Mi granny always seh, "Don't heng yuh basket higher than weh yuh can reach it because sooner than later it ago cause problem!"

As mi a watch and calculate all a di money dem weh a spend pon the Tivoli inquiry, mi really haffi wonda what is the agenda and what is the motive! When mi hear the 200 million dolla price tag weh it a cost so far, mi haffi wonder if a di same country this weh have so many challenges and always a ask the citizens fi band we belly and hold strain! Two hundred million dollars anno 'chicken feed' and all Stevie Wonder can see seh a eediat ting a gwaan! Two hundred million and di inquiry not even done yet, which means at the end of it all the cost could double significantly! Wooiiee, we pocket a bun we!

Some lawyer a get more than $50 million, some more than $40 million and the handsome lawyer man, who is the chair, mi hear seh him a get US$370 per hour! Dem money deh no include other miscellaneous costs and fees and hotel and transport and food and all these tings fi a country weh a bawl everyday seh we no have it!

This is outrageous! The issue is not about the lawyer dem rate and weh dem charge, it's about the fact that the country cannot afford to pay those rates at this time. With respect, the people dem go school and study hard and have up dem whole heap a letta behind dem name so dem free fi set dem price, but what the Government could have or should have done is set a flat rate or just realise seh dem cannot afford dem deh breed a money deh!

Big bill

Di nice clean gentleman have QC behind him name and dem letters deh not to be taken lightly, however, the country cannot absorb dem big bill deh right now. It is also reported that the lawyers who are representing the police and other agents of the state have a big bill too! Mi no bad mind nobody, and me a one woman who believe inna paying people what they are worth, but when a country have a dialysis machine, a radiation machine weh naa wuk and people a dead, we simply cannot afford it!

Hospital have roach in deh, not enough beds and people a suffer, the country cannot afford it! Patients who are suffering from breast cancer don't have adequate treatment facilities to help them get better, yet we find how much million dollars to pay people fi try a 'case'? The man at the centre of it all is already serving time, and, truth be told, mi no think the people dem want fi relive 2010, but would rather pick up the pieces and be properly compensated.

The government

When mi hear some a the testimony, mi heart bleed! So after the Government pay dem big money deh, den dem still ago turn round and pay the people dem? Wouldn't it make sense to use this money and pay them instead? Is a whole heap of deficiency a gwaan inna Jamaica pon a daily basis weh dem same money deh coulda fix and sort out.

Mi hear the MP fi West Kingston seh $52 million coulda cover the damages caused by the incursion. So if him a seh so why are we spending this money when we up to we neck in debt?! Me willing fi even say $100 million coulda sort out the people dem a Tivoli which would be far less than what has be spent so far! To what avail is this inquiry taking place? What is the end game? Wah ago come out of it? Smaddy ago go a prison? Will the truth be revealed both from the citizens and the State?

The Government has lawyers who they already employ, why then weren't those lawyers in the Attorney General's office used instead of seeking the services of 'outside' lawyers? Most people have a negative outlook on the inquiry and deem it as a big waste of time because after all is said and done everybody ago just go home wid the big fat cheque, and the people dem who were directly affected still won't have closure or get the 'justice' they seek.

Mi ignarant fi the amount a money weh a spend because is taxpayers a pay fi it! If dem add up all a the money dem weh waste they would see we have enough fi mek the country and the taxpayers better off.

I'm all for justice, brotherhood and peace, but as a country we need to think diligently, creatively and honestly as to how we can achieve this.

Some lawyer a get more than $50 million, some more than $40 million and the handsome lawyer man, who is the chair, mi hear seh him a get US$370 per hour! Dem money deh no include other miscellaneous costs and fees and hotel and transport and food and all these tings fi a country weh a bawl everyday seh we no have it!