The need for the sugar industry

I wonder how much comfort one can take from the Prime Minister’s announcement of the intention of government to conclude the divestment of the government’s interest in the sugar industry by June 2008. History has shown us that divestment is not necessarily a solution.
The matter of the mammoth accumulated losses incurred by this entity must be a matter of serious concern to everyone. However the critical importance of this entity in the economic and social fabric of the nation must be factored in any proposed solution to the sugar production in this country.

Any simplistic quick fix solution will not work and almost certainly will eventually have disastrous impact on the society. There are some facts that we must face squarely Jamaica needs the sugar industry

Jamaica cannot afford the losses being incurred by an inefficiently operated industry
A change of ownership is no substitute for proper management and adequate investment capital required for modernization of the industry

How are we to be assured that in our haste to get rid of the sector, the errors of past divestments are not repeated?

Not the time
The lessons learnt from the previous divestments of JOS, Air Jamaica, The Sugar Company of Jamaica should be sufficient to induce caution rather than haste in dealing with entities of such importance to the economy. The current and projected dynamics of the international energy sector will make its impact upon the sugar cane industry. It will not be long before sugar price will rise again.

Now is not the time to divest the sugar industry. Now is the time to reorganise and invest in the sugar cane industry. In the life of a nation, five years is not a long time. I must seriously ask, “How far ahead are we looking, when we contemplate hasty divestment of the sugar industry?” In five years when sugar price will once more be very attractive, we could be buyers rather than sellers of sugar.

While I will concede that the government does not have the cash to invest, I think with the proper business plan the required capital can be obtained. Quite often we borrow for house keeping. What is wrong with borrowing to invest in production? What would prevent floating shares to the public after producing a prospectus based upon the reorganised industry.

No sale
Of course, the cost of reorganisation must be included in the public’s invitation to participate. I have no doubt that the economy would be positively enhanced if we were to optimize the production of cane from the existing areas under production and make the required investment in modernizing the sugar extraction process. The overall efficiency of the industry must be improved.

The Jamaican economy requires that that the sugar cane industry be reorganized, including rationalization and diversification. Divestment in particular freehold sale of these large tracks of productive lands can have disastrous consequences if these lands fall in the wrong hands.

To protect the nation’s interest, there should be a NO SALE policy for publicly owned agricultural lands. Such lands should be leased with conditions requiring the lessor’s permission for any change of use of the lands. In a fast changing world, the protection and proper utilization of arable lands will become more and more important.

Lucius C. White
Tankerville
Kingston

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Of reckless parenting and Rev Roper

Most recently, Prime Minister Bruce Golding scholarly and correctly enunciated that reckless parenting significantly contributed to Jamaica’s crime problems because the country’s young men were not being brought up properly hence, they have turned to a life of criminality, thus wreaking havoc upon and across the entire country. Mr Golding publicly and eruditely stated that because of this reckless parenting the country was unfortunately producing a factory of criminals faster than they are apprehended and brought before the courts.

How could any honest, decent and intellectually thinking Jamaican citizen residing in this country, disagree with such a forthright, dispassionate and honest prime ministerial statement? Well, I was extremely shocked and amazed when on December 31, 2007, I heard Sunday Herald columnist and co-host of News Talk 93 FM’s evening current affairs programme, ‘The Evening Edition’, Rev. Garnett Roper sarcastically and harshly criticizing Prime Minister Golding for using the term reckless parenting.

According to Rev. Roper the Prime Minister was rudely, crudely, disrespectfully and disgracefully talking down to the Jamaican people and concomitantly Mr. Golding was insulting the lower class of the Jamaican society.

Rev. Roper stated that Prime Minister Golding was showing no respect for the ordinary Jamaican citizens who are parents. And that Mr. Golding should be responsible by apoligising to the Jamaican people for that reprehensible and disgusting term reckless parenting and its so-called contribution to Jamaica’s crime problems.

Flabbergasted
When I heard Rev. Roper’s comments I was most certainly shocked and bewildered, to put it bluntly. Also, similarly shocked and flabbergasted to the highest level like myself was political commentator and newspaper columnist, Kevin O’Brien Chang who was a guest on the said radio programme.

How on God’s earth could Rev. Roper be condemning Prime Minister Golding’s statement of reckless parenting as talking down to the Jamaican people. The incontrovertible fact is that a gargantuan amount of reckless parenting has and is lavishly taking place all across the country. Consequently, this is causing many misguided and uneducated young men to turn to criminality as a means of survival — quite unfortunately and distressing. It is a fact that a large number of youngsters across the country are scandalously being brought and grown up in a most reckless manner by parents for a huge number of reasons and this sad situation is a major contributory factor to the widespread criminality problems throughout the country.

The Prime Minister is bang on target and absolutely correct when he states that reckless parenting is immensely and prodigiously contributing to the country’s devastating crime problems. A majority of parents in this country are irresponsible, careless and reckless when carrying out their parental duties and responsibilities and that is why, there are so many youngsters getting involved in criminal activities throughout the country.

Many parents in this country blatantly ignore their parental duties and they have very little care and concern for their children; some of these parents are only concerned about having the most expensive clothes and jewellery. To hell, with their children!

Deteriorating
Another major problem with parenting in this country is the fact that many of these mothers and fathers are ruthless, uncaring and grossly irresponsible in their cardinal parenting duties and obligations that they give up their children and callously send them to their grandparents, aunts, uncles, great grandfathers and mothers and cousins. And thereafter, these same children grow up without their birth parents and are grown with very little supervision and are allowed to be a law unto themselves.

These same children do poorly in school and thereafter in coming years they engage in gang related activities and become savage, brutal and barbaric criminals. If people are not willing to take the direct responsibility to meticulously, personally and carefully bring up their children in their homes, then they must not have children. Do you understand that, Rev. Roper? The parenting structure in Jamaica has massively deteriorated over the past 20 years and that is why the society is manufacturing so much young criminals than can be apprehended by the police. Please be fair, balanced and intelligent and understand that fact, Rev. Roper.

Do not be hypocritical, partisan and intellectually shallow in your reasoning, Rev. Roper. Prime Minister Golding is unambiguously correct, truthful and honest when he stated that reckless parenting is a major contributory factor to Jamaica’s dangerously ever increasing crime rate. Parents who neglect their children are creating the fertile and appropriate ground for them to become vicious criminals and this situation is becoming worse on a yearly basis thus, this country is now in a parental and crime crisis, to the country’s detriment.

As Kevin Chang so rightly articulated on Rev. Roper’s current affairs programme, Roper is being simplistic, profoundly unfair and rather absurd when he arrogantly castigates the Prime Minister for speaking the truth, as it relates to the reckless parenting issue. He outrightly and forthrightly dismissed Rev. Roper’s statement that when Prime Minister Golding stated that reckless parenting was a major cause for some for the country’s crime and murder problems, he (Golding) was talking down to a certain class of the Jamaican society. Well, that is a ludicrous, flawed and silly argument from Rev. Roper, a supposedly intelligent and major commentator in this country.

If this reckless parenting issue is not prudently and appropriately dealt with in this country, if parents don’t become responsible, then more and more young men will turn to criminal activities across the country. Please understand that fact, Rev. Roper. I have studied sociology and psychology and you have also done so. Please do not earnestly try to tear down and lambaste Prime Minister Golding when he speaks the truth about reckless parenting and its direct link to criminality in this country, Rev. Roper.

Do the honourable, decent and respectable thing and immediately withdraw your frivolous and unfair comments of the Prime Minister. Broad thinking minds recognize their mistakes and apologize, shallow and warped minds refuse to do so.

Robert Dalley, executive Chairman and Certified Drug Rehabilitation Specialist at the Narcotics Information Centre of St. James.

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The rule of the oligarchies

I congratulate Mr. Errol Ennis for his excellent article “The Rule of the Oligarchies” in your paper dated December 30, 2007.

We go through a democratic process and pretend that democracy has been achieved. The oligarchies hijack democracy by buying out either of the parties. The whole issue of party funding is premised on which one of the parties is more willing to succumb to the dictates of the oligarchies. Those who pay the piper are now going to call all the tunes. The only democracy that exists is among the oligarchies.

Despite the ingrained lack of self-worth and identity crisis of the Jamaican masses, I sense a new awakening among them, which says it is not going to be business as usual. To some extent this is being played out in the “Cash Plus” issue.

The oligarchies most important function is to expand and strengthen their strangle hold on the economy. Very interesting times are ahead.
Wayne Coke
6 Tontine Place
Kingston 20

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Tribalism

Tribalism has taken over the world. In Kenya, because Kikuyu is the current prime minister, his tribe is getting a lot of flack from the other tribes. In the Middle East, the tribes of the Israelis and the Palestinians, cannot sit together as decent human beings and try to solve their problems.

This tribalism is also going on in Europe and in the Latin American countries. What a wonderful world it could be if every human being in the world could speak to each other in a language that is known by all of us.

Many, many years ago, a language called Esperanto was suggested as the universal language, but this has not happened and we all speak in the language of the Tower of Babel.

I remember a vivid story of the Second World War and on Christmas Day when the antagonists (The Allies and the Germans) faced each other on the battle-line and the Germans heard the Allies singing Christmas carols etc, and they went across with a ‘white flag’ to join in the celebration of the birth of our Saviour. For days after, none of these would wage war against each other.

Now there was a chance that could have been taken up by the Allies and the Germans, but they failed to solve the challenge, and so they moved around the troops to other areas of battle and brought in new troops to that area before they could restart the battle. What an opportunity missed — the world would certainly be a better place today if both sides had come together to solve the conflict.

Since then, several wars all over the world have been started, with the loss of innocent lives, but still no solution can be found. This does not speak very well for the various tribes all over the world. Can’t we all learn that peace and love is the solution? How many more innocent lives have to be lost before the right thing is done?

Here in Jamaica, the less said about tribal politics, where the country is divided into two tribes and there seems to be no healing for our nation, is the best option.

Barbara Cover
Kingston

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