Over the past few years much has been said about the rise of crime in Jamaica. The murder rate per capita is the highest in the world, an unwanted achievement. Much of the blame of why the crime rate is at an all time high has been laid at the feet of politicians of both parties - the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP).
Over the past 20 years the actions of both parties have firmly established political garrisons in marked sections of Kingston. And due to the recent shift of power between both parties and the lack of (unofficial) welfare handouts by the current JLP administration, criminals have spread their actions from these garrisons into all areas of the Corporate Area.
However, there is another section of society that is brazenly raping and pillaging the fruits of the Jamaican people - the Jamaican businessmen.
With capitalist lessons learned from the JLP administration in the 1980s, and the unethical and unscrupulous actions of the PNP administration in the 1990s and the first few years of the millennium, Jamaican businessmen feel that they are beyond the reach of the legal system and basically do whatever they please - the welfare of the Jamaican people be damned.
A recent example of this is the unauthorized building of a laundry room at the Superclubs owned Breezes Hotel in Ocho Rios. According to reports by the Jamaica Observer, it is alleged that the hotel built and is operating a newly constructed laundry room to the detriment of neighboring hotels in the area. The St Ann Parish Council, the administration in charge of approving building permits and expansion plans, has stated that although the hotel submitted plans for the room to be built, they have not been approved by the council.
This has lead to a formal complaint by the owner of the FDR Resort against the Superclubs chain - a legit case unlike the usual irrational kindergarten bickering which members of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) are notorious for.
The report is just the latest example of monied people in Jamaica thinking they can do what they want without prior consent. Other cases include the removal of sand from prime beachfront real estate in St James, the building of an extra floor of rooms for the newly constructed RIU resort in Montego Bay, the unauthorized construction of apartments and storefront buildings in various parts of the Corporate Area - all pointing to one common denominator: people with money doing whatever they feel because they can pay off the little man, underscored by a "Cho, dem cyan seh nuttin' to me - mi a big man!" mentality.
Unfortunately this sort of behaviour is not only accepted but also endorsed by the Jamaican public. Although businesses in Jamaica charge a gouging 150-300% profit mark-up on goods and services that strains the pockets of the struggling working class and leads the everyday man to shout obscenities at the cash register, the same Jamaican public are the ones who - upon seeing Mr Big driving by in the latest 2008 SUV bought from profits made off the sweat and tears of the poor of Jamaican laborer - will say with grudging admiration, "Lawd, look pon Mr Big inna 'im bad bad SUV!".
Why is it, I ask, that the monied section of Jamaican society are allowed by the local government to get by with above described illegal business practices, while a poor child selling June-plums in Half-Way-Tree for his lunch money is being chased away by the police?
What kind of message are we sending to the youth of Jamaica? Even more concerning is what subliminal resentment are we instilling in the minds of tomorrow's generation?
Until Jamaicans wake-up and realize that they have the right to hold these people accountable and that they are the ones funding - AND PAYING THE PRICE - of such indiscipline behavior, Jamaica will never be able to haul herself out of the quagmire of corruption, greed and debt that it is currently in.
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