While the country is facing serious problems due to local and international challenges, it is incumbent on every Jamaican to play a role in helping to ride out the rough times and emerge stronger and more united. The Government can only implement policies and do creative accounting; it is the citizens who must make it happen.

I want to touch on one area that I think we, the Jamaican citizens and residents, can make a significant contribution to foreign exchange savings and employment, particularly in the rural areas.

Rice, rice and more rice

In many restaurants, it is usually impossible to get a piece of yam, banana, breadfruit, dasheen, plantain, etc. All you can get is rice, rice and more rice. Rice is imported using foreign exchange; we need to use local food items and save foreign exchange.

Many members of the public have been demanding local produce from restaurants in vain. Rice is not a very healthy alternative. The people have the power to make the difference; not the Government.

I am, etc.,

Keith Patrick

patrick_keith@hotmail.com

Kingston