Recently the British Broadcasting Corporation conducted a worldwide poll on what has made the foremost contribution to world public health in the last 150 years. The consensus was surprising having nothing dealing directly to health science, but was simply good plumbing, sanitation, and clean water.

Here in Jamaica the deficiency and misery of good plumbing, sanitation, and clean water is well known; and the recent malaria outbreak bears testimony to this. This should be a message that we need eternal vigilance in keeping our gullies, sewerage, sidewalks, ponds, rivers etc, clean and in good order. I see no reason, for instance, that studies cannot be prepared to apply for international donor funding to clean up the pollution in Kingston Harbour and to make the beaches within recreation-friendly.

- Winston Tai, Kingston

Everyone goes on about corruption in Jamaica, but I think the reasons are very obvious.

Too much red tape, too many long lines and queues, too many forms to fill in which we have to pay for, offices are usually hot and oppressing leading to frustration, tempers and hopelessness.

Too many times we are told 'come back tomorrow as the person dealing with your application is on day off'. What, even when we travelled up today from Montego Bay? Is that person indispensable, what if she was off sick?

Everywhere you go you meet rudeness from the government workers who should be assisting you. I suppose they are tired and fed up also from tedious form-filling and lack of job satisfaction.

The PM and her Cabinet need to take a reality check!