Stop maligning Adam Stewart

THE EDITOR, Madam:

THE RECENT comments against Mr Adam Stewart by some parties in Jamaica are not only malicious, but totally unfounded, and it is a sad, sad thing to see that there are those who can so easily turn on a patriotic son of the soil and cast such aspersions.

The Stewart family is an open book, and for half a century Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart has done more to provide economic sustenance and employment opportunities for generations of Jamaicans.

Adam Stewart has been under public scrutiny since he was a child, so how is it that suddenly, after 40 years, people (Ifrica, for example) decide he is such a bad person? I think Ifrica’s comments were not only unfair, they were opportunistic and self-serving. If she was being honest, rather than simply trying to score points to promote her own image, then she would have also admitted to the tremendous contributions Adam and his family have made to not only Jamaica, but across the region.

Not only in terms of their business, but through their foundation, which a casual glance in most islands will show has been spending millions of dollars helping tens of thousands of persons just like you and me, many of them young kids. Adam Stewart is the president of the Sandals Foundation and through his guidance, the body has invested more than US$60 million that has helped raise the standards of education, training and support for countless communities throughout the Caribbean. Who does Ifrica think lives in these communities? Who does she think benefits?

Before that, his father has stood up for Jamaica to help save the dollar (we must never forget) and only recently gave millions of dollars to members of parliament to help in the fight against COVID19. Where were all the critics then?

But you know what? Adam is a humble man, and he is uncomfortable with praise for something he thinks is his responsibility. However, two wrongs cannot make a right, and when something is wrong, then it is the duty of people to stand up and call it out, or else we risk becoming the very monsters we are fighting against!

ERNEST AMADOE