‘Like living in hell’ – Ex-con Berry calls for greater attention to prisoners’ welfare, plans to encourage youths to turn from crime. Isn’t it supposed to be inhumane and uncomfortable so that people aren’t encouraged to end up there? I’m pretty...
THE EDITOR, Madam: I live in a rural district in St Elizabeth with a child and an elderly person. We have been experiencing low voltage situation since Monday, June 12. At that time an electrician assessed things and informed us that JPS has to...
THE EDITOR, Madam: This letter is in response to Mr Trevor Noel Blair’s letter titled ‘Concerns about nuclear energy direction for Ja’ published in this news paper on June 8, 2023. First, I would like to thank Mr Blair for his letter as it...
THE EDITOR, Madam: I wish to commend Senator Abka Fitz-Henley on a most thoughtful and hard-hitting opening of the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate. Fitz-Henley was courageous in outlining tangible actions taken in the interest of the...
THE EDITOR, Madam: June 19 is celebrated by African Americans as Juneteenth. It marks the occasion when full freedom, or Emancipation, was achieved by the enslaved Africans in 1865, some 31 years after slavery ended in the British colonies in 1834...
THE EDITOR, Madam: Food security is of utmost importance, as we all found out during the pandemic. I welcome back Minister Floyd Green to the agriculture ministry as I think he is the one who can transform agriculture in Jamaica. Agriculture...
THE EDITOR, Madam: I have watched all of the State of the Nation debates in the Senate for the past three years and I have never witnessed the Senate sinking to an all-time low until Friday, June 16th, 2023, when the newly minted senator of the...
THE EDITOR, Madam: The way we offer care, love, and protection for the most vulnerable in society reveals the soul of the nation, which has been exposed, and what we see is frightening. It is clear to even those who give scant regard to...
THE EDITOR, Madam: After working for over 35 years as a trained teacher and retired for 16 years, my monthly pension is $68,000. Based on the recent announcements, I will receive an increase of $1,800 monthly. Pensioners purchase the same items...
THE EDITOR, Madam: Poverty is the root cause of crime, and one related issue which is not discussed enough is the high rate of unplanned and teen pregnancies, especially among the poor. Poverty creates criminals and many develop serious mental...
THE EDITOR, Madam: I am writing this letter with reference to the article, ‘Fitz-Henley calls for Sykes to speak on sentence given to serial rapist’, published in The Gleaner on June 16. I respect the legal decisions and the judgments that the...
THE EDITOR, Madam: If we lived in utopia, serving justice would be packaged and delivered to those reprobates who extinguished the life of Major Dr Bonnie-Paul Williams. Alas, we live in Jamaica where the lawless seem to roam freely, wreaking...
THE EDITOR, Madam: The high prices of goods and services is having a major impact on people who are on minimum wage. This is causing a cycle of poverty, driven by the struggle to afford basic needs like food, housing and healthcare. The increase...
THE EDITOR, Madam: After the September 11 (9/11) terrorist attacks in the United States, private security became more dynamic on the global scene. The 9/11 events caused governments, corporations, businesses, institutions, and the Church to look...
THE EDITOR, Madam: We are grateful that the children are not subjected to further stress of exam resits and grateful for the swift response and decision-making by the CARICOM ministers of education and the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC)...
THE EDITOR, Madam: The Gleaner of Friday, June 9, had this headline splashed across the front page, ‘Trillions for reparations’. Presumably this is to be compensation for the cruel act of slavery perpetrated on our foreparents, with added...
THE EDITOR, Madam: On June 14, Canada’s second-largest broadcaster, CTV News, announced major unexpected layoffs that affected not only staff at local television stations, but also high-profile bureau chiefs in global capitals. Just by...
THE EDITOR, Madam: I am writing this letter with reference to the article, ‘Holness: Stop ‘cass cass,’ which was published in The Gleaner on June 14. I would like to commend Prime Minster Andrew Holness for taking a stand with regard to the...
THE EDITOR, Madam: The study quantifying reparations unveiled last week informed us that, among others, Jamaica is entitled to receive approximately US$10 trillion in grant reparation payments from the United Kingdom (UK). It could be more, as...
THE EDITOR, Madam: Jamaica is in a unique position to stand up for the truth. Some might think that we are small and do not carry a lot of weight in world’s affairs. We are small, but well-respected for our achievements internationally. As a...
THE EDITOR, Madam: The commentary ‘No empathy, no justice’ by Dr Michael Abrahams in The Gleaner of June 13 is highly instructive. What it is saying is that everyone in a society is connected. We all depend on common services, such as education,...
THE EDITOR, Madam: Astronauts typically express awe and even love for the beautiful Earth below while they’re in orbit. I wonder how they feel upon seeing the immense consequential pollution from raging massive forest/brush fires, like the one...
THE EDITOR, Madam: I was not around when the initiative to create technical schools was born but I wonder if back then it sparked the level of discussion and controversy as has the recent announcement by the prime minister about STEM Centres of...
THE EDITOR, Madam: There is an intense debate about the quality of schools that can lead to fruitful outcomes if Jamaicans are willing to embrace excellence. Educators have taken umbrage with the designation of some institutions as failing...
THE EDITOR, Madam: I am in full support of the call by King’s Counsel defence attorney Peter Champagne for greater accessibility to the prescribing of the death penalty in what he classified as the ‘worst of the worst’ cases of murder in Jamaica....
