Creating new pain for Ja
published: Friday | April 25, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
ON THE matter of the new budget projections for the upcoming fiscal year, I couldn't help but notice the jovial mood that seemed evident in the parliament chamber. At least from the pictures in The Gleaner. It is good to know that with the seriousness of the current state of affairs in Jamaica, some people can be of such good cheer when presented with the news from the Minister of Finance.
For the upcoming year, the matter of war comes to mind. In a war when the general and his troops are faced with the same predicament of having to kill or be killed, if all of the troops and the general are fighting for the same goals, they will all fight together to the last man. The fight will be even more desperate if the fight is for the survival of a hard won cause. I sense that in Jamaica, the politicians, their friends and the merchant class are all safe from additional GCT, additional costs for consumer goods needed to survive. They have all also made sure they had the additional money to pay the additional cost of living occasioned by the new taxes, by giving themselves pay raises.
It appears to me that they are not in this fight with the rest of Jamaica to remove this albatross of debt now strangling the economy, but fat generals sitting on the sidelines pushing their fat around. That is really too bad and in this time when we are facing what is our biggest challenge as a nation, and on being independent locally and globally.
It strikes me that we have no leaders that can galvanise the great resource of Jamaican ingenuity, motivate Jamaican hard work, encourage Jamaican humour, or recognise Jamaican perseverance. There is no one that can heal the great divide created to serve political parties, or that of servants needed only for service. We only seem to have leaders that know how to create more Jamaican pain.
