The PM and the beggars
Published:Tuesday | July 6, 2010 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE JAMAICA House-produced radio call-in programme 'Jamaica House Live', with Prime Minister Bruce Golding', has seemingly lost its way, or has veered away from its intended purpose.
I was in total support of the programme as conceptualised as an avenue for the PM to interact directly with ordinary Jamaicans to discuss important national issues. However, but for the PM's opening remarks of each show, it has become mostly a beggars' or social-welfare request programme to satisfy the supplications of individuals.
Consequently, one now does not bother to listen to the programme in its entirety (I tend now not to listen beyond the PM's opening remarks, if I do care to listen at all). He can expect to hear requests such as that of that single mother who irresponsibly went about giving birth to five or 12 children for whom she is unable to provide proper care and without any assistance from the likely fathers of those children, calling to get him to extend assistance to care for her children.
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Though annoyed by the programme's facilitating such requests, I can actually understand how many of those people have found the programme quite appropriate to make their supplications. After all, that is what many of them have come to expect to be the principal job or responsibility of our politicians.
As part of the changed course, one would have thought there would be some effort on the part of the political directorate to foster that change in the mindset of our people. Instead of providing our social-welfare agencies with greater resources to address the needs of our people, we saw the retooling of the Social and Economic Support Programme into the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Despite the seemingly good intentions of the CDF, I am not a believer in our politicians being caregivers. Rather, our MPs should be legislators and actual representatives of the people's collective interests, and allow the appropriately staffed agencies to deal with those basic needs of our people.
I am, etc.,
KEVIN K.O. SANGSTER