Fix Jamaica's wrongs, says Samuda

Dalton Laing, Gleaner Writer

SAVANNA-LA-Mar, Westmoreland:

President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Milton Samuda, is urging Jamaicans to place emphasis on fixing some of the country's ills during the 50th Independence anniversary next year.

"Next year, during the 50th Independence celebrations when politicians on both sides point only to those things which we have done right, remember also what it is we have done wrong because it is our duty to fix that, to correct that, for the sake of our children and their children," he said.

Samuda was giving the keynote address at the Rotary Club of Savanna-la-Mar's award ceremony at Hotel Commingle last weekend.

"We can't promise to hand over to them a perfect Jamaica, but at least build on the legacy of those who have gone on before," he stated. "We ought to hand over to them a working society in which they believe they can actualise their full potential."

He argued that while acknowledging the successes in Jamaica, the areas of underachievement must be also acknowledged.

"These achievements are like oases of excellence," Samuda said. "But there are vast landscapes of mediocrity and vast landscapes of missed opportunities."

Not just lip service

He also said there is a tendency in Jamaica to give lip service to what should be done.

The JCC president also referred to data from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica that suggest that young people in Jamaica believe that success lies in migrating to developed countries for better opportunities.

"Our children do not believe that this is their land of promise ... . They are looking to First-World countries," said Samuda, adding that the youth believe that their skills sets will not necessarily be better deployed overseas, but that the opportunity to leave Jamaica is a better prospect than staying here.