The Editor, Sir:

I read the article in The Sunday Gleaner on February 11 about the Cayman situation and I would like to make a few additions, as well as responses.

I am also a Jamaican residing in The Cayman Islands. I am a professional and while I agree with most of the content of the article, there are still some facts that Jamaicans in Jamaica need to know.

First of all, there are not so many Jamaicans here anymore. This is so because many expatriates, especially Jamaicans, are now status holders due to the wisdom(?) of the then Leader of Government Business, McKeeva Bush. (This had cost him leadership of his country in the last election, by the way). These Jamaicans are Caymanians commonly referred to as 'paper Caymanians'.

Fewer Jamaicans

These were probably counted among 11,000 Jamaicans that the gentleman wrote about in the article. So in reality, there are fewer Jamaicans here to date.

Also, quite a few thousands did not have their permits renewed over the past two years and were sent home and replaced by other expatriates from Barbados, India, the Philippines and as far as Japan and other parts of Asia.

Second, like myself, there are many Jamaicans on this island who are professionals. There are teachers, lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, nurses and Jamaicans in almost every professional occupation that you can think of. We are not all helpers, janitors, construction workers, gardeners or unskilled workers as most Caymanians like to believe. Even so, we are all making a positive contribution to this society.

Third, the article gives me the impression that many of the Jamaicans here are treated inhumanely by the Caymanians. The fact is that many of these Caymanians are in fact Jamaicans who have been here for maybe over 15 years and consider themselves Caymanians (forgetting the Jamaican in them).

I am, etc.,

Charm Campbell

Bodden Town

Grand Cayman

Via Go-Jamaica