We confess, sadly, to not being surprised at the apparent loss of much of the archives of the defunct Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC). Nor are we surprised at the seeming lack of national outrage at the loss and muted response by officialdom.

This is not because we are cynical. This is what has become the nature of things in Jamaica, about which we so often rage.

Jamaicans speak often about their history and culture and declare monuments to their past. But it is mostly all too glib; done for the moment, therefore lacking in fixity and sustained effort.

So, the disappearance of much of the JBC archives - hundreds of vinyl records and thousands of hours of recordings on magnetic tape - has its equivalent in its treatment of national monuments and shrines to the memories of respected or revered personalities.

Take the National Heroes Park and National Heroes Circle. The apologists like to remind us that the National Heroes Park, where monuments celebrate the country's national heroes, is really only a small and relatively decently kept portion of the larger surrounding oval.

But this explanation misses the point, and it dishonours the heroes. For the monuments are not ends in themselves - mere reminders of dead people. Rather, these monuments are to life. They speak to Jamaicans, or so we hope, of the contributions of those we honour; providing inspiration for present and future generations.

The physical environment should assist in this reflection. In this context, it cannot be worthy that a footstep from the National Park are unkempt, scrabbled patches or an asphalted, though rutted car park, for some ministry that appropriated the space.

Nor, it appears, is anyone ashamed that a park in Half-Way Tree named for Nelson Mandela is really a dirty, urinated concrete insult to Mandela. Or that the St. William Grant Park in downtown Kingston, which honours an important labour leader, and guarded at its north and south gates by statues of National Heroes Norman Manley and Alexander Bustamante, is in an even worse state.

But what can we expect when those who crow loudest about being guardians of the legacy of heroes cannot maintain their own shrines to their heroes?

Norman Manley founded the People's National Party. Next door to its headquarters is a mini park of murals, dedicated to Manley, his son and successor. That park is in a sorry state of disrepair, perhaps reflective, as some cynics might claim, of the current state of the party.

In case of the JBC archives, however, the issue is sad and grave for what it suggests about institutional management. The lost archives stored at the old JBC buildings, were under the 'watch', if not the formal management, of the National Archives.

The public would also have heard earlier reports a few years ago of archived material - such as tapes with recordings of the famous Ring Ding television programmes hosted by cultural icon Louise Bennett-Coverley - being reused thereby destroying the original material.

Clearly, the National Archives could not have been watching if the files were removed somewhere between 2004 and 2007 without anyone knowing. But that sums up too many institutions in Jamaica.