Rosie's plight no laughing matter
Published:Monday | July 15, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
A video of a woman appealing for that frequently demanded though rarely received commodity - 'justice' - has begun circulating in social media. Delivered in the classic Jamaican style of high drama and some would argue humour, several mash-ups of the video have also been made available.
Needless to say, the antics of 'Rosie' from 21 Sunlight Street in Kingston 13 have elicited several laughs. However, it would be remiss to not also highlight that the issues raised are at best unfunny and at worst extremely serious. They demand urgent attention.
Rosie, who noticeably also lives in a community precariously perched on a gully bank, tells the story of a broken sewer main which has flooded her home. She and the other hapless residents of Sunlight Street, who watched as she creatively leveraged attention for their plight, have been greatly inconvenienced. Usually invisible
This matter is one in which the State is squarely implicated. Rosie and the other residents of Sunlight Street are in dire need of legal and other representation if they are to continue eking out an existence hopefully above that of animals.
Unfortunately, given the recent treatment of Clifton 'Canna Cross It' Brown and his own appeal for a bridge over the Yallahs River in St Thomas two years ago, the concerns may be dismissed as a joke.
The question now is, what will happen after the laughter has subsided? Why is it that poor Jamaicans must resort to these potentially dehumanising displays in an effort to achieve national, and possibly international, attention for their plight?
Why has the State so marginalised these residents and communities like these that they believe that their only recourse is to deploy these kinds of strategies in order to raise the profile on the issues which affect them?
AGOSTINHO PINNOCK