest donation in the history of the city of Burlington”. This follows an even more sizeable donation of CDN$30 million made by you in the past, as reported in the media, to the Royal Ontario Museum and described as the “largest gift to a museum in Canadian history”. With the rate of exchange as it stands today, this is equivalent to J$1 billion and J$3 billion, respectively. It is noteworthy that less annual budgetary allocations have been made to some ministries of government for the current fiscal year.

Your philanthropy to these and many other institutions has been way beyond the call of duty. And, while I applaud your generous gestures, I cannot help but feel compelled to make a special appeal to you on behalf of the people of Portland, for which you have had ties dating back to childhood.

Due to the stringent IMF programme for which quarterly targets have to be met, you will appreciate that important facilities such as our hospitals are subjected to budget cuts and dwindling donations from charitable organisations and individuals which find themselves inundated with requests, whether it is for cash or kind. I, therefore, use this medium to make a public appeal for the Port Antonio Hospital to be on our priority list for your next donation, as it is badly in need of assistance for state-of-the-art equipment, physical upgrading, and even the basic medical supplies to meet its daily core function of attending to the poor and underprivileged residents who are unable to pay for private medical treatment.

I do not wish to appear presumptuous in seeming to suggest where, and to whom, you should make your donations but, as you are aware, the hospital serves thousands of residents of Portland.

With the recent aeroplane crash just 14 miles away from the coastline of Portland, I, along with the residents and many other Jamaicans, shuddered to think what would have happened had the aircraft crashed on land, and how the hospital and other essential services would have managed such a disaster. In the not-too-distant future, it will become an imperative to have better medical facilities available to not only residents, but visitors alike with an expected growth in tourism in the parish.

I refer to your own investments in Portland, which range from tourism to agriculture, and which have contributed to the economy of the parish. I am also reminded of your deep love and passion for Jamaica and more so for the parish of Portland due to your family roots in the parish. It does not escape me either that your close relationship with the parish has perhaps influenced you to name one of your investment companies, Portland Holdings Inc.

With my expressed desire to see your assistance of similar financial proportions going to the Port Antonio Hospital, I take this opportunity to humbly invite you to schedule a visit to the hospital, along with me, to see the hospital’s greatest needs and how best the institution may be assisted to improve its service delivery. And, I believe it would be extremely useful to have the minister of health and the member of parliament for Eastern Portland, in which the hospital is located, join us.

I have also released this letter to the media so that, as a representative of the people of Portland, they can be aware that every effort is being made to solicit help for the benefit of all Portlanders and the parish’s visitors.

I trust that you will deem my appeal to you as well- intended and look forward to hearing from you.

Daryl Vaz, MP

West Portland