Dear Editor,

It is guinep season in my area, and the thought came to mind that many politicians are like guinep trees.

All guinep trees bloom, but the male guinep tree does not bear fruit. Most politicians are like the male guinep tree; they bloom — they have lots of talk, making promises they know they can’t keep or have no intention of keeping, hoping that promises made will go the way of the usual nine-day wonder — but bear no fruit.

With that said, I want to highlight one politician that stands out. Floyd Green, the minister of agriculture and fisheries, is one man that could not be likened to a male guinep tree. His words mean something; they bear fruit. He follows through on his promises. For example, on one of his many “get acquainted” tours as minister, he promised fishermen in south Clarendon, who have been experiencing challenges with finding space on the fishing beach to store their boats, that he would expand the waterway by removing silt deposits. Through his efforts, the fishermen now have more space, even though much more work is needed.

He also promised to give some COVID-19 relief to the fishermen and he did. We are now awaiting the roll-out of a promised enforcement team, what I call fish wardens, to monitor fishing beaches to combat infractions. That, we are told, is in the pipeline. I hope he will see it fit to set up fish warden enforcement teams on every beach in Jamaica.

As I see it, Minister Green bears fruit; he is one hard-working minister that keeps his promises. He is no ‘man guinep’.

Authnel S Reid

reidaut@icloud.com