Dear Editor,

I write in response to a letter from Mr Owen Crosbie on December 3 asking why the prime minister doesn’t invite Omar Davies to be the finance minister.

Dr Davies was minister of finance for over 14 years, having the distinction of been the longest-serving finance minister, but Jamaica has little to show for his stewardship.

While Mr Crosbie is entitled to his opinion, he needs to spell out Dr Davies’ accomplishments during his tenure, because the example he gave to defend his argument does not support what I consider a brilliant finance minister. Dr Davies’ implementation of financial regulations after the financial meltdown during the 1990s was only a reaction to the problems. If he is as brilliant as Mr Crosbie would like us to believe, then certainly he would have been more proactive during his tenure as finance minster and put those regulations in place before the financial meltdown in the 1990s and Jamaica would be in a much better position today.

If Mr Crosbie means the best for the country, then he would allow the current finance minister to do his job as that is the mandate from the people after the 2007 general election. While Mr Shaw is not perfect, he is in the job only two years and I do not see him borrowing money at the high interest rate as his predecessor, nor do I see him signing any forward sale of bauxite without any clause to adjust the price in case the economic conditions change.

Until all Jamaicans start to analyse objectively the issues that affect us, then Jamaica will continue to be underdeveloped as we will continue to reward failures because of our political affiliations.

Kelly Andrews

jahlatts@yahoo.com