Dear Editor,

On Tuesday April 14, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the lockdown of the parish of St Catherine. What a tragedy when it is not the fault of the citizens of St Catherine.

The prime minister had ignored the cries of those working in the BPO Industry and only for one reason, it is the shining armour in statistics regarding jobs created since the government took power in 2016.

It is negligient on the part of the Government and prime minister to not have acted earlier against the call centres.

For weeks employees of the BPO industry have been crying foul, as the management of the call centres failed to follow protocol as regards the coronavirus pandemic. We saw news highlights even by media personnel at Television Jamaica voicing concerns of the thousands of employees in the industry.

Now we are hearing that less than 72 hours after an employee tested positive at the Portmore BPO, 31 more have been tested positive with one employee critical as he/she is in ICU. We are being told that (unconfirmed) over 500 employees are attached to that BPO. In the face of the embarrassment, Mr Holness has called for the lockdown of St Catherine. This has already called pandemonium in Portmore. Most politicians across the globe will never act until crisis time.

It is now up the prime minister to lockdown all BPO’s that are failing to conform to protocols and are so that Jamaican population will not perish. It’s a damn shame that the government has failed those of us in St Catherine but I now call upon Mr Holness to take action against those remaining BPO’s where workers are crammed next to each other before Jamaica reach crisis point in this pandemic. 

Money and revenue from offshore companies who are run by modern day Absentee owners must not be a priority over the health and welfare of Jamaicans. We recognize and are fully cognizant that the BPO’s ameliorate the economic plights of our poorer masses, but come on, not at the risk of the lives of our people. This is 2020 , not 1820.

So as one Jamaican who grew up in Portmore (Waterford) and whose life was shaped by the hard landscape of Portmore economically and socially I am asking for justice by imploring the PM to take action now!! Do the right thing or history will never forgive you.

I am,

Maurice Christie

Adair Drive, Waterford