Letter of the Day | Clean the paraphernalia when election is over

THE EDITOR, Madam:

There is no tree, light post or bridge that has escaped being festooned in ribbons and swaths of green and orange. This is true uptown, downtown, and in rural Jamaica.

In one rural constituency that I travelled through recently, the light posts have been painted in party colours, one party taking it a step further by stencilling in their initials... permanent ownership being staked. Sigh.

In two weeks, it will all be over. Someone will have won, and someone will have lost. And life will go on. It is the responsibility of each political representative in each constituency to ensure that all posters, ribbons and flags are removed after the election. This has not happened in time past. Posters from past elections remain affixed to trees and posts to this day, despite announcements and directives from the political ombudsman. Game over, to hell with clean up, carry on smartly.

On behalf of all concerned citizens, I am asking that whomever forms the next government allocate funds on day one to pay residents to remove and discard (responsibly please!) the yards and yards of fabric, signs, and ribbons. Our island is beautiful as is. It is an unfortunate but absolutely necessary deployment of our tax dollars to restore order and eye relief across our beautiful island.

KELLY MCINTOSH