What have we achieved?
Published:Monday | August 6, 2012 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Jamaica 50 celebrations are coming to a climax as we near Independence Day. But I'm not exactly excited about this, and most of my friends aren't exactly excited either.
What have we truly achieved?
Most people will point to our music and track and field. Those are fair points, but I think they're more related to the brilliance of individual Jamaicans rather than the country. I mean, Bob Marleys and Usain Bolts come only once in a lifetime.
What else do we have? Look at what used to be a booming sugar industry! It's now almost completely owned by the Chinese! Take a gander at bauxite; that industry is also nowhere near its glory days. Are those things we're proud of? Don't even get me started on the debt.
Yes, over the last few years we have developed highways. Or did we? Oh that's right, they're owned by foreign companies who will continue to gain all the income for several years before turning them over to the Government.
It seems like we're only really celebrating our survival, since we haven't had much major accomplishments. The political one-upmanship has not helped us thus far, and if it doesn't stop, only God knows where we will end up.
To most of the people I've spoken to, Jamaica 50 celebrations are, in their words, "celebrating 50 years of slackness". For me, they seem to be a glorified fabric sale, with Ping's and Pablos probably being the main beneficiaries.
Don't get me wrong, I love my country and I'm proud to be Jamaican, and I will do all I can to make it better.
It may be a huge stroke of luck that the Olympics happened to fall smack in the middle of it all, in the country from which we were made independent 50 years ago.
Try to imagine Jamaica 50 without the Olympics. I can't. It is full time for us to have more tangible achievements for which we can truly be proud.
ALWAYNE ALLEN