Dear Editor,

At present, in St Mary, most farmers are losing their long struggle with praedial larcenists. Add to that the high unemployment rate, a wave of endless frustration, social anxiety, and political uncertainty and all this is affecting the citizens of the parish. The people are desperately crying out for help from their elected officials.

Due to this morbid scenario is it possible for the Prime Minister Andrew Holness to have a public seminar and explain to the citizens of Jamaica the active role of their paid, elected representatives.

In the meantime, there is a massive water supply crisis and total road collapse in the districts of Hopewell, Old Road, Frazerwood, Tremolesworth, Esher, Richmond, Kilancholly, and all sections leading to Guy’s Hill from Highgate. This horrible situation now exists while school is still in session and the Government is exhorting parents to send their children to school. How is this possible when the water pipes have been dry for the past several weeks?

Highgate is a large school hub, surrounded by many colleges and primary schools. When councillors and Member of Parliament are approached with matters of dire social and disease-threatening situations (dysentery and diarrhoea), they throw the die-hard political hatchet at you “Central government has granted us no funds, so we are all back to square one.” This is contrary to statements made in the 2019 budget debate regarding the repair of rural roads. We heard that funds had been allocated.

Now the burning question the people of St Mary are asking our prime minister is where are they to turn to for help?

When questioned about its dreadful service to customers, the National Water Commission (NWC) states that its water pumps and valves are broken, and the old, colonial era main pipes have failed the test of time, and there is no money to repair or replace. They shunt you away with embarrassing remarks like: Where are your elected Members of Parliament and councillors? Still, the NWC keeps sending out millions of dollars worth of water bills for non-existent supplies.

Recently, Canada legalised the social and medicinal use of marijuana (ganja) (October 2017, BBC News). Large brewing companies in that northern country have been granted licences to produce non-alcoholic cannabis drinks (derivatives of ganja).

If Jamaica, acting as an independent country, can pull itself from under the wretched pall of poverty-laced colonialism and negative religion, dogma, and seize this golden opportunity and sell containerloads of our precious world-rated weed to Canada, we could obtain vast sums that could contribute to fixing derelict, rural roads, dig wells, and to offset the ominous yearly droughts. This may even graduate to help stave of the coming tragedy off climate change, global warming and Arctic meltdown, as the resultant fast-rising sea levels have already started to affect us. These same funds could also help to provide school buses, lunches and books for needy children, who would no longer have to resort to asking favours of sex-hungry adults.

The excess weed funds could be wisely channelled to plant out thousands of acres of idle lands into large farms of ginger, pimento (allspice), nutmeg, as well as Julie and East Indian mangoes to provide healthy brain food juices.

This grand agenda would immediately strike a deadly blow at the awful scourge of unemployment affecting the frustrated youth of St Mary and other adjoining parishes. In one bold stroke our visionary leaders could prove to the amazed world that we are not a nation of chest-beating procrastinators and behind-the-grille and porch debaters. We are not simply International Monetary Fund and World Bank dependents, but rather the eliminators of unemployment and want using our God-given natural resources.

We can rise to the challenge and, indeed, be the pearl of the Caribbean, the beautiful land of wood and water.

May swift, considered action be taken before social and cultural degradation comes.

Remember the devil finds work for idle hands to do.

Winston C Cohen

Highgate PO, St Mary

krunchepeanuts@gmail.com