Dear Editor,

On March 28, 2022, during the 6 am newscast, I heard an item of news on the radio that left me speechless.

Believing that I hadn’t heard properly, I listened to the subsequent newscast at 7 am and heard it again. It was reported that a senator was calling for the Noise Abatement Act to be suspended, ostensibly so that players in the entertainment sector could make some money and recover from the ravages of the novel coronavius pandemic.

Now, I would ask the goodly senator why stop at the entertainment sector? Every other sector has suffered similarly at the hands of pandemic, so why not suspend all the laws of the land and allow a free for all so that all and sundry can recover?

Let robot taxis operate with impunity, allow gunmen to have free reign to rob and steal, allow the power company to double the light bills, allow businesses to price gouge, etc.

Is this really the best and brightest that the country has to offer in the way of leadership? Could my tax dollars really be used to pay people for ideas and suggestions such as this?

To be honest, I would prefer it be used to buy Cash Pot or Lotto. Did anyone challenge the bright senator on the issue?

I should not have been surprised, however, because just scant months ago another senator and colleague of his was advocating for a reduction of the time it took for squatters to be able to claim government land. Squatting is essentially taking land that belongs to others, so what that senator was calling for was a shorter time to legitimise squatting. Incredible, but true.

The only rationale I could come up with for the senator making such a hare-brained suggestion is for its shock value, so as to generate some public relations for his flagging fortunes. Could he really have been serious?

Tian Qi’s, China’s ambassador to Jamaica, tour has ended, and I can just imagine some of the tales he has to relate to his countrymen about Jamaica. It should make for interesting reading should he decide to put pen to paper.

Coretta Burgess

corettaburgess@yahoo.com