Decision time again in regards to the new school year, summer vacations are over and the children are out of school for the summer and as parents, we are faced with the task of finding money for back to school expenses which is escalating everyday. Not only does one have to worry about these additional expenses, but one has to also worry about the safety of our children as well. This is not even a political thing. It is not a JLP or PNP issue. This is affecting all of us as citizens, so it is our problem. We all have to get involved. This is not a time when blame can be cast. If one wanted to get a consensus as to how visitors to the Island currently feel just ask any our returning residence or patriotic Jamaicans that return to for visits. They will tell you that their love of Jamaica rises with the sun and goes down at sunset. They look forward to everything that the country has to offer during the day and then they worry with fear as it starts to get dark and KINGFISH/ POLICE can’t help them then. The police department does not have the manpower and they can only come after you have already been robbed or murdered, as the case may be.
I have friends that told me that they have learnt to sleep like a cats in Jamaica, because at any point during the night they expect to hear the burglar bars being cut, or a window smashed in. The biggest problem is that one does not know who to trust because your very friend or family member will ‘sell you out’. There is this perception, especially in rural Jamaica where some people think that because you are coming from overseas, you have money. This is so far from the truth. There are so many Jamaicans living abroad that are living way below the poverty line and would love a chance to go back and visit, but they do not have the financial means to do so. One would be surprised to see how many Jamaicans return home with barely enough to pay the taxi to take them back and forth from the airport, some have asked relatives and friends to charge the tickets for the trips because most time one cannot afford it.
It is strange that crime has reached to this proportion. People would like to come home, and unless one is staying in a resort, which very few can afford; one has to think of the implications. One Jamaican told me yesterday that now is not one of the times when he would want to visit Jamaica, having been away for such a long time. According to him, one needs to have a strong willpower to take a vacation in Jamaica now, because it will take a bit of adjusting.
