I am appalled by our government's callous disregard for citizens who show initiative. We seem to purposely and even go out of our way to frustrate the ambitions of our poor people.

It is apparent to me that law-abiding people who want to do honest work and get by are always the brunt of government sanctions.

Imagine two men from an inner-city area: one picks up a gun and becomes a nightmare to our community; the other tries to sell jelly coconuts by the side of the road.

The gunman is living the high life with car, house and all the female companionship he can handle.

Jelly man and his customers are now defined as criminals for buying and selling coconuts along the Norman Manley Highway.

Injustices all around

As a society, we rob some of our citizens of an education and job skills; we rob of them of health care and we rob them of opportunity and a means of making a living.

If a professional person is stopped on the road for a traffic offence, he is often directed to proceed without a citation.

When a poor man in an old beat-up car is stopped, his car is searched and he will definitely get a citation that he cannot afford to pay. The injustices are all around us.

Whenever I leave the airport, even if I am just dropping someone off, I look forward to stopping for a jelly coconut.

I get to ask the jelly man "Wha guaan?", have a little conversation, drink the refreshing water (too bad the jelly man does not have a little proof rum to go with it), love the jelly that I scoop up with a piece of the husk and delight in the fact that I live in God's country.

I have now been stopped from enjoying this little piece of heaven as it is now deemed illegal for me to stop and enjoy this little respite.

Why couldn't we have institu-tionalised this initiative by making it an attraction and creating a lovely lay-by? Why must we always frustrate the ambitions of people who are trying to make an honest living?

I am, etc.,

B. WAINE KONG

bwaine@bellsouth.net