This is an editorial that appeared in The Gleaner on March 14, 2009. It concerned an attempt by the Jamaican government to close down a very hard working man who sells jelly coconut on Norman Manley highway as you leave the Kingston Airport. I titled it "Frustrating the poor, hard-working Jelly Man".
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 and downtrodden.
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 four men from an inner-city area: one picks up a gun and becomes a nightmare to our community; one annoys us with his constant begging. The third tries to sell jelly coconuts by the side of the road and is doing well. We should hope that one of them find work, pays his taxes, obeys the laws of the land and supports his family.
The gunman is living the high life with car, house and all the female companionship he can handle. The beggar is getting by but through the deliberate bad mindedness of some government bureaucrat, the Jelly man and his customers are now defined as criminals for buying and selling coconuts along the Norman Manley Highway by the airport.
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 institutionalized this initiative by making it an attraction and creating a lovely lay-by? Creating a welcome center would be perfect. Why must we always frustrate the ambitions of people who are trying to make an honest living? And if the government does offer this opportunity, I hope the Jellyman will gladly help to support our country by paying his taxes.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment