NOTEWORTHY

PM blaiming the media

Do not let go of the Manatt, Phelps & Philip Affair or any other political issue that reeks of corruption. Keep up the pressure! This country will only get out of the mess it is in when we have truthful and honest politicians. Mr Golding needs to admit he erred and stop the scapegoating. He only further erodes whatever is left of his credibility. What is this? Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, Mr Golding blames the media?

- Ivy Bulgin

Manatt mystery

The prime minister is sadly mistaken if he continues to believe that The Gleaner, Mr Oliver Clarke and members of the Opposition are the only ones who find his take on Manatt, Phelps & Phillips incredible. Mr Golding should by now realise that Hansard or not, this is a mystery that Ian Flemming or Agatha Christie would have been proud to have written.

We have emails that couldn't be sent to Harold Brady, and so ended up at the United States-based law firm, chance meeting on an aeroplane, a drug kingpin, then a shoot-out that claimed the lives of more than 73 persons. The various twists and turns, plots and sub-plots can only end with the truth.

But professor Hickling, a psychiatrist, is telling us that there are persons with personality disorders, who "tell outrageous lies even in the presence of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and the treatment is for them to suffer the consequence for their transgression behaviour and constant review."

We are recommending lie-detector tests for police recruits. What about our politicians?

- Mark Clarke

Let officials take the rap

Over the years, we, as the people of Jamaica, have made breaches committed by high officials slide by with impunity. Perhaps this can be credited to our generous nature expressed in the way we view impropriety more as mistakes and failures rather than willful punitive offenses. Unfortunately, this magnanimity stretches only to high officials, especially political ones, since we are the first to want death for the alleged petty offender, even if we have not proven beyond doubt that he committed the act.

Our political biases and regard for the monied class contribute greatly to our failure to insist on justice finding its full expression in our elected officials.

This being our culture, the country now finds itself at a critical crossroads. If we do not bring these high officials, who now stand with questionable issues surrounding them, to be fully investigated and punished where necessary; Jamaica may sink into a moral abyss from which we may find it, at best, incredibly painful and timely to recover. History is replete with examples of such. Do we want to stalemate our national progress for reasons of political suasion, and respecter of class, money and position?

- Helen Ann Brown

MP to be overseer

It is time that the working people of Jamaica have a say in something.

We must appoint a group of individuals from each parish to hire/appoint a paid person to be a parish manager - the elected member of parliament (MP) would be the chairman.

The parish manager would have the power to hire assistant managers to deal with specific issues.

Each parish would be awarded a budget each fiscal year and would be accountable for every dollar spent, the parish manager would present a summary of all expenses each quarter to the appointed parish group

This would give the MP more freedom to be an overseer.

- Cecil Maragh