MPs, know your constituents

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I am a little taken aback by the responses of members of parliament in relation to the claims made by the Opposition that members of their constituencies have threatened suicide as a result of the difficult economic times being faced by them.

Perhaps these sitting MPs who claim they have never had the experience must be living in another Jamaica.

I am not a member of parliament, but at one point, I was forced to write a letter to the Editor in response to a rather emotional story told to me by a young graduate who had studied at a tertiary institution for four years, obtained a degree, and was unable to get a job for more than three years.

He told the story of how he would get up each day and send out résumés all over to get a job but would get the same response - no vacancies at this time - if at all he got a response.

Coupled with that, he was saddled with a student loan that had escalated to a point where even if fortune were to smile upon him and he did get a job, repayment of this debt would take him almost his entire life before he could satisfy that obligation.

I recall him telling me the only way he could rid himself of the utter despair he felt was to end his life.

I am not surprised by the responses of these government MPs.

Clearly, the problems of the people are never their priority. Their priority is to use the people and keep them downtrodden so that they can exercise the control over them to gain victory at the polls.

The upliftment of the people was never their goal as long as they can extract every dollar from every corner in taxes to meet their glorified lifestyles, drive their fancy cars, and hand out the scarce benefits to the faithful - they have no other obligation.

Perhaps they have never heard these stories because they have no interest in the people of this country.

I believe leadership is meant to uplift a people, not to place them in positions of hardships and desperation in order to secure control over them.

taxes must benefit all

I would like to remind the Government that the resources of the State belong to the State. The taxes of the people are to be used for the benefit of the entire country.

Please, I am asking the leader of the nation to request her members of parliament to cease and desist from "claiming" that they give 'X' or 'Y' to the people.

Only when it comes from their earnings and from personal wealth obtained outside of politics can they claim the "giving of gifts" to the people.

Outside of that, all resources in the form of taxes, levies, state lands, and assets belong to Jamaica and Jamaicans.

We have allowed politicians to use the taxes and assets of the country as if they belonged to them.

The greatest sin of all, however, is that we the people have allowed them to reduce us to the point where our dignity has been lost and our country has plunged to the bottom of the pile.

I end with a quote by Norman Manley: "I abominate fraud in all its disguises and forms, no matter how it may dress itself up or don an air of innocence to conceal the nasty thing that is below."

Perhaps the Government of the day needs to reexamine the true spirit of its founding father.

F.E. Jacobs (Ms)