THE EDITOR, Sir:
I MUST congratulate the Managing Director of BNS Mr. Bill Clarke for standing up and talking the truth when he recently declared Jamaica a failed state. I am particularly proud of the fact that he said it in the presence of some of our political leaders and the fact that he has stood by his statement. Its about time someone at that level who has the moral authority to say it like it is does just that!
I do not care who wants to feel offended but we must call a spade a spade: Jamaica is indeed a failed state! If you walk like a duck, quack like a duck and look like a duck then you must be a duck!
Jamaica has many signs and symptoms of a failed state. Haiti is referred to as a failed state - we will all readily agree. Yet with a much larger population than ours and with problems arising out of dictatorships, overthrows and other uphevals they cannot match us with numbers of murders per annum.
OSTRICH APPROACH
I am sorry for those people among us who seem to have a problem with the truth. Some of us take the ostrich approach when confronted with our realities while some of us are plain hypocrites who are really defending party colours and secure our tenure at the trough in the name of 'patriotism'.
It's unpatriotic to hide the sorry state of affairs of our land, as in doing so we are delaying or preventing rehabilitation or healing. We complain about crime and the economic ruin of our country daily, but refuse to hold accountable those elected servants who have anointed themselves as our masters. We find it hard to digest the fact that we live in a country where the rule of the lawless triumphs over the rule of law. We seem to believe that crime exists in a vacuum and fail to hold political leaders accountable for the role they have played over the years in the growth of crime and violence through political tribalism, garrison politics and corruption.
Imagine, only 47 cents of every dollar spent by government can be accounted for (according to World Bank Reports).
TITLES
Imagine, brand name dons/extortionists/'druggists' being openly affiliated to leading political parties. Imagine, leading elected officials wearing titles of "honourable" attending the funerals of known criminals! And we dare to challenge Mr. Clarke's observations?
The PM's lame defence to the charge of failed state is that banks makes millions of dollars in profits. That's a laugh! Are the dons not making millions out of extortion? There will always be opportunities for even a minority to make loads of money in every country - even Haiti and Zimbabwe. But so what? Can't there be an oasis in a desert? Besides, wasn't it Mr. Patterson's regime which engineered the biggest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich since the abolition of slavery (according to Mr. Ronnie Thwaites)? Didn't the spin-off from those failed policies contribute to the crash of the financial sector and resulting in the few surviving banks making mega profits?
What Jamaica needs is a Truth & Reconciliation Commission so that we can properly assess where we've gone wrong and put ourselves in a better position to put things right.
Let the truth prevail! Well done, Bill Clarke! We need more brave business leaders like you. You are a true patriot.
I am, etc.,
PETER TOWNSEND
petertown1@yahoo.com
6 Cargill Avenue
Kingston 10
