The Editor, Sir:

I refer to the letter from a returnee, in Saturday's edition of The Gleaner.

The writer said the Government had been rather silent and ineffective when it came to addressing our burdensome crime rate.

Whereas I do agree with most of the content of that particular letter, I also think the writer's expectations exceed the reality of our predicament.

It is unreasonable to draw comparisons with our politicians and those within the House of Commons in England, for a variety of reasons.

For example, the House Of Commons has over a 1,000 years of experience, whereas we only have approximately 40 years.

Our politicians are more versed in the practicality of their limited power than they let on. Perhaps too, there is much truth in the perception that most politicians within our Jamaican Parliament are only there for what they can get for themselves.

Whereas I do understand and sympathise with the writer, I also believe it all amounts to a matter of expectations, and if you are fortunate enough to live in a developed country with a high literacy rate, where informed citizens can lobby and demand accountability from their elected councils, and you then return to a country such as Jamaica, where the literacy rate is below the international average and some politicians have links to criminals, then the comparison of the two is more than worlds apart.

I am, etc.,

DERRICK JOHNSON

deejay@yahoo.com