Every year millions of visitors come to Jamaica to “feel all right”. Jamaica, “no problem, mon”, “irie”. To most of them, this island in the sun is paradise and, yes, it is, but do most Jamaicans feel the same about their homeland?

In a March 20 press release, it was stated that Jamaica had failed to advance in its ranking on the World Happiness Report, “falling five places on the 2023 report, ranking 68th out of 137 countries featured in its latest report. This placement was a marked decline in the country’s ranking in comparison to the year before when it ranked 63 out of 146 countries globally, thus giving it a relatively positive rating. Interestingly, only Jamaica and the Dominican Republic were highly ranked in the Caribbean region. Jamaica secured the best ranking, with a 5.703 score out of a potential 10 points ahead of the Dominican Republic, which ranked 73 on the list, with 5.569 points.

According to that organisation, the level of happiness of countries globally was measured based on a life evaluation scale from zero (negative effect) to 10 (positive effect). European countries dominated the list as being the happiest countries globally. Finland secured the number-one spot on the list for the sixth consecutive year, with a 7.804 score. Finland was followed closely by Denmark with a score of 7.586, Iceland (7.530), Israel (7.473), and the Netherlands (7.403) completing the top spots.

But while this “perception survey” may bring some amount of comfort level to the nation, a close look at what is happening in the wider society provides a stark contrast. For starters, coming out of the COVID-19 experience, it has been found that many Jamaicans have continued to suffer from depression, acute anxiety, and “feeling down”. In addition, the crime scourge has created a great deal of fear and trepidation, and an example of this has been the increase in gated communities as well as the proliferation of security entities and other responses, as the popular saying “Trust no shadow after dark” has become cripplingly real.

There is also the growing spectre of drug abuse, especially among young Jamaicans, and one suspects that many of them want to “forget their troubles and dance”.

One is not here trying to paint a picture of doom and gloom, but outside of the scenario aforementioned, there is also the increasing phenomenon of “the angry Jamaican” or as celebrated dancehall artiste Bounty Killer has put it in his frequently quoted lyrics: “cross, angry, miserable”. This high level of antisocial behaviour, further exemplified by the number of sociopaths and psychopaths proliferating in the society, speaks to the frequency of domestic violence and internecine warfare among gangs, families, and communities that pervade the Jamaican landscape night and day.

In the very final analysis, Prime Minister Andrew Holness must be a very worried man when he sees what is happening in his beloved country, where prosperity has been his buzzword. After all, he has so far admitted that there are a number of pain points that have been plaguing citizens of the country, especially those in the middle and lower classes. It is no secret that the elephant in the room, inflation, has been ravaging households, in terms of food prices, transportation costs, and just general spending. The arduous task of trying to make ends meet, more so in a case of the “hand-to-mouth” survival mode, has added fuel to the fire and so the level of anger is played out daily in homes, schools, workplaces, and public spaces, not to mention on our roads.

Then there is the frequency of traffic accidents as taxi and bus drivers hustling to make a quick buck operate recklessly on our roads, overtaking, going through red lights, speeding, and committing just about every possible infarction, worse now that the Government has decided to postpone the new rate increases. Add the vexing and perennial matter of bad roads, many of which are dusty and pothole riddled, and it can be understood why there are so many angry Jamaicans out there. Surely the Holness Administration must be acutely aware that citizens are fast reaching a boiling point.

In the meantime, the ongoing islandwide water crisis, further exacerbated by the searing drought now affecting most of the island, speaks to the failure of successive governments to effectively deal with the issue of providing this vital commodity to the general citizenry. It boggles the mind that Jamaica, which originally got its name from its early inhabitants, the Arawak Indians, who dubbed it “the land of wood and water”, continues to suffer from a lack of adequate supplies of this life-giving substance. The peripatetic water minister, Matthew Samuda, who has been criss-crossing the island in a bid to provide more of this precious liquid in community pipes has his work cut out for him, and Prime Minister Holness and his Cabinet need to take a more comprehensive and proactive approach to this perennial crisis, especially within the context of climate change and the potential threat to the island’s food security.

With the Government suffering from a serious trust deficit as citizens continue to express disgust at the high level of corruption and bad governance that is now reaching a chronic point (just follow what is being expressed on various social media platforms), one wonders when the nation’s “pressure pipe will buss”? Now is not the time for cheap and fatuous politicking. Many Jamaicans are not just hungry for want of regular water supply; better roads; a more acceptable cost of living index, with inflation being tamed; a substantial reduction in crime and violence; a dramatic return to law and order on our roads and in public spaces; and fewer road accidents, just to mention a few of the pain points, they are hungry for good governance and a Government that truly cares, not one that is arrogant and seems to think that slick public relations gimmickry and obfuscation can tame the angry mob. Lest we forget, as the saying goes, “A hungry man is an angry man!”

One only has to take a look at what is happening in Haiti, our closest neighbour, and “tek sleep mark death”! Enough said.

Lloyd B Smith has been involved in Jamaican media for the past 48 years. He has served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.