The Editor, Sir:

Contrary to the Prime Minister's pronouncements at the recent PNP conference: 'Omar is not balancing the books and neither has Portia begun to balance people's lives." But we must cease all the diversions and petty preoccupations and begin attending to these imperatives now; not as slogans, but as serious objectives.

Mahatma Gandhi, a man who knew a lot about 1920s endemic poverty in India, stated that alms is really an insult to the poor and it expresses a contempt from the donor as well as a palliative to his conscience and most seriously, it reinforces poverty. For the poor to be freed from the debilitating impact of charity, it is the responsibility of one in the position of donor to lift the poor out of the dependency on alms. If our new Prime Minister is not to delude herself on matters of policies, she should heed the wisdom and experiences of the wise, like Gandhi.

Boycott of fabrics

For those who will remark that Gandhi did little or nothing to relieve poverty in 1920s India, they should know that one of the strongest bases of his revolution was the boycott of fabrics from England and the rebirth of manufacturing of cotton fabrics as a cottage industry in nearly every home in India to provide employment for the poor which were not utilised in agriculture. This gave birth to the world dominance of India fabrics and garment industries.

Ever since our Independence we have too frequently neglected Jamaica's business for far too long and have pursued flawed policies aimed at quick political objectives and the present "crash programme" announced by the Prime Minister is just another such scheme. This emphasis on winning the next election has permeated our political culture so profoundly that it is difficult to change. But we must, if we are to rescue Jamaica from the downward slide.

I am, etc.,

L. A. BERT RAMSAY

bert@cwjamaica.com