THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing with reference to Dennis Minott’s column in In Focus, The Sunday Gleaner of June 9. It is a great article. My view is that Jamaica was, and but now will never be, a compassionate place for the poor and middle class.

Why? Our leaders and officials are in a race to see who can accumulate the most wealth and have NO vision for the uplifting of its people’s lives

Consider this, since our Independence:

• How many schools, libraries, hospitals, roads, transportation systems and healthcare centres have been built in poor communities and rural areas?

• Only 50 per cent of our population have secondary school education.

• Only 45 per cent of our homes have running water and electricity.

• Are the natural amenities, such as beaches and rivers, available to all Jamaicans? No.

Apart from providing for tourists, what infrastructure have been provided for poor and middle-income Jamaicans since Independence? In my opinion, we have been perpetuating the same behaviours of our colonisers – ‘more for the haves, and ignore the needs of have-nots’ – since the end of slavery.

I am surprised and disappointed that more Jamaicans are not writing and speaking up about this gross injustice.

So, no matter what we call Jamaica, it will be a country with no compassion for its poor, middle-class and uneducated people.

Jamaica’s focus is to continue to be a playground for the tourists and the elite.

BEVERLY BROWN-SANDS