I wish to express some of my observations, assessments, and criticisms of life in Jamaica today and to offer a few solutions that l fervently believe will help our country and Government better understand our predicament and show a pathway to sustainable living.

I am going to resist the temptation to delve into any historical underpinnings that have contributed to the high rate of poverty, crime, and social degradation that have affected our society over time, and fast-forward to the current situation.

Not even the most ardent critic of the Andrew Holness Administration can deny that it has made very good progress in expanding the economy, resulting in several quarters of consecutive growth. We can all see the robust construction activities across the island in new housing, roads, warehouses, and corporate offices. Our stock market was rated as the best-performing market in the world for 2018.

Notwithstanding the above, however, it begs the question: Why has this Administration not moved with alacrity to cauterise the rot and develop programmes to address the myriad social ills that, if allowed to continue, will surely derail and even bring to a halt the progress l have cited above?

Let us, for a moment, use the cities of Kingston and Montego Bay as examples. These cities represent the core of our economic activities in tourism, commerce, and manufacturing, contributing a large percentage of our gross domestic product (GDP). Yet we have allowed a morass of violence and lawlessness to fester, with our streets littered with garbage and illegal and unsightly vending in all areas including, believe it or not, outside of the gates of the Canadian and Japanese ambassadors’ residences in the so-called Golden Triangle.

Our traffic lights are overrun with young men who often use intimidating tactics to obstruct motorists as we go about our lawful business; taxi and minibus drivers speed along our roads like they have just escaped an asylum; homeless men and women roam the streets like zombies, sleeping wherever night catches them — one is outside my gate as l write this.

The solution, l believe, lies in our coming to a consensus of a new vision for the country that embraces the idea of inclusiveness and care. The leadership of the country, including civic, social, political, religious, business, and government, must buy into this vision and work actively to promote it.

We are grateful for the new road infrastructure works just completed, but we must begin to address the debilitating and dangerous road conditions that exist in many housing schemes across the island, some of which are National Housing Trust schemes that have been allowed to deteriorate. Let us give people back their dignity.

The next budget must make provisions to address these glaring examples of neglect that also exist in inner-city communities. l hate when l drive on certain roads and see people disappearing behind zinc fences into little hovels that are their homes. This makes me so sad. l often remark to myself that, imagine, after over 50 years of Independence, this is all we can do for our people.

We need a real, comprehensive, anti-poverty programme; more than what the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) do — although these are useful. I am recommending programmes on the scale of what Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did in Brazil and Deng Xiaoping did in China after Mao died.

Relieving poverty is the only sure way to stop the cycle of violence that is impacting us. Singapore did it. Why don’t we ask them how they did it — even though Lee Kuan Yew came here to learn from us before going back to Singapore to turn that country into the powerhouse it became.

Finally, if we don’t do anything from my recommendations above, can we at least try to rescue the upcoming generation of young people? Those who performed as young parliamentarians recently demonstrated that all is not lost, but we have to move fast. We need to monitor what they listen to and watch on the vast array of media available today to ensure that we control, as much as possible, their exposure to the corroding effects of negative images and lifestyles that will adversely affect the healthy development of their mind and spirit. In them rests our future.

Winston Barrett is CEO of Corporate Interiors International. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or winstonbarrett1654@gmail.com.