Letter of the Day | Politicians’ unjustified and unconscionable salary increases

THE EDITOR, Madam:

We at the Advocates Network wish to return to the issue of the unjustified and unconscionable salary increases to our politicians, as the stark realities of the mismanagement of our country are revealed with each passing day.

The recent reports of people waiting in corridors for attention at our hospitals; the salary woes driving our nurses and teachers away from Jamaica; and the lack of basic drugs, supplies, and equipment in our health sector; and the underfunding of education are all now being exposed.

In addition, the restiveness of workers in the fire and security services and other public servants continues to highlight the comparatively unjust salary increases for politicians.

We raise these matters as serious issues of concern to the majority of our people. The resources can be used for improvements in our health, education, and essential services sectors that are crying out for support. But the Government of Jamaica (GOJ), in their wisdom, has placed priority on increasing salaries for politicians and gave themselves significant retroactive payments, instead of focusing on improving healthcare and carrying out the requirements in our educational institutions to meet the new school year in September.

We are under the impression that the GOJ is less interested in the education of our children and the health of our people, and more focused on self-aggrandising and their wealth.

Our democracy demands that we all be more careful in the future in selecting our representatives, and that our participation in the process is critical. Having less than 40 per cent of our eligible registered voters cast their ballots is not acceptable.

We call on all Jamaicans to speak out and voice their objections to the neglect of our basic needs, such as our health and the education of our children. They should ensure that they register and turn out to vote when the time comes, to show their objection to the way our current political representatives have acted in their interests, to the disadvantage of the needs of the majority of our people.

DONNA MATTIS

Advocates Network