NOTE-WORTHY

A tourist's perspective

My girlfriend and I were staying for a week at the Bahia Principe resort. We didn't know about any of the violence until the second day when we tried to book a trip to Kingston. The tour operator said all trips to Kingston had been cancelled because of the violence. Later in the week we tried booking a trip to the Black River area, which included a tour of the Appleton Rum factory.

We booked the trip but later in the day a note was put under our hotel room door saying it had also been cancelled because of the violence. We finally got our hands on some local newspapers and were shocked to learn about the number of killings. I suspect that most of the other hotel guests were blissfully ignorant of what was going on in other areas of the island.

I was able to speak with a few Jamaicans about the situation. They have mixed feelings about Christopher Coke, neither all good nor all bad. On the other side of the coin, the Jamaican people we spoke with had not much encouraging words to say about the Government and its handling of the current crisis.

Our prayers go out to the people of Jamaica during these very difficult times.

- Simon Gardner, Ontario, Canada

Set supplemental exams

I have been listening to the discussions surrounding the issue of the students who have been or who might be unable to complete sitting their CXC examinations at the CSEC or CAPE levels because of the civil unrest that we are experiencing now.

There is a strong case to be made for the setting of supplemental examinations for these students to sit in July, which could be marked in August. The precedent was set in 2008 when in Trinidad it was discovered that CAPE examinations had been leaked. The examinations were postponed for the Trinidadian students and new papers set, which they sat in July.

I urge the minister of education to engage the Caribbean Examinations Council in discussions to make such arrangements for our students. If the council is refusing to do this, Jamaica must challenge them on the basis that similar arrangements were made in the not-too-distant past.

- Patricia Castriota, tricia.castriota@gmail.com

Bruce, a total joke

Most people are failing to address the fact that prior to this situation Tivoli Gardens has never been known as an area of high crime. This, in effect, means that Christopher Coke was an effective community leader. I am sure we can all agree on that.

Now, this current prime minister of our beloved Jamaica, who has proven himself to be a total joke, should go to sleep every night knowing that his uncalculated flip-flop decision has led to the deaths of so many people. The event has proven for sure that our prime minister is weak and seems to be easily influenced.

- A. Patreas, Newmoon@msn.com