The Editor, Sir:

Jamaica seems to have some dark economic clouds on the horizon and that has been so for a long time wherein our economy has been in recession for a number of years. Our productivity and even attitude to work have been in free fall while crime and other antisocial ills spiral out of control.

American factories have been idled, and are, therefore, ready to produce at the push of a button. Our factories and productive capacity have been almost decimated. The opportunities that normally exist for our exports becoming more attractive to foreign buyers are no longer there because there is very little of that. Most of our exports depend hea-vily on imported raw material and as the dollar devalues some goods and services become more uncompetitive while others are at bargain prices.

Jamaica, through succeeding governments have engaged in an almost perpetual pyramid scheme, accelerating a massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich while decimating the culture of production and hard work. We have replaced production with a thriving industry of laziness Jamaica-style, where it appears better to put money in government paper or higher-yielding alternative investment schemes. We close down factories and other productive industries to join paper shufflers who are today the only ones who still boast of billion-dollar profits.

Go to Ashenheim Road in Kingston and look at what is left of the glass factory in the once thri-ving industrial park. It makes you think immediately of bombings in Iraq or Afghanistan and a bombed out economy that needs rebuilding.

The governor of the Bank of Jamaica and the minister of finance, I believe, see the problem and are at their wits end as to how to end this high-interest regime which influences the interest rates at the local banks.

I still hear little talk of production, hard work and foreign-exchange earning. The foreign exchange as a commodity for sale in a market is treated no different from red peas or tomatoes.

Stabilise the dollar

We must pull out all the stops to rebuild our productive capacity, stabilise the dollar and as a recent World Bank report recommends the best hope for countries like Jamaica to survive is by going into manufacturing. Whatever the formula, it cannot be talk as usual. We need urgent action along with a good dose of nationalism and stop being a' Rampin' Shop'.

We should buy Jamaican to rebuild Jamaica and put nation over partisan politics, nastiness, corruption, improprieties, laziness, greed, selfishness and love our neighbours as ourselves.

I am, etc.,

MICHAEL SPENCE

Micspen2@hotmail.com

P.O Box 630

Liguanea

Kingston 6