I am drawing the attention of the mayor of Kingston to a place in his jurisdiction where, extortion is rife and everyone who shops there knows it.

I am referring to the Coronation Market where on any given Saturday morning, you are unable to avoid the sight of "big and not so big", grown men walking in pairs or groups of three, or up to six, with scandal bags, bullying vendors to take their produce.

Last week a poor youngman selling his yellow yam was almost beaten by one of these thugs. It's an awful sight to see these men, who are able to work, bullying and even at times simply taking the produce the vendors bring to the market to sell. I overheard one vendor telling a young woman that he's afraid of the thugs but is tired of them preying on him almost every Saturday. So, as a concerned citizen, I am calling upon Member of Parliament Bruce Golding and Mayor McKenzie to address the issue.

- Concerned Shopper

Kingston

It's interesting that Bruce Golding's government should be blamed for our present dilemma. What about the period when the world economy was growing and, for the better part, of all those exact years we struggled?

If the average Jamaican cannot make such a simple analysis, we should throw up our hands, and keep repeating our national anthem.

- Patrick Rowe

patd1rowe@hotmail.com

I find it incredible that Donald Willis (Gleaner, August 4) would suggest that our ancestors would not want us to demand reparations for their enslavement. To the contrary, I would think the ancestors are wondering what has taken us so long to pursue this.

The objective of seeking reparations is not to enrich descendants of enslaved Africans. It is, to be very brief, demanding restitution for what has been taken from us - uncompensated labour which has been used to enrich certain states; the disruption of the proper evolution of the African continent for Africans; the deaths and enormous inhumane conditions which our ancestors endured; and the racism that has dogged our footsteps over the years.

There is precedent in the struggle for reparations by other wronged racial and ethnic groups. Are we any less deserving? I would think not.

- Patrick Hunter

pgeoh@yahoo.ca

Toronto, Canada