Message Board Archives

158 murders for the year to date - I am not including overnight numbers.
Di Commish has resigned. Meanwhile di police wait for second hand vehicles while di politicians get their new Range Rovers.

In reply to Chrissy

Land of wood and water
motor vehicle and manslaughter

In reply to Chrissy

Typical S Hole country.

The politicians living rich while the people dying in poverty.

Amazing that after 50 years of "freedom" from the white man that beautiful country is now a cesspool.

In reply to JohnBull and Chrissy

If only the people would read and understand their history.

With the possible exception of Marcus Garvey, the men and women who wrenched Jamaica out of colonialism and into independence were not politicians. Some of them became politicians some time after. Here is the list:

Ken Hill and the National Reform Association; Headley Jacobs, Frank Hill, Vernon Arnett, Ken Jones, Roger Mais, W. Adolphe Roberts with Walter A. Domingo of the Jamaica progressive League, Rudolph Burke, Willie Henry, Cedric Titus, Vivian Virtue, MG. Smith Cedric Titus, John Maxwell, Theodore Sealy, Percy Miller, Evon Blake,Mae Soohih, Ivy Baxter, Rex Nettleford, Osmond Theodore Fairclough, Marcus Garvey, D. Thom Girvan, Lily Mae Burke, Iris king, Rose Agatha Leon, Edwin Leopold Allen, Howard Cooke, Noel Nethersole, C.T. Saunders, C.C. McArthur Ireland, Neville Dawes, Albert Huie, Archie Lindo, Carlos Malcolm, Eric Coverley, Greta and Henry Fowler, Wills O. Isaacs, Trevor Rhone, Florizel Glasspole, George Headley, William Alexander Bustamante, Norman Manley, Edith Dalton James, Bishop Gibson, George Campbell, Parboosingh, Amy Bailey, Una Marson, Louise Bennett, Mary Morris-Knibb, D. Thom Girvan, Philip Sherlock, Father Hugh Sherlock, Eddie Burke, Mrs. Tomlinson, Edna Manley, Herb McKenley. There are others...

NO POLITICIANS!

The point is this: Jamaicans cannot wait on politicians to do what is necessary. They will have to take things in their own hands and take the necessary steps to bring the desired changes.


//

In reply to Ewart
They were interested in building community - not counting votes

In reply to Chrissy



Ding, Ding, ding!


//

In reply to Ewart

Isn't Chrissy blaming politicians?

In reply to Ewart
If only this Generation will learn their history. That is where hope is on very shaky ground.
Most likely they were never taught.Tis hard for One to make a difference if one does not know better.

In reply to Ewart

Agree this is not a political problem... in my mind the only real difference bwtn the two parties in JA is that one wears green and the other, orange. Everything else is just smoke and mirrors, like when the three card dealer looks away while his confederate shows you the pretty card. The people who were poor when I was a kid are still poor, those who lived up in the hills still do so ...crime, poverty, joblessness, opportunity for the majority .... all still major problems and in fact have gotten progressively worse thru the years, irrespective of which party has held the reins.

A revolution is definitely necessary, a Jamaican spring if you will. But a revolution needs leaders and I don't know how you see it, but men of the breed you mentioned above are in very short supply nowadays.

When men start getting no bail and life in prison for gun I bet you it cool down.

Possible parole if you excel in positive mind bending reintegration and tourism compatible training programs .

A chance to educate by force..all levels from basic life skills to tertiary etc where applicable .

Spoken to many drug mules caught in the UK, said incarceration there was the best thing ever happened to them,from a man who learned life skills to a guy pursuing a degree.

Man dey go run from gun..wah no part..

Pushing for that here in T&T..everything must work hand in hand,in the world we live today a successful country has to be a machine with many active components,the village can no longer raise the child on its own.

In reply to JohnBulland Bravos


Both of you are right. There are a few men and women of calibre but... their spine needs stiffening and i do not know where that steel will come from.


Bravos, I will post an article I did when Ellington was still Commissioner. It speaks to your point.


//

Crime, Ellington and Jamaica
Published, Sunday Gleaner: Sunday | December 8, 2013 4 Comments

Ewart Walters, GUEST COLUMNIST

In a thoughtful editorial, The Gleaner (November 21, 2013) called on Police Commissioner Owen Ellington and National Security Minister Peter Bunting to consider their options. Demonstrating understandable reluctance to persecute or prosecute, the editorial nevertheless reflects the fear and agony of the cowering country that the ravaging beast of crime continues to plunder at will.

A similar note was sounded the day before by the Jamaica Observer, which then added another dimension: "The Government can't be so focused on the country's economic challenges that it neglects the social problems. For, in fact, both are inextricably linked."

Clearly, Jamaica is not content with the untamed, unrelenting status quo. And yet...

On Tuesday, June 18, the Observer delivered itself of an editorial titled 'Press on, Mr Ellington.' It was in fact the third editorial of trenchant support for the commissioner of police in less than a month, for it followed editorials on June 10 and June 3. And they all resounded the theme, 'security must be the first law', that was trumpeted by Commissioner Ellington in a most remarkable article on June 2 titled 'Dealing effectively with guns and drugs for improved public safety'.

Bear in mind that The Gleaner accurately describes him as "perhaps the most intelligent head of the constabulary Jamaica has had in recent history," and commends his analyses of Jamaica's crime problem as "penetrating."

Let me say at the outset that the commissioner's article is the most astounding I have seen in a Jamaican newspaper for many years.

Astounding, because it presents a report from a major public servant - not to his minister, not to the Police Services Commission, and not to the prime minister.

Astounding, because it is a clear appeal to civil society - the country as a whole.

Astounding, because except for the three Observer editorials mentioned above and some exposure and discussion on Nationwide radio - and perhaps television, which I do not often get to see from my perch here - it does not seem to have garnered any traction past June 18.

The astonishment is compounded by the fact that the proposals made by the commissioner of police to grab hold of violent crime and gun murders by the neck and throttle it with strong action that would afford the country the breathing space to grow and prosper socially and economically, has not stirred either the Government or the Opposition (both of which seem to be far more interested in party politics and winning elections), or the doyens of civil society to whom they were addressed.

It is civil society, remember, that pressured the then government into the capitulation that eventually sent Dudus away and allowed security forces unfettered, everyday access into sections of West Kingston that had for decades been garrisoned out of bounds. Hear The Gleaner: "In 2010, the security forces entered the West Kingston redoubt of the mobster Christopher Coke and routed his militia, who were attempting to prevent Coke's arrest and extradition to the United States. Jamaica's criminal gangs were in retreat."

But since then, what?

GANGS ARE BACK

"The police, however, have not solidified and built upon that initial success. The criminal gangs and extortionists, including in West Kingston, are back with a vengeance... Jamaica is sinking beneath the burden of gun crime. Only around 12 per cent of the perpetrators of murders risk being arrested and possibly facing the courts. That, clearly, is an environment in which criminals can operate with impunity." Violent gun crime, including murder, extortion and rape, has resurfaced with a vengeance.

Then, the police commissioner presented a proposal ... and it is greeted – with silence?

With the exception of his apparent misstatement or misunderstanding of the concept of 'the rule of law,' Mr Ellington's article was a solid piece of work, well researched, and very well argued.

The rule of law is not a matter of a policeman saying do as I say and don't argue. Nor is it the placing of the country under the heavy manners of a police state. The rule of law means that there is not one law for Cherry Gardens and another for Tivoli; one law for judges and another for offenders; one law for Movado and another for Vybz Kartel.

The rule of law is the main plank of our democracy which says that the law – not rich, powerful individuals or agencies - is supreme, and all people are equal before the law.

DRASTIC MEDICINE

Mr Ellington has shown that by the firm application of respect for the law, Singapore has ended up with a solution to its crime monster. Any person caught with an illegal gun goes to prison for life. Not indefinite, but definite detention. Colombia, too, has seen a massive reduction in its gun crime rate. He credits this to government leadership, based on government recognition that drastic sores need drastic medicine.

He also cites Colombia's turnaround. Today, the state is in full control of Colombia's territory; the country's murder rate has dropped to around 30 per 100,000 of the population. Colombia achieved economic growth of 4.6 per cent between 2004 and 2009. The economy was described as a 'rising star' by the International Monetary Fund in 2011.

This turnaround in Colombia's fortunes has been credited to the leadership of President Alvaro Uribe, which began in 2002. Anthony Harrington, writing in QFinance, February 17, 2011, quoted from a speech by current Colombian President Manuel Santos in which the latter praised his predecessor for his decisiveness in leadership. He notes that upon taking office, President Uribe applied a very simple, yet very important concept that the Romans invented – namely, that security must be the first law of the republic otherwise the other laws will not operate effectively.

'Security' meant that every citizen should be able to go about their business, secure in their possession of their property and their rights. It also meant taking back Colombia from the rebels and drug lords.
What Mr Ellington wants is a lawful society where people respect the law and abide by it because the result of any other behaviour is too painful to ignore. He wants the option of fines for gun crimes removed completely. He wants 20-year minimum prison sentences for gun criminals.

He issues a timely and important warning about the place of human-rights concerns: "Any preoccupation with human-rights backlash from bold and courageous policies to enhance public security will only assure continued deterioration in the quality of life for all Jamaicans, rather than the denial of freedom for the few who undermine our security."

Surely, he is not alone. Surely, our prime minister, minister of justice and minister of national security, not to mention the ministers of finance, education, agriculture, and technology, or the Opposition – they all want this, too.

What then holds them back? Is it that they, too, are waiting on civil society to bring them to their senses?

And if that is the case, on what, pray, is civil society waiting?

The Gleaner is right in sounding the alarm bells (carefully) by saying the two men in charge have not delivered the goods and should consider their options. But that is not the end of the matter.

In 2010, there was a change in Jamaica, and the criminals were on the run. The reason for this was not the Government; it was civil society, civil society that pressured the Government. Thus pressured, the Government acted.

Why governments don't seem to want to do anything until they are pressured is another matter. This Government might say it does not have the money to put all the needed elements in place, and while there might be some truth there, one has to wonder about the will. For money by itself can do nothing absent the will. The Government will also need the firm support of the Opposition in this national venture. Is this forthcoming?

Commissioner Ellington wants security, personal security, to be the Shekinah light of the land. He has called out in his distress to civil society for help. He wants Jamaica to apply the remedies of Singapore and Colombia - admittedly two autocratic countries. But Jamaica has a sore foot that endangers the whole body.

Surely, it cannot be the vested interests of US visas alone that impelled civil society to act in 2010. Surely, it was a demand for safety and security - a safety and security that was lost when the dons and deejays displaced the teachers and the social workers as community builders and defenders.

The Gleaner, in its role of thought-leader in Jamaica, might wish to recapture the spirit of its campaign in its redoubtable series, 'The Gangs of Gordon House', and stimulate civil society - of which it is a part - into action.

It is only when we act together as a people that we will restore to the top of our agenda the incomplete task of nation building.

Ewart Walters is a journalist, and former diplomat who lives in Ottawa. His autobiography, To Follow Right – A Journalist’s Journey was published in 2011. His new book We Come From Jamaica – The National Movement 1937-1962 will be published in the Spring.

In reply to JohnBull

Geo-politics and our lack of control of our own economy(ies) is also a critical problem.

In reply to Ewart

Glad they see it too..

What are we waiting for !?