Many Jamaicans are angry! So much so that many of them, especially young men, as Bob Marley once sang, are “wearing a permanent screw”.

On the roads, at work, in bars, at parties, in communities, and at sports events colourful Jamaican expletives as well as abusive language are exchanged with unbounded frequency. Needless to say, many of these verbal clashes oftentimes lead to physical confrontations involving weapons, such as knives, machetes, and guns. The potent question that may well be asked, therefore, is: What the hell is happening to us as a people?

One view that has been expressed is that this may be a post-COVID-19 phenomenon, others posit that it is as a result of the food that many Jamaicans are eating, while there is also the contention that excessive ganja smoking as well as frequent imbibing of alcohol mixed with certain energy-boosting drinks may have added to this volatile state of affairs in a country where domestic violence is extremely prevalent. Then, too, it is to be noted that murders have increasingly taken on a most ominous trend as double and triple killings are fast becoming the common practice among hoodlums, not to mention the level of savagery!

Meanwhile, there are more questions than answers. Is it in the water that we drink? Is there too much sugar in the blood as Jamaicans love to swallow “sweet drinks” as well as eat a variety of sugary foods? Some in despair have gone as far as to suggest that it all goes back to the slave trade when our black ancestors were subject to such brutal treatment that the anger is now embedded in our DNA.

In the meantime, from all indications, there is widespread depression as well as repressed anger in the society, primarily brought about by the social as well as physical environments in which so many Jamaicans are forced to exist because, to some extent, of successive governments’ ineptitude in dealing with the eroding quality of life of the average Jamaican.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has obviously become aware of this dire situation; hence, he has now began pontificating about the “pain points” that his Administration will be seeking to address. The problem is that his posturing has been more talk than action.

And what are some of these pain points? Reggae artiste Tony Rebel puts it succinctly in his song: “What a nice place fi live, sweet Jamdung; the only problem is dollars nah run!” As if the cost of dying is not overly expensive in this country, it is the high cost of living that is literally “killing” people.

The Government and its well-fed apologists continue to spout about the increasingly low employment rate, but that is poppycock because, for one thing, the relatively low salaries cannot make most of those gainfully employed people go to the supermarket, market, or corner shop without groaning because of the high prices they have to pay for foodstuff.

Inflation and the high level of food importation have caused food prices to skyrocket out of the control of the consumer and, to date, the Government appears to be hapless in dealing with this vexing situation. The bottom line is that many Jamaicans are going to be hungry at nights or malnourished.

Another pain point is the wretched state of many of the roads commuters have to traverse daily and nightly. This writer has repeatedly written about the numerous pothole-riddled roads all over the island and there seems to be no end in sight in dealing with this hazardous situation.

The bittersweet irony is that Prime Minister Holness so frequently boasts about the added infrastructure with which his Administration is gracing the island’s topography, but while taxpayers’ money is being used to build these highways, we have to turn around and pay excessive tolls and at the same time the cost of constantly repairing our vehicles as well as the potential for loss of lives on the other pothole-infested roads out there leaves John Public in a catch-22 situation. Why can’t there be an ongoing road maintenance programme? Why do most roads only get attention when elections are on the horizon?

Then there is the dehumanising transportation system, which is yet another pain point. Surely this remains one of the most corrupt, disorganised, and visionless sectors in the nation’s government structure. And now there is talk about fare increases! Let’s face it, in every modern, well-run country, a public transportation system is a must. It is well known that such a system rarely makes a profit but it is incumbent on the State to ensure that workers, students, and the general citizenry (including the disabled) are able to comfortably, and at a reasonable cost, get from point A to point B on time. To put it bluntly, the failure of successive administrations to come up with a reliable, affordable, and safe public transportation system is one of the abject failures of independent Jamaica.

Other pain points are a health system, which, despite all the public relations campaigns embarked on by the Dr Christopher Tufton-led Ministry of Health and Wellness, remains in dire straits, especially when it comes to patient care and the physical conditions of our beleaguered hospitals; the breakdown in law and order, which has led to a high level of indiscipline, crass and crude behaviour, as well as intolerance and disrespect among citizens; the whopping salary increases to parliamentarians while other public sector workers are being urged to hold strain and ban their bellies; the arrogance and uncaring posture of the Government as perceived by the general citizenry, in terms of how State affairs are being handled, including the case of the “Celebrated Six” who are being investigated by the Integrity Commission for alleged illicit gains, the SSL debacle, and the widening gap between the rich and the poor — all of these pain points combined are making Jamaicans more and more angry.

In the final analysis, our politicians have also become pain points by virtue of their behaviour in and outside of Parliament, because even as they fight for the power and the glory, Jah kingdom is going to waste.

Jamaicans are in captivity because of these many pain points. Is there a Moses out there, somewhere? Is there a balm in Gilead to heal this sin-sick nation? Jamaicans are hungry for meaningful and lasting changes, and “a hungry man is an angry man”.

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full time in Jamaican media for the past 47 years. He has also 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.