PUBLISHED: Yu caan ketch Quaco, ketch im shut---right?

Dear Madam Editor,

The Daily Gleaner of March 20, 2025, carries a shocking report headlined, ‘We were in the dark’—Early retirement leaves shocked former employees in political ombudsman’s office with little to show for decades of service. The distressing account of Jennie Blake and Ann Berry—two women discarded like old rags after decades of loyal service—is a damning indictment of Jamaica’s moral decay.

Though the reporter’s journalism is commendable, one must question the Gleaner’s editorial judgment in selecting as the sole accompanying image a photograph of Former Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown. This choice creates a misleading first impression, given that she was, at every point, an advocate for these vulnerable women. The real culprits of this travesty, however, are those in positions of power who turned their backs on justice and decency.

Former Speaker Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert MP, Present Speaker and the Most Honourable Reigning Speaker Juliet Holness MP, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck MP, and Member of Parliament Everald Warmington: God nah sleep! Have you no shame? Unnuh noh ha conscience? The mere fact that this disgrace could unfold under your watch should haunt you. It is an abomination that these women, after dedicating their lives to public service, should be cast aside without so much as a gratuity, left to fend for themselves in their twilight years. A plaque and a bouquet? Mockery! Insult!

Contrast this with the United States, where even in the ruthless TrumpxMusk 'gang of two dons' era of sudden mass layoffs, employees at least receive redundancy packages and legal recourse. There, corporate dismissals are subject to judicial scrutiny. But in Jamaica, where the legal system has been rendered impotent, these women have been left to the mercies of an indifferent bureaucracy. Where is the justice, Minister of—er, yes—Justice? Or does your title now ring hollow, Mr Chuck?

This egregious act is more than an injustice—it is a national disgrace. If even the "Remnants" of the Political Ombudsman's office and the ‘glorious’ Electoral Office of Jamaica can so callously discard workers, what hope is there for the powerless? Is this the Jamaica we have become—a nation that spits upon its own servants and discards them like refuse?--Yu caan ketch Quaco, ketch im shut---right?