The Reality Of The Situation Is That Jamaicans Are Just Damn Nasty

Reports indicate that the Chikungunya virus was found for the first time in the Americas and Caribbean islands in the latter part of 2013. Chikungunya or Chik-V as it is commonly called is a viral disease that is transmitted to people via the adese-egypti mosquito. Fact!

However, try telling this to the average Jamaican man. He is willing to put his head on a block that the disease isn’t caused by mosquitoes but is airborne. Some even go as far as saying that the aircraft which crashed off the coast of Portland was in fact a drone packed with capsules of the virus. Ignorant!

The reality is that chikungunya is here and I doubt its leaving us anytime soon This debilitating illness is taking its toll on the Jamaican population. The Ministry of Health has estimated that about 60% of the population will be infected by the end of the year. Epidemic!

Though I haven’t been infected by the virus and I pray I won’t join the masses who are, I understand that its a rather painful experience. So painful is the virus that Jamaicans have referred to it as ‘chicken-gunman’ or ‘chicken-gonorrhea’. Females who have been pregnant and are now feeling the blunt of Chik-V say pains are more intense than giving birth. Ouch!

Our creative dancehall artistes have gone to the point of crafting compelling, catchy and humorous lyrics. On the other hand, many have disregarded the recommended pharmaceuticals and have resorted to natural home remedies such as ‘bissy’ tea. The demand for the natural herb, ‘bissy’ has now reached a record high. Money!

In the meantime, the frenzy which the country has been thrown into with respect to cleaning up the environment leads one to ask: Why did it have to take this disease to make us realize the need to stop littering, clean the dirty drains & rid your homes of garbage? It nuh need nuh MP fi tell unu dat! Simply put, many Jamaicans are too nasty. There are very few communities in ‘paradise’ that are not replete with garbage and filth. Bushing and cleaning of drains which are given out seasonally, turn out more to be a way of rewarding the partisan faithful. Indeed, we have oftentimes seen where the same people who are paid to clean a drain or gully are the same persons who aid in the continued disposal of refuse and solid waste in these same areas. Nasty!

We are all aware of the places where mosquitoes breed, yet all over Jamaica we perennially ignore their breeding sites to our ultimate peril. Millions of man-hours are being lost because of absenteeism at the workplace and it must be clear that the nation’s productivity level is being seriously affected. How will this play out in our bid to continue successfully passing the IMF tests? Depression!

While we may argue that the government is not being proactive in curbing the Chik-V virus, it is time for Jamaicans to take personal responsibility for their surroundings. The spread of Chik-V is caused through our own nastiness. Nasty!

Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.