Letter of the Day | Gov't ploughs billions into social intervention
Published:Sunday | September 30, 2018 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
I read with alarm the Letter of the Day by Horace Levy published in The Gleaner of September 28, 2018, under the title 'Holness not committed to social intervention', in which the writer charged that so great is the Government's fixation on one set of tools that "not a dollar has been allocated to social intervention, not one dollar"!
By noting that the Government has allocated a significant amount of money to crime-fighting, the letter writer must concede that this is one facet of social intervention.
If we consider that many of the social ills we suffer are direct by-products of crime and violence, then we must recognise that the monster of crime must be sustainably tamed so as to ensure the long-term success and efficacy of social intervention programmes.
ERRONEOUS PRONOUNCEMENTS
I just wanted to take a moment to really clarify and put these erroneous pronouncements into perspective. Now to the more substantive point: The Government has, in fact, been responding to the plea for social intervention programmes.
An IMF publication indicated that social spending has increased by approximately 50% under this administration. In the Supplementary Budget, one of the largest allocations of 40% was made to street lighting arrears and current necessary payments. Can we appreciate how important it is to have well-lit streets and communities? Poor lighting acts as an incubator for anti-social activities and impede the overall well-being and social contentment of citizens.
Equipping young people with skills through the HOPE programme is a form of social intervention. Increased frequency of meals to students under PATH is social intervention. Training young men and women under the Jamaica National Service Corps is social intervention.
The Government's school fee and healthcare policy, which is not exclusionary, is social intervention. Development of infrastructure is social intervention. The Government's thrust to remove sugary products from our nation's schools and replacing them with healthier options is social intervention.
Horace Levy is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts.
ROSHEAN WILLIAMS