JAMAICA IS HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON TOURISM FOR ITS SURVIVAL, YET THE VERY HEART OF THE TOURISM HUB, MONTEGO BAY, HAS FOR YEARS BEEN A WILD ‚WILD WEST .
The Island’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness visited Montego Bay and spoke to citizens a couple days ago he also met with security personnel in the parish who gave him first-hand briefing of the challenges they face. The Prime Minister subsequently released a statement in which he said the following .
“We don’t have a switch to turn off crime … . The strategies we are putting in place will take some time to bear fruit, but we are working with the greatest speed and alacrity to ensure the results bear fruit,”. “There is a need for legislative reform to empower our police – and military in support of the police – legislation that is relevant and applicable to the crime situation we face.
I humbly submit to the Prime Minister and indeed the entire Nation that this fight is an existential fight. If the events of 2010 in Tivoli Gardens have not convinced you that there are enough guns, ammunition and the will to effectively challenge the authority of the state I do not know what will.
There is a series presently available on Netflix which tells the story of Colombia’s war with narco traffickers. It depicts the power and ruthlessness of the Colombian drug lords in that existential fight that nation had with determined narco traffickers. I suggest the Prime Minister , the Minister of National Security sit down and take a look at that series.
Otherwise they may do a simple Google search which will reveal what the Colombian people did to break the back of that threat, saving their nation from becoming a Narco state.
Mister Prime Minister I supported your candidacy for the highest elected office in our country . At this time I support the work you are doing . You have demonstrated an understanding of what needs to be done . I also understand that there are strong forces arrayed against a change in our country which are quite comfortable with the status quo.
Mister Prime Minister, I am sure that you are more conversant with what is occurring on the ground than most, including this writer. You live there , you receive briefings, you see it on television. It is up to you to change this.
It won’t be easy I understand that. At the risk of sounding grandiose I am speaking directly to you because I am aware that you and some well placed people in your administration do take a peek at this little medium from time to time.
I implore you to get rid of INDECOM.
It is a bad law which was poorly thought through, you know it, many in your Administration know it, and an ever increasing plurality of the Jamaican people are coming to that realization.
Mister Prime Minister I know that you understand that I am absolutely not advocating for unfettered policing with no oversight . I have a history of advocating for strong oversight of police but it cannot be an adversarial oversight determined to have gotcha moments of police officers who go out and risk their lives for your life and that of all of our citizens.
Mister Prime Minister the future of our country cannot be mortgaged on the ego of a single person or even a small group of elites who are hell bent on a destructive path of social engineering which has been tried and proven to fail, not just in our country but in others.
Finally Prime Minister Holness, I do believe you are critically aware that your growth agenda cannot and will not be successful in an atmosphere of murder and mayhem. Someone will have to bell the cat . If not you then who?
You do not want to preside over the ashes of our country . Make no mistake if this regression is not halted with decisive action and soon, that will be the result.
This is not the first time that this kind of threat has emerged in our country . It was another great Labor Party Prime Minister, the Rt Honorable Hugh Lawson Shearer who placed his boot-heels on that monster.
You too can be great , if not for yourself , for the yet unborn children, for the future of our country. It’s up to you. You must send Terrence Williams packing and empower the police to go after the murderers.
The world is watching !!!