Observations

I am writing this in the wake of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit our neighbour Haiti yesterday afternoon. Prior to hearing the news of the earthquake and the devastation there, I had been reading “The Daily Gleaner” newspaper dated 18 June 1984, the day I was born. I happened upon an article in which it was predicted by Dr. Omar Davies, that “there was likely to be a substantial shortfall in revenue during the financial year 1984/85, because the estimate of revenue-intake which the Government had made for the period would not be realized”.

One of the headlines read “Call on govt. to repair damaged main roads”. Another: “PNP queries new hike on kerosene”. Others read: Rapes and robberies as gunmen snatch buses”, “Exports via Kingston Wharves down 26 %; imports down”, “Wanted man slain in Temple Hall”, “Three shot dead in weekend incidents”, “Argentina wants pact with IMF” and in the editorial section an article by the late Carl Stone titled “A Casino Referendum”.

Fast forward to January 2010, to the pending agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of billions of dollars; increased taxes which will inevitably mean increases in the prices of goods and service (the price of chicken has already increased with increases in rice and flour imminent); job losses with more coming; the recent murders in the past few weeks and the question that begets is “how long is it going to take to get it right”.

Based on my observations we have basically come full circle. Sure there have been improvements in some areas but I find it extremely hard to be forking out money at the gas pump which is supposed to be put into a fund for fixing the nation’s roads when the roads that I drive on everyday, which were not all that great to begin with, have only gotten worse and it appears that this fund is not being managed at all.

I do not have the luxury of being a tax evader, however illegal it may be. I am a P.A.Y.E. employee, and all the various taxes get taken from my salary each month before I even see a cent. I would feel a lot better about paying taxes if I the streets were free of garbage, if everyone had piped water and electricity among other things, but that is not the case.

Everybody can see the problems but nobody is talking about a solution. The government appears to not know what they are doing, the opposition calls out the government on what appears to them to be their mistakes, pull publicity stunts that really do nothing for the man and woman on the street whose income has become so contracted due to increased costs and there is no real dialogue. No dialogue between the politicians, no dialogue between the government and the people that elected them and it all just seems like we should all give up and jump ship. I have for the first time thought seriously about leaving Jamaica for a life and living somewhere else. I am optimistic that things will get better and am endeavouring to do my part to help achieve this, but regardless of what each individual can do, our leaders need to lead.

My sympathies and prayers go out to the people of Haiti. It appears that Haiti and devastation have become synonymous. They were unscathed this year by the hurricane season only to have a pretty bad earthquake strike Port-au-Prince a couple months later. There was an article in Le Matin in 2008 titled “Possibility of an earthquake in Port-au-Prince” where a former professor at the Geological Institute of Havana, Patrick Charles is quoted, stating that “conditions are ripe for major seismic activity in Port-au-Prince. The inhabitants of the Haitian capital need to prepare themselves for an event which will inevitably occur...”

While I feel for the Haitian people, I have to ask myself the question, how equipped is my own country, Jamaica, to deal with a catastrophe of this magnitude. Is there a disaster plan and if so, how many people know about the plan or is it sitting on a shelf in someone’s office gathering dust? I have thought about what would have happened if it happened in Kingston instead of Port-au-Prince. I would have been at home, but if not for being on leave, I would have been at work. How safe is the building I work in? How would I get in touch with my relatives if communications were down? What would happen to the water supplies, the ability of our medical facilities to cope?

These are real concerns as Jamaica is at risk for earthquakes. There are several small ones every year. Are we due a big one? The fault that caused the earthquake in Haiti runs through Jamaica as well. The irony of it all is that week is being celebrated as Earthquake Awareness week, here in Jamaica. We all are aware now, so I hope that we are doing what needs to be done to prepare, just in case.




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