Dear Editor,

I am provoked enough to script you these few lines because I believe Jamaica, and Jamaicans on a whole, are facing serious issues which should be of concern to all of us, including the intractable and crippling problems of crime and violence, the pervasive corruption in our public institutions, the failures in our health sectors, and the increasing level of poverty.

Almost every one of us knows someone who has been a victim of criminal activity. It saddens me that since the start of the year police data show that 38 children have been murdered violently as our overall murder statistics climbed past 1,060 as at October 19, 2019.

Price increases are killing us and poor wages are making us poorer by the day, and this situation is being compounded by the constant devaluation of the Jamaican dollar.

Look at what we face in these circumstances and yet we have a prime minister who is merely paying lip service to these issues on the few occasions he mentions them, but he finds time to indulge in juvenile behaviour, calling himself “Bro gad” or whatever term young boys are using now.

The prime minister needs to get serious and behave like a responsible leader and pay attention to people’s suffering. They talk, for example, as though there isn’t a dengue outbreak, but people are dying, especially children. They continue to herald the slogan of prosperity, but poverty is increasing. They said corruption would be a thing of the past, but corruption has never been so pervasive in the history of the country.

Finally, what has gone wrong with our water supply? Why are so many of us having a water shortage or no water at all, which last some weeks and there’s no relief from the Government?

These are the things that the prime minister should be concerned about, instead of relishing in the unimportant descriptor of Bro gad, and whatever it means.

This isn’t a game. A lot of people, including myself, are hurting because no matter how we try, things just seem hopeless.

Concerned Citizen