LEFT: David Fyffe ... lived in England for 30 years. RIGHT: Jasemine Pottinger, president of the National Association of Returning Residents. - Photos by Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

Howard Campbell, Sunday Gleaner Writer

JAMAICA WAS still a British territory when many of its young packed their 'grips' and left for the 'Mother Country'. Hundreds have returned to their homeland in the last 10 years, and life has been generally good, some say, at times, it has been tough adjusting.

Rampant criminality and poor social services are the biggest problems for David Fyffe, a Mandeville resident, who returned to Jamaica in 1998 after 30 years of living in Harrow, Middlesex.

Tremendous problems

"In Ingleside, we are having tremendous problems. There are a host of crimes that have been committed with people being held up and houses being emptied," he said during a Gleaner Editors' Forum held recently in Manchester.

"Law and order doesn't seem to function, you have taxis driving through communities at great speed; roads are in disrepair; fire hydrants have been abandoned," he added. "It just seems as if chaos is the order of the day."

Ivy Wilson lived for 38 years in London, 31 of those working in the British prison system. Wilson told the forum that she was the only one of 16 siblings who lived in England, so coming home to family in 1999 was a "bonus" after three decades in a "stressful" job.

Since her return, she said charity work in her native St. Elizabeth has taken up much of her time. "At the moment, we are doing a lot of work for Black River Hospital. We go into the communities and take on projects and try to do what we can," she said. "We are not just here to sit down, where we can assist, we do."

Varying complaints

Jasemine Pottinger, president of the National Association of Returning Residents, came back to Jamaica in 1996, 33 years after leaving for England. She said the complaints from her members vary, from struggling with record levels of crime, to dealing with unscrupulous building contractors. For the most part, she is glad to be home; her biggest problems are usually minor matters.

"I think the worst thing for me is going to the bank and waiting, the slow pace," she said. "I had to learn to be patient."