Dear Editor,

I don’t know what to do but I need to be heard. I am a 32-year-old man who grew up in the ghetto of downtown Kingston. With the grace of God, self-determination helped me to escape the corruption and negative influences for me to reach where I am today.

I was not a brilliant scholar but I persevered and in 2004 was accepted by UTech to pursue my degree in construction management. It was my dream to be an engineer and construction was of major interest because of my previous experience in drafting. While pursuing my education I did not have any financial support and was selected out of many applications nationwide by the Student Loan Bureau to receive financial aid to complete my studies. No one could have predicted that the global economy, Jamaica’s economy and construction would all take a drastic fall which started in 2008 right after I graduated.

As a result, I have been unemployed since the end of 2008 and have not been successful in gaining employment. Prior to this happening I had been diligently making payments to SLB to pay them back, but since this has happened I have not been able to do so. They have been requesting that I make payments without considering my pleas, it seems. What must I do? I needed the help and they gave it. I want to pay them back but now that I have the degree I am without a job.

Some extra consideration needs to be given by the Student Loan Bureau to people like myself. I have pleaded my case in person at their head office in Kingston and they insist that I should make a monthly payment that exceeds my ability at this time. With thousands of others who have graduated and are also unemployed in a society that does not have the resources or opportunities necessary to ensure that its young professionals will have a chance, I urge those in power to look into these situations from all angles and make provisions to assist myself and the many others who are facing this dilemma. Nothing coming in equals nothing going out.

John Matthews

Kingston