Time to move on

The Editor, Sir:

The worldwide recession has affected Jamaica like a blow from a sledgehammer to a rabbit. The week of July 12 saw men robbing students and teachers at a school, as well as nurses and patients at the Spanish Town Hospital. Can things get worse?

The Government is desperately trying to turn things around. The economic indicators are showing some positive signs, e.g., we have passed two International Monetary Fund (IMF) tests, and we have disposed of the perennial albatross, i.e. Air Jamaica, and the sugar factories. The Chinese have given us loans at concessionary terms for road repairs and to rebuild the Palisadoes road. Tourism is holding its own, in spite of the international downturn, and agriculture, under Dr Christopher Tufton, is instilling new vigour in our farmers.

If there is ever a time when all Jamaicans should come together for the common good, it is now!

Christopher Coke is in the United States. The Manatt, Phelps & Phillips affair is now a secondary issue and should no longer be the nation's prime concern. It i s hardly likely that the prime minister or Government will resign, so let's move on. Crime, the economy and job creation must now be our major concern. This is no time for sideshows, misinformation or posturing.

On July 20, the Opposition jettisoned the three-parish state of emergency by withholding support for its further extension in the face of a reduced number of govern-ment members in Parliament. At a time when the indicators are that we may be finally breakingthe back of crime, this was most unfortunate.

They placed party above the national interest. Unity is our only saviour.

I am, etc.,

G. MARTIN

Kingston 8