For Little London
In an era of intense hurricanes accompanied by increased wind and rain and the grave impact of global warming, the issues of the environment demand a paradigm shift to integrated planning, to be creative outside the box.
This writer is appealing for "a comprehensive drainage programme with Margaret Gutter, the mother of all drains, to be earmarked for yearly cleaning from the Social and Economic Support Programme.
I would be gravely remiss not to reignite the flame of advocacy for the rural town of Little London in Westmoreland to be placed under the comprehensive Rural Township Development Programme which is under the aegis of the Urban Development Corporation under the mantra, "making development happen".
- Frank L. Manborde, Councillor/Caretaker, Little London Division, Westmoreland
Fighting crime
Crime and violence have been a deterrent to the development of this country. Both socially and economically and puts the country under imminent threat of collapse, if something is not done to curtail this threat.
Those of us in civil society have a very important role to play in this regard, notwithstanding the fact that crime is a daily occurrence. We cannot pretend to be immune to the scourge of crime in the society.
Because once we accept the notion that crime and violence are enshrined within our culture, we are accepting anarchy and insurgence in the country. It is up to us to play our part in ridding the country of this disease.
- Garth Simpson, Kingston 19
Tax proposal
The Jamaican economy has been haemorrhaging from many businesses especially the larger ones practising tax evasion. The economy will only survive if the tax administration department gets the taxes to do the work of the Government.
I suggest that the Golding Government seek to investigate and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of scrapping the income tax for large companies and allow them to match the PAYE deductions from employees.
Since PAYE is the single largest deduction it would go a far way in ensuring that companies contribute something to national development. When the annual accounts are completed and the taxable portion is calculated companies will be asked to pay any additional amounts. However, if a loss were incurred they will be allowed to bring that forward to the following year to be added to their current profit or loss after tax.
- Tania Dixon, tamdix@googlemail.com, London, Via Go-Jamaica
