Crime, Violence and Poverty in Jamaica
Although I have an endless amount of positive things I can say about the people and the culture of Jamaica, I also have a long list of things I can say are wrong about the country. It all starts with the government of Jamaica. Although Jamaica is a democratic state with ideals of equality, there is still a lot of corruption. Politicians are often shady and will often partake in certain activities such as organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering. The police are a whole other story. It’s hard to tell if the police in Jamaica are there to protect the people, or to swindle them. You rarely see policemen in Kingston, but to be fair the police force has seemed to improve slightly over the past few years.
Apart from political crime, there is a lot of violence throughout the poorer communities, mainly in certain ghettos in Kingston. Theft is pretty common in these areas. The murder rate has noticeably decreased in the last 5 years, but there are still certain areas that you probably should walk through in the nighttime. Growing up in Kingston however, I can honestly say that I usually don’t have any fears of being robbed, murdered or whatever. Trouble usually won’t find you unless you’re looking for it. Most people are friendly and even friendlier towards tourists. It always upsets me when tourists never step out of their resort in fear of coming across danger, because you can never really experience the real Jamaica that way.
Education is another issue in Jamaica. Although around most Jamaicans are literate and have had a high school education, most don’t end up going to college. Because of this, there aren’t enough people to create companies and businesses that would lead to higher paying jobs. I do have faith in the younger generation however. Because of the internet and other technology, Jamaicans are becoming smarter and I know there will be a lot of development in the future.
Because of the lack of college education, poverty is one of the biggest problems of Jamaica. The quality of living is low for many people. They may struggle for food and water and have poor quality education and healthcare. Driving around Kingston you can see beggars everywhere, whether 7 years old or 70 years old. Although laziness might be a factor to a lot of beggars, most of them have no other direction to turn.
Just 50 years ago, Jamaica was a completely difference place. After it received it’s independence, it ran very smoothly as a country and there was very little crime or violence. After a series of inadequate or corrupt Prime Ministers, Jamaica had slowly degraded as a country. In the past few years, things have seemed to improve a little, and hopefully will continue improving. The young people of Jamaica are more educated than ever, and I have faith that we will be able to make great change. Jamaica has a lot of potential to shine, with all its great resources and natural beauty, it could be a great country, but it all depends on whether we can break through the corruption that has held us back for so long.
