The Editor, Sir:

As an 18-year-old student, I consider myself as being very young, in terms of my experiences in Jamaican politics. Recently, however, I was finally able to read the dramatic novel, Born Fi Dead, by Lauren Gunst, who studied Jamaican posses and their link to politics back in the 1970s and 1980s.

And honestly, I was shocked! It opened my eyes to the decades of garrison politics between the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party.

This begs the question, can Jamaica ever be rid of such a situation? There is no doubt that a majority of Jamaicans, especially in the inner-city communities, still thrive on the existence of 'dons' or 'area leaders', who supposedly protect the people from enemies, such as their opposing political colleagues, and oftentimes even protect the Members of Parliament whenever they're in the areas.

Have Jamaicans stopped to look and realise that many of these 'dons' are nothing more than cold-blooded, hard-core criminals who are being backed by many of our politicians? That is why I was more than elated to see that Mrs. Simpson Miller mentioned in her party's manifesto freeing vulnerable communities from the rule of the 'dons' as a route of action to be undertaken by the justice system.

It is time that Jamaicans put a stop to this garrison, blood-shedding politics!

I am, etc.,

TAMARA McKAYLE

tnstarz24@yahoo.com

Ocho Rios P.O., St. Ann

Via Go-Jamaica