EXTORTION AT MEGAMART

I was today, victim to a most disgraceful case of extortion by Megamart, Upper Waterloo Road.

They, like many other organizations, in an effort to stem vehicle theft, give drivers a card on entry which you are told "not to leave in the car" and which you must  be returned on exit to prove you are not leaving with

stolen vehicle.

Unfortunately, today I lost my card, (right there in Megamart) and was unlawfully detained for at least half hour by an extremely rude security guard,  although I produced my driver’s license and papers to prove ownership of the vehicle.

That ought to have enough, but no,  Megamart has clearly now found a way extorting money from persons stupid enough to patronize their business! So I was forced to pay $500 before being allowed to leave their premises.

I was told that the $500 is to replace the card, a dirty piece of paper in a plastic which could cost no

more than  $100 to produce. To add insult to injury, because their card was lost in their premises, most likely,  it will be turned in back to them anyway so the $500 was nothing but plain, unadulterated extortion.

IF THIS IS HOW MEGAMART TREATS PEOPLE WHO OPT TO SPEND THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY WITH THEM, I SHUDDER TO THINK HOW THEY MUST TREAT THOSE TO WHOM THEY HAVE TO PAY MONEY!

Banana Republic Forever

I guess Jamaica is doomed to remain a banana republic forever. Why? Those things called bureaucracy and red tape which is designed to stop progress forever. Look at this latest case of red tape and bureaucratic madness.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sean Thompson, whose parents are Jamaican migrants, has been working with the Ministry of Health and the hospital to come down to Jamaica today and do, free of cost, hip replacements on 6 indigent patients who could not otherwise have afforded orthopedic care at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay.  The implants which cost US$15,000 each are donated by US medical firm Stryker.

Would you believe that now that the Stryker rep is here and Sean is in flight, they are being told that Customs is holding on to the implants as they want them to pay for them!!!

And this is the type of madness that occurs when a government agency, ie. The procurement division of the Ministry of Health, is assisting!! Can you imagine what the bureaucracy does to ordinary persons when no officialdom is not involved?

Jamaica cannot afford to provide any level of proper health care for its people and guess who suffers most? The poor. We are supposedly blessed in  having a prime minister who "loves the poor", yet this is what happens when those who can, attempt to help the poor!

No wonder investors are shying away from doing business in Jamaica as the latest international report indicates that we have now been downgraded 5 points, from 85 to 90. ( See doing business report 2013)

Is there any doubt that Jamaica will forever remain a banana republic.