Stupid/Ignorant people “rush” the passport office

Jamaica is a rather interesting country, with  far too many who appear to have very little understanding of how things work in the country and the impact things on their lives.

Ever since the government announced the increase in passport prices, people  have rushed to the passport office hoping to get their passport before the price increase takes effect.  Today there was outrage at the PICA office as customers who had lined up from as early as 4 am were turned away having been told, the quota of just over 1000 applications had been reached.

I am actually amazed at the chaos this rather nominal increase in passport prices have caused and how passionate people are about the proposed increase.

The fact is a passport is valid for 10 yrs !

It therefore means that you would not need to replace this until another 10 years and as such the increase in my mind is very nominal in real terms when compared to other things.

Let’s look at fuel prices at the pump, which impacts our lives every single day. Oil prices on the world market are still about 45% down when compared to last year, but with recent price increases by Petrojam, fuel prices is almost where it was when oil was over $100 per barrel, but there is no outcry from the population.

Can someone really tell me how paying $7,500 for a passport that will last you for ten years be considered to be oppressive, give me a freakin break.

It cost me close 2 months ago $7000 to fill my tank, which was done every two weeks, while last week the same tank of case was $9,500 or a 37.5% increase and rising, but where is the outcry?

The problem with Jamaica is one of not seeming to know and appreciate the value of money . If you increase a item by 100% they will bawl murder, but if you increase the same item 10% every week in ten weeks you would have been up over 100%, but given the slow rise, people remains very quiet, not recognizing the diminishing value of their money.

The real reason for the above is as follows.

Many Jamaicans purchase gas based of a dollar value and not volume ie,  A man goes to the pump and say ” give me $2,500 worth of E-90″, gets 10 Liters, but really pays no attention to volume, he has received $2,500 gas.

Next week he goes and asks for another $2,500 of E-90,but this time he only receives 9.5 liters, once again it does not matter, he pays the same as last week, so for him nothing has really changed.

Therein lies a major part of our problem.

To the PICA office crashes, chill out the passport last you 10 years.

A USA Visa is $19,000 with no assurance that you will get one.

A UK visa goes  from a low of $58,000 for a 2 year visa

$105,000 for a 5 year visa  and

$133,000 for a 10 year visa.

I don’t recall hearing any outcry,  in fact people are happy to pay the above fees to support the USA and UK government, but bitch about paying just $7,500 for a Jamaican passport.

We protest and bitch about the wrong things most of the time, which is no wonder the country is in the state it is in today.

Jamaicans need a good education in value and use of money to cut down on so much stupidity in the country and focus people on the right areas ie the things that really matters.

Protesting a  fee increase on a passport is downright STUPID  given the other major issues affecting our daily lives.

😦

Give me a BREAK !