THE MONTHLY GLEANER | AUGUST 3 - SEPTEMBER 2, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | OPINION & COMMENTARY 9 OPINION #GLNROPED The Gleaner welcomes your views on any issue. Preference will be given to letters of 300 words or less. They must bear the writer’s name, address and telephone contact. If using a pen name, you must state your full name. Your name and address will be withheld on request. EMAIL US: letters@gleanerjm.com or WRITE US: Editor, The Gleaner Company (Media) Ltd, 7 North Street, PO Box 40, Kingston, or fax: (876)922-6223 [ LETTERS ] [ EDITORIAL ] RAW SEWAGE flowing in the streets of downtown Kingston is just one of the consequences of infrastructure failure when facilities continue to be operated beyond their design life. Experts say water, energy and transportation utilities are at risk of failure after 75 years and in any event they lack environmental compliance after several decades. These sewer mains downtown, laid more than 75 years ago, are reportedly made from asbestos. Waste water infrastructure is largely about the piping or sewer lines which connect homes and businesses to treatment facilities, but that is not all; it extends to include treatment plants, and lift, and pumping stations. Ageing infrastructure requires continuous follow-up and maintenance. As we have come to understand Jamaica is very poor at follow-up and maintenance of most things. There are many examples of how ageing infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, have created problems of access and connectivity resulting in disruption to the country’s economic prospects and its achievement of national objectives. It does nothing for the health of a community to wake up to the stench of effluence and this has been the condition for many months affecting people who live, work and do business in downtown Kingston. On cue, we see images of government ministers, Desmond McKenzie and Matthew Samuda, “examining” sewage seepage in downtown Kingston recently. Were it not a serious matter, this photo opportunity could give way to sustained humour by onlookers. However, Mr. Samuda, who is responsible for water, brought good news to the member of Parliament, Mr. McKenzie that $170 million were to be spent in immediate repairs and that the prime minister had authorised that “all available resources be used to resolve the situation”. This stench has been in the air for many months. POOR INFRASTRUCTURE As we have often repeated in this space, poor infrastructure is one of the biggest hurdles to development in a country like Jamaica.The riskof deteriorating infrastructureought not tobe left too late. Among the big questions an administration faces is whether to refurbish or to replace infrastructure. Indeed, the NationalWater Commission (NWC) which operates more than 100wastewater treatmentplants aroundthe islandhas laidout a plan to improve sewage servicewhich includesbuilding, replacing and decommissioning plants. Work has been progressing, albeit slowlyonsomeof theareas earmarked for improvement. Bearing in mind that with climate change and extreme weather events infrastructure will be called on to withstand greater challenges. This demands that NWC devise a cost-effective solution to mitigate potential risks. This is a costly undertaking and the NWC, as we are painfully aware, is strapped for cash and has been in that position for many years. For instance, the much-touted Soapberry treatment plant earmarked for St. Catherine, and which would eliminate a number of small treatment plants in the Corporate Area, has taken many years to be implemented. The process of implementing these projects can be long and laborious. From identifying the resources to settling land acquisition where necessary, the procurement process and jumping through bureaucratic hoops to identifying suitable partners, can been painstakingly drawn-out over many years. When it comes to implementing infrastructure projects, there appears to be an urgent need for protocols that will enable project implementation within say 12 months. We see the need for speeding up the project implementation process, if such projects are to achieve the objective of solving specific problems. Photo Op downtown Kingston THE EDITOR, Madam: T HE CURRENT Government seems to have grown tired of shouldering the responsibility for the affairs of the nation and is hell-bent on losing the next general election. I have come to the above conclusion based on a number of politically suicidal decisions the Government has taken since the beginning of 2023. The most baffling of these decisions has to be the massive salary increases granted to the political class and the approach adopted in the constitutional amendment to bring the retirement age of the director of public prosecutions and the auditor general in line with the rest of the civil service. The decision to grant parliamentarians and councillors increases ranging from 200-300 per cent, after coercing government employees into accepting much lower increases, with threats of delayed payments of retroactive salaries, can only be understood if the Government is tired of governing or holds the electorate in such contempt, it believes the issue will be erased from memory by the next election. It is interesting to note the public’s objection was not to the political class awarding themselves an increase, but to the quantum of the increase. The decision to bring the retirement age of the director of public prosecutions and the auditor general in line with the rest of the civil service need not have descended into controversy. It is a logical move, and a non-suicidal government would have sought consensus with the parliamentary Opposition to ensure the constitutional amendment received unanimous approval. Now we are faced with the real possibility of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions being brought into disrepute. The Government appears determined to lose the next election, and this determination is aided by its parliamentary majority with which it can bulldoze legislation through. The only thing more intoxicating to a politician than a crowd of tribal supporters is a huge parliamentary majority that can breed arrogance, and the Government appears to have fallen into the trap. The People’s National Party must be counting their lucky stars the Government is suicidal, as they can always count on the Government to orchestrate some distraction to divert attention from their leader’s intemperate utterances and the divisive candidate selection exercises. The Government is writing the template on how to be booted from office. They must be suicidal, tired, or both. WAYNE PLUMMER Greater Portmore Ruling party seems determined to lose next election THE EDITOR, Madam: THE WORLD is changing rapidly and Jamaica seems content to dance to the beat of drums from other nations. This is not new, but now is not the time to “follow fashion”, because a lot of what is currently fashionable flies in the face of God. We do not need to add the unnatural spectre of the LGBTQI+ agenda to our existing societal sins. America, Europe and large, Englishspeaking countries may be powerful and wield a lot of influence, but are not always right. Search the internet and look at the LGBTQI+ Pandora’s box that America and Canada opened. Look at the damage it is doing to their societies. We don’t need that in Jamaica. We should not allow ourselves to be charmed by what is wrong, no matter whose mouth it comes from. If people want to sin in private, we can’t stop them, but we should be able to stop them from publicly promoting their sin as righteous and bullying society to accept it as normal. African leaders firmly and diplomatically rejected outsider promotion of homosexuality in their lands. They didn’t cast stones at the outsiders (we all sin, don’t we?), but didn’t remain silent either. I hope Jamaica does the same. DAVID DIXON Ja doesn’t need to follow LGBTQ agenda MAN SUES Taco Bell for allegedly skimping on fillings NEWYORK (ANI): A MAN unhappy with the amount of beans and beef he received in his Taco Bell order, sued the fast food chain for false advertising, CNN reported. In September, New York resident Frank Siragusa bought a Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza which contained half of the amount of beans and beef advertised online and in-store. He alleged that the fast-food restaurant does not serve as much meat on products as its ads suggest.
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