LETTER OF THE DAY - Fleming has no Jamaican generic link

THE EDITOR, Sir:

THOSE WHO have the formal responsibility to present us to the world and to ourselves must always appreciate that Jamaica is its people, culture and history, with that indefinable 'something' that identifies us, in proud recognition of who we really are as a people. Jamaica is not the tourist industry, the agriculture industry, the bauxite industry, nor any other such soulless characterisation.

So to name one of Jamaica's international gateways, even a small airport, after someone with no generic link to this nation and its soul is at best inappropriate and insensitive. The Right Honourable Norman Manley - a national hero - and The Most Honourable Donald Sangster are recognised as architects of the Jamaican nation, on whom we bestow the honour of welcoming the world to our shores and bidding them a gracious goodbye and 'come again' to enjoy our hospitality, to know and perhaps respect us as a nation with a proud, though chequered history. It is no coincidence therefore that the island's two other international airports are named after them.

As much as the value of the Ian Fleming name to Jamaica is appreciated, and without ignoring the Ian Fleming Foundation, no one could think that he falls into that category. There are so many ways in which our appreciation can continue to be expressed while at the same time capitalising on his association with the island.

If this is what we must expect from the chairman of the Airports Authority of Jamaica, then the composition and mandate of the recently announced Tourism Advisory Council and the naming of this airport need to be revisited.

I am, etc.,

H. Dale Anderson

hdaleanderson@hotmail.com