The Editor, Sir:

I support the call from a female motorist in the Letters to the Editor of Saturday, April 21, for a programme to address the removal of windscreen wipers from all traffic light intersections of not just Kingston and St. Andrew but throughout the country. I believe the situation which could be seen as an employment solution for young people who are desperate to earn an honest living can also be a dangerous one for both motorist (especially more vulnerable females) and wiper.

As a woman motorist I have been subjected to verbal abuse and attempted damage to my vehicle. Not all women are passive victims however, as I remember the incident reported in the press some time ago of a woman motorist who leapt out of her car to defend herself from a young but aggressive wiper, wielding to his shock, her menacing machete. Luckily life and limb were saved but unluckily for her she was charged.

I have also heard testimony of a wiper who was knifed by male motorists who allegedly were seeking services the wiper was unprepared to provide.

Please, authorities, let us not wait for the death of either motorist or wiper for us to know that this is, not an acceptable solution to Jamaica's employment problem. There is, of course, the deeper issue of not just removing the wipers but also putting in place programmes to address their poverty, unemployment and, for some, homeless state.

I am, etc.,

PATRICIA E.N. DONALD

patdonald@yahoo.com

Kingston 6

Via Go-Jamaica