The Editor, Sir:

During the last 40 years, we have steadily fallen behind the rest of the world in our development .

We are all aware of the positive impact that Jamaicans have made in the area of sports and music worldwide. We are also aware that when Jamaicans emigrate we perform at the same level or better than the rest of the population of the country in which we are living. I spent 11 years working both in the UK and the USA and concluded that we are equal to people in those countries.

So, the question that we ask ourselves is, why can't we perform as a people in our own country? Why do we have one of the worst performing economies in the Caribbean?

The immediate thought that comes to mind is the impact of the high crime rate and high level of corruption. This hurts local business and creates a poor investment climate that prevents potential overseas investors from coming here. But, there is more. I believe that our expectations of ourselves and our standards are terribly low. Unfortunately, successive Governments fail to address this by providing a positive role model for the country and establishing high standards for the country to follow.

Attitude

The other day a bus tried to bore in front of me after illegally passing a long line of stationary traffic. When I would not let him through, the conductor let off a stream of bad words, and stated that the big man was not allowing a hustler to have a chance. This thought process pervades the psyche. Consider also, the recent protest by residents of Retirement in St James due to the JPS crackdown on electricity theft. The persons involved in the above incidents would never consider such behaviour if they lived in the US. It would not be tolerated by either the general population or the police. This behaviour is not limited to the poor of Jamaica. Big businesses and politicians will also try to get away with activities, which are unacceptable in the First World.

I believe that the difference is in our attitude, which, in turn, is based on education and culture. We generally fail in the following areas - poor ethics; lack of integrity; little respect for law and rules; little respect for the rights of our fellow man; little regard for timekeeping; poor attitude towards work.

We lack the will to comply with and teach these fundamental principles, which are followed by developed countries. I believe that the people who seek elected office and lead the country should be the ones, who should seek to change the attitude of the people and ensure that law and order is maintained. They should set the standards, by their own behaviour, for others to follow. In addition, the Government should ensure that we have a civil service and judiciary operating at a high standard and is truly accountable to the people. In other words, it should be really easy to do business with the various government agencies so that we do not have to 'pay a money' to get something done.

Unless we can aspire to a new breed of politician, who really puts the country first, before party, we will fall further and further behind the rest of the world.

I am, etc.,

JOHN MAHFOOD

John.Mahfood@yahoo.com