I am responding to a letter to your newspaper dated March 25, 2010 by Nicholas Stephenson titled, ‘Diaspora should act more, speak less.’ This writer has so much distortions, half-truths and innuendos that we would have done free speech an injustice to allow it to go unattended.

 Foremost, the writer states that Jamaicans in the Diaspora need to put their money where their mouth is. I must reiterate to Ms. The writer that remittance is only second to tourism in foreign exchange flowing to the island. Furthermore, since part of tourism earnings is subjective it is not an exact science what the true earnings are.

 The writer went on to say that  the Diaspora needs to invest capital in the island. I am not yet privy to the statistics but I am willing to take a gamble Jamaicans in the Diaspora funded most of the non-government homes built in Jamaica in the last ten years. I witness first hand where in some rural district the homes constructed by members of the Diaspora are the only source of employment for many youths.

 The writer again in confusion is reminding Diaspora to buy Jamaican products like Red Stripe Beer. The mother of all stores in the US, Wal-Mart is now selling Red Stripe Beer. Jamaicans, including myself, are the biggest supporters. As a matter of fact I see supermarkets in Jamaica with more foreign goods than some supermarkets in South Florida.

 The armchair sitting and drinking wine in Jacuzzi in the USA for most Jamaicans is only for the Soap operas. Many Jamaicans work three jobs in extreme deplorable conditions just to help themselves and their families at home. Some make good of themselves because the US reward people for hard work. I fully agree that the Diaspora is capable of doing more, but again many are fearful of the high probability of getting robbed and killed on returning home.