THE EDITOR, Sir:
I JUST want to say that a breath of fresh air is blowing over Jamaica. It is like a call to duty and people with the right vision to steady this ship are making themselves available.
The response by your newspaper in your editorial of April 4, entitled, 'A word of caution' to the Prime Minister's suggestion of putting pastors on statutory boards, is a responsible piece of journalism. The Honourable Madame Prime Minister is well intended in her suggestion, but as a work in progress, she needs mature and quality advice to get her to the finish line. I am of the belief that she is not thin-skinned and will not pretend to know it all, but to realise where she has erred and to make amends.
I would like to draw attention to your brilliant suggestion and I quote, "A better route to pursue, we suggest, is to draw from the broad pool of civil society, people who have no partisan axe to grind and who understand their role and responsibility to the country."
Jamaica needs the best moral minds with the knowledge of how to complete the tasks they will be confronting. I think it would be unwise to put poodles in the yard among the chickens to scare away mongooses.
The Rev. Dr. Paul Gardner in your newspaper April 4 'Letter of the day' also made the point well when he wrote the following, "What we need are not just pastors, but men and women of integrity and probity, lay or ordained. It is naive to believe that one would automatically get this from pastors."
I am sure the Prime Minister is reading.
I am, etc.,
RAY G. STENNETT
ray4rs2000@aol.com
PO BOX 809
Larchmont, New York
Via Go-Jamaica
