Why must the good suffer for the bad?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

As I write, I am seeing video after video on my phone of parties in Negril and elsewhere, where persons are crammed together with nary a mask in sight. It is not only shocking, but sickening as well, as these are not illegal parties but events being held, amazingly, after permits were somehow secured.

While it is easy to blame irresponsible partygoers, the real blame lies squarely at the feet of the prime minister and his Government for the granting of such permits for events at the same time where curfews and other regulations continue to curtail the regular freedoms that citizens should enjoy.

Has the PM read anything to suggest that COVID-19 spreads only at nights? Of what good are curfews when party promoters simply have their crowded sessions in the day? Another case of the two Jamaicas!

Here is a bit of free advice for you, Mr Holness: ease off the curfews. There is no reason why I should not be able to take my family for dinner at 8:00 p.m.!

Simultaneously, stand up to the hotel and entertainment industries and make it clear: NO PARTIES! Finally, implement a law where any gathering of over 20 persons – at homes or otherwise – will result in the arrest of the host and all the patrons.

Maybe then, and only then, will we feel that the Government is serious about fighting this pandemic and not just taking us for fools.

As we continue to be penned up with curfews, even tighter now as a result of rising COVID-19 numbers, I am left to ask myself yet again: why must the good always suffer for the bad?

PAT CARR