Dear Editor,

The corruption crescendo now rocking the Andrew Holness-led Administration is an instructive reminder that if something is not done by either the Government or the general populace then the very survival of Jamaica as a democracy will be under severe threat.

No country, however stable socially and economically, can reasonably and sustainably withstand fighting a pandemic and persistent corruption in governance at the same time.

To make matters worse, and indeed frightening, is that the US Embassy in Kingston issued a statement that private sector leaders are now in their cross hairs as it relates to corruption and illegal activities. To even think that some of these private sector leaders have been funding political parties is even a greater cause for concern.

The situation in our Government, in which some six ministries and their ministers have been brought into question for acts of corruption, impropriety, nepotism, and other questionable practices is disheartening.

Our mainstream political commentators, for some unknown reason, are running the narrative, and falsely so, that corruption is not a concern for the Jamaican people. What I would wish for them to do is to speak for themselves and not for the rest of us Jamaicans who are concerned. Their narrative can give comfort to Andrew Holness, who continues to reassign his ministers when the heat is on — a mere slap on the wrist action. If one looks seriously at the levels and acts of corruption in this Administration it would appear as if some of these ministers and public officials have been working from a template.

These questionable acts are at the heart of what is supposed to induce national growth.

We have a more concerned electorate in Jamaica and the world today. Just take a look at how people around the world are reacting to social, political, and economic imbalances affecting their lives.

Fernandez Smith

Former Jamaica Labour Party councillor

fgeesmith@yahoo.com