[OPINIONS]:::PNPYO blast JLP-lead administration

No. 55 Wednesday, February 17, 2010
[POSTED BY::: Chevan Maxwell] We found it very astounding that us as Jamaicans are sitting down, watching Mr. Bruce Golding and his cabinet reduce this country to rubble. In early 2007, with the prolonged advertisements going around implying that the Jamaica Labour Party will bring hope to this country, many persons were bemused and decided to join their band wagon.

   On September 3, 2007, victory for the Labourites was inevitable. The Honourable Bruce Golding, as he intentionally called himself, was the prime minister of Jamaica, installing the largest cabinet in the history of the Caribbean. With promises such as: 'jobs jobs jobs', free health care and free education, now free tuition, for the vast majority, they were highly anticipated. Bruce Golding on the other hand wasted no time and put into practice his outlandish promises.
   Today, we have seen a completely different picture in terms of hope for Jamaica. It is hard for us as Jamaican to be saying this, but it is the hard and fast truth, "Jamaica is like a chicken whose neck was cut off and it is there flattering all over the place."
   This is an uncaring, heartless and callus government. We never thought we would be walking in the streets and hear so many people crying. What happen to the Jamaica that is 'too blessed to be stressed, too rich to be restricted'? What we are seeing is the other way around, where we are too stressed to be blessed and too restricted to be rich.
   We cannot fathom a government that cannot implement policies and strategies that will yield progress in infrastructural development and social stability, create opportunities for the young people and establishing jobs for the working class. Instead, we are seeing baseless and senseless implementations that are only costing taxpayers more than what they can afford.
   To substantiate, we want to highlight two of the most irresponsible actions taken by this government. When we are going to have a government who is selling their airline and paying another airline to fly to their country, it is a clear indication that there is a lack of vision and the tenacity to make fruitful decisions that will benefit the country economically without imposing excessive burden on the pockets of the taxpayers and finally, when we are going to have a government that is paying $15,100,000 to one person to oversee a commission for 70 in a time that calls for lesser spending, then we know we face a serious problem.
   We PNPYO have lost that trust for the government. "Mr. Driver, we are willing to refund our tickets and come off this bus ... We believe two things, it is either this bus will break down along the way or we are heading over a precipice." We don't intend to see you destroy our country Mr. Golding and we are calling up on you to hear our cry and attend unto our calls.
   We are asking that you stop making decisions based on political expedience, stop being a dictator, stop putting us deeper into the ground. We feel as if enough is enough, we feel as if we have reach a point where we are suffocating. Start indulging the private sector, the youths and the opposition, you are not too big to learn, let us unite and put back Jamaica in a position that we can help ourselves.
   We challenge you that if you create more employment that you will see a reduction in crime and violence, we challenge you that if you create more opportunities for the young people, you see will see a rise in local production, we challenge you, that if you raise the tuition fee for tertiary education you will be faced with more social problems the books wrote about and we also challenge you that if you start making some substantial decision in this country, then you will see a better Jamaica.
   We want a comfortable Jamaica to call our home and the onus is on you Mr. Golding to ensure that we have a comfortable Jamaica where we can get health care service, educational opportunities and job opportunities. Give us that sense of identity now, so we don't have to wait until our backs are against the walls before we take the time out to catch up on ourselves.