As the true cost of hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup begins to emerge with the tabling of the supplementary estimates in Parliament, one continues to seriously wonder about the decision making skills of our eminent leaders. Jamaica has, so far, spent J$9 billion on the World Cup, money that could have and should have been spent tackling the plethora of problems that Jamaica currently faces. Yes, I know that the World Cup is one of the largest sporting events in the world and yes, I know that the fact that Jamaica was successful in its bid to host is an honour and yes, I know that it gives us much wanted exposure, but is that really worth J$9 billion (and counting)?
Why spend J$9 billion when there are only seven police cars to cover a parish of 814 sq. km.? Why spend J$9 billion when police reports are still handwritten? When police and fire stations are decrepit. When many parts of rural Jamaica still have no running water. When only 32% of Jamaican CXC students managed to pass Mathematics and only 42% passed English.
Why build a 25,000 seat stadium when there's a shortage of high schools? When babies die at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay (the largest hospital in western Jamaica) because there's only one incubator.
Maybe I'm missing something, but those decisions seem to be conspicuously unintelligent. Is the World Cup really worth it?
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These are the pertinent questions that all forward thinking Jamaicans should be asking,but in a place where a "hug and a kiss" make things right,what are you left with?!
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