A Jamaican living in Canada for the last 30 years was stunned by unpleasant encounters during his visit this month to celebrate Jamaica's 50th anniversary of Independence.

He said he found some motorists reckless in the way they drove and were rude to other motorists.

"One would think that after 50 years as an independent nation, the citizens would be far more courteous," he said.

He said he witnessed motorists 'bad driving' others motorists and shouting expletives at the same time.

"One of the things that really angered me was the rudeness of some of the boys who wipe windshields at the intersections," he said.

Unpleasant words

He recounted that he stopped at a traffic light, two boys rushed up with rags and bottles in hand.

"When I told them I did not want their service, they shouted some unpleasant words at me, and one even flashed some of the water from the bottle on to the windshield of the car.

"I could only ask myself what was going to be the future of those boys because, to me, they don't seem to have a bright future."

He said he was not bashing Jamaica because he has seen many great improvements in the country but "bad manners and people taking the law into their own hands is what I really deplore."

He was referring to a news report recently in which citizens beat and chopped a man after accusing him of being a thief. The man was accused of stealing motor cars.

"It was one of the most barbaric things I have witnessed," he said, pondering why the police were not called to deal with the issue.

Some residents, particularly in rural communities, are still engaged in vigilante justice, is going outside of the law to mete punishment to someone suspected of a crime or caught in the act of committing an offence such as stealing.

Citizens must be aware that vigilante justice is an offence in Jamaica. There have been several cases in the courts in which persons who take the law into their own hands, and kill or injure others, have been convicted and sent to prison.