Dear Editor,

According to the recent Gallup-Healthways State of Global Well-Being Report, Jamaica ranks 115 out of 145 countries, placing it lower than Haiti and at the bottom in the Caribbean, in relation to its perception of its financial well-being.

When, as revealed in the infamous WikiLeaks cable of July 8, 2008, a United States diplomat alleged that Peter Phillips, in discussion with a US embassy official, said Jamaica risked becoming the English-speaking Haiti if Portia Simpson Miller, whom he deemed a disaster for Jamaica, were returned to government, not many of us probably took him seriously. Many of us might have dismissed those accusations as sour grapes, given Peter Phillips’s two failed attempts at securing the leadership of the People’s National Party (PNP), with Simpson Miller triumphing on both such occasions.

However, given the state of our economic affairs, one has to wonder now if Phillips was not very much spot on then. Ironically, though, we are now being managed largely by Phillips, under the leadership of Simpson Miller.

As highlighted by Gallup-Healthways report, and evidenced otherwise, while Haiti is improving, our middle class is now largely extinct, and the gap between the rich and the poor is among the highest, if not the highest, in the world.

Our people continue to struggle financially, with many finding it increasingly difficult to meet their basic needs. More and more of our people are becoming economic refugees, having lost all hope in Jamaica, as they, more than ever before, seek out other lands for better opportunities for survival.

Our country is struggling to recover from the economic misery facilitated largely by the PNP, as allegedly stated by Phillips via Wikileaks, running the country into the ground for the 18 years they formed the Government prior to the Jamaica Labour Party’s election thereto in 2007.

Can the PNP, led by Simpson Miller with Phillips as a major player, be expected to save us economically, especially when the PNP was never known to be good stewards of the country’s financial affairs?

Kevin KO Sangster

sangstek@msn.com