Corruption costs!
Dear Editor,
While the economic cost of corruption is always at the forefront of debates on corruption, the human and social cost is either ignored or overlooked, maybe as a result of being more difficult to identify and quantify. While the economic cost of corruption tends to be immediate, the human and social costs have a greater impact and the effects more long-term, as evidenced by the “Cuban light bulb” scandal.
Mr Kern Spencer stepping down from representational politics represents the human and social cost. Jamaica lost and so has the PNP. No doubt young Spencer had contributions to make to the Jamaican society in general and his constituency in particular. While we continue to lose our best young minds, the nurturing environment remains intact, peopled by dying dinosaurs, imbued in the old ways and bent on leaving an “impression” on impressionable minds.
To those young Jamaicans seeking to replace Spencer, take heed. They say youth is wasted on the young, so drink not of the old wine, make place for the new.
The new Jamaica is on the horizon, where truth, integrity, honour and liberty prevail, where the man who plays by the rules is rewarded, not shafted, and where corrupt officials public and private, big or small, will be confined to the cells at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre.
Phillip A Chambers
phillipdcchambers@yahoo.com