Tappa all the way!
The Jamaican football team, under the guidance of Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, has cleared the highest of the three remaining hurdles to assist us towards qualifying for the World Cup.
So, why then should we be thinking of employing John Barnes, when Whitmore has done the job René Simoes should have done but never did?
Is it that Whitmore is not a foreigner and we believe that if they do not come from a foreign land, then they cannot be good enough?
The federation can save by keeping Whitmore and not employing Barnes. We want our team to win; that's what they have done. So, why then do we need anyone else? Let us now all say home-grown talent all the way.
- Z. Williams, zoncwil@hotmail.com
School papers lost
My name is Novlette Elizabeth Hutchinson-Bain and I am a Jamaican who resides in The Bahamas.
When Hurricane Ivan struck Jamaica my mother, who lives in Albion, Manchester, lost everything, including all my papers from school.
Since last year, I have been trying to get a high-school transcript and a copy of my diploma, along with my CXC and GCE results, to further my education, but that seems fruitless.
I was told that the school that I graduated from no longer exists and no one could give me any information.
The school is St Pauls of the Cross in Mandeville, Manchester. I attended from 1996-1998 when I graduated. The principal at that time was Mrs Neal. Please help me in any way. Thanks.
- Novlette Hutchinson-Bain, jehova@web2.gleaner-ja.comVia Go-Jamaica
Crime victims
In response to columnist Garth Rattray, your article on that hapless young man seriously incapacitated by gunmen, underscores the required reaction by the general population.
Compensation for victims of crime is commendable but hardly a recipe for the carnage that is plaguing the country. There is too much apathy to the daily violence. The population reacts dramatically to gasolene increases or water shortages, but agonises quietly over the violence, which represents a far greater risk to their well-being than any commodity-price increase.
If you and your journalist colleagues want to help current and potential victims, you need to literally bludgeon the country with constant articles as the one you have written to focus their attention on the horror awaiting them. You should also interview every government minister on the corrective measures being implemented, if any. A constant bombardment of these officials will force some action and will be far more effective in reducing the number of victims, as you have so poignantly written about.
- Amabel Watson, amabel.watson@sympatico.ca