LETTER OF THE DAY - Citizen Jimmy's folly

The Editor, Sir:

James Moss-Solomon is a man of considerable privilege, education and experience. On Monday, he announced his resignation from all public-sector boards to which he was appointed. The reason he gave was that our political leaders had failed to provide strong, decisive, moral and ethical leadership to Jamaica. Some well-known persons have supported this move and encouraged others to do the same.

I have problems understanding the wisdom of Mr Moss-Solomon's decision. What it suggests is that if you hire people to work in your business and they prove to be bereft of any moral or spiritual moorings, the way to deal with it is to put as much daylight between yourself and the business. Can you imagine the workers' delight at this decision?

Absentee proprietorship

Some years ago, Heather Robinson announced her decision to resign as MP as she refused to 'hug up' criminal elements. I fully expected her party to urge her to remain and clean up their act. That did not happen. She resigned and things deteriorated. Badly. What Mr Moss-Solomon and his supporters are suggesting is a kind of absentee proprietorship. But that has never worked.

In June of this year, the UN Public Service Day Awards Ceremony and Forum was held in Barcelona. The topic for discussion at the forum was 'The Critical Role of Public Service in Achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)'. One of the themes was 'Engaging Citizens in Development Management and Public Governance'.

Around the world, there seems to be a growing distrust for government institutions and an increase in citizens' demand for more equitable, participatory, citizen-centric services and greater participation in the policy-making process. There is widespread recognition of the pivotal role of citizens' engagement in policy-decision making at all stages.

There is little likelihood of reaching MDGs in the foreseeable future if citizens are not fully engaged in the development process. And we will be forced to endure the boring, energy-sapping dogfights like we are currently experiencing. If you stay where you are and build effective participatory governance mechanisms, the country will be pleased to see these unseemly, selfish, political initiatives replaced with consultations, deliberations and collaborative planning.

Can Mr Moss-Solomon, who has so much to contribute, be encouraged to reconsider? He wants to be a good man. I want him to be a good citizen.

I am, etc.,

GLENN TUCKER

Kingston 9