THE EDITOR, Sir:
DISMANTLING OR abandoning garrison communities will certainly reduce political tribalism, but how are we going to achieve this? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? I say the abandoning or dismantling of garrison communities, is virtually impossible for a poor country like Jamaica.
Will the dismantling mean moving people out or moving people into these communities? Will the government be expected to relocate these people into suitable communities with better living conditions? Will these 'garrisons' be suitable for living after the dismantling?
What we have to understand with the garrison communities is that they share one thing in common, and that is the plague of poverty in our country. The depraved conditions in Jamaica has created basic needs and the garrison communities have satisfied those needs, at least temporarily. Dismantling or abandoning these communities is a dreamer's solution and is not a realistic approach to repair political tribalism. Calling for the abandoning or dismantling of garrison communities is a far-fetched approach by people who do not understand the mechanisms that enable these communities to exist.
Another approach to repairing the political tribalism in our country is for the government to give people a sense of hope and an opportunity to improve their standard of living. The government can help to get rid of the garrison mentality by creating jobs, and improving the quality of life for everyone including the people who live in garrison communities. If this is achieved, what we would eventually see is the trickling of people from these garrisons into better communities in pursuing a better way of life, once they have developed the means to do so. This is not an overnight fix and is not accomplished by waving a magic wand.
People live in these communities because they cannot afford to live elsewhere. With all the crime and violence in these communities, you would think that there would be a daily exodus of people from these communities, but this is not the case. Instead, the implications are that the people who live in these communities, maybe except for a few, cannot afford to live elsewhere with the means they have.
I am etc.,
TENSON G ROBINSON
tenson@tbus.thmulti.com
San Jose, CA
Via Go-Jamaica
