A great day

Going to the Tamarac sports complex on my birthday, May 20, was a pleasant way to close off my celebration.

For it was the city’s 60 th Anniversary and they put on a very successful series of family-oriented events to mark the day.

There were costumed characters all around but I was particularly impressed with the skills of the entertainers on stilts!

That’s balance power for you😊

On stage, there was the cultural side with songs and dances from Mexico and the South Pacific. (I came late so missed a lot including the reggae band😢)

Below is the band that closed off the cultural events before the light show.

Security was all around but thankfully, had nothing to do😊

All in all, I am happy I attended, for apart from the engaging performances, ran into quite a few friends and acquaintances.

Its All Over

There was a time not too long ago when people living in rural Jamaica either refused to travel to the capital city Kingston or when urgent business required them to do so, they would conduct said business and return to their peaceful  neck of the woods immediately.

This shunning of the capital was due to the high crime rate, especially violent crime.  However now, hardly  a day passes without you hearing the most savage reports coming out of once peaceful districts in rural areas. 

I think my first  realisation of this new trend came a few weeks ago  when  the parish of St.James, where you find the tourism capital of Jamaica, Montgeo Bay, had the highest per capita number of murders. Hardly had the ink dried on that report before we were hearing of mob killing and injury of innocent people in remote Zion , Trelawany, the home invasion of and murder of a female farmer in quiet, peaceful district of self sufficient St. Elizabeth , the home invasion in quiet Mandeville at the residence of the former Mayor, the doubling of the incidence of rape in Clarendon and over the weekend,  the invasion of the market and the gun slaying of two men in the bustling Browns Town, in the salubrious hills of st. Ann . Of course the rape of the five women including three children  in St. James just confirms that this parish is going to the dogs in  terms of violence.

The first duty of any government is to ensure a safe and secure environment for its citizens but not even that principal task can be achieved by this regime and to add insult to injury, there is no leadership offering hope or even the slightest promise that they have clue how to deal with  the terrible scourge of crime overwhelming the country.

Yes I wore black last Friday but no to protest against the report of just another brutal atrocity, but rather to mourn for my country and the  dismal future we have carved out for our children.