THE EDITOR, Sir:
HOW MANY more funerals do we have to attend before we finally accept that the level of violence in our country is abnormal and abhorrent! We attend the funerals of colleagues, neighbours, family members, grieve for a while and then get back to our routine! How can we continue with business as usual with all that is happening around us and to us? Evil has blossomed and flourished in our country and we have embraced it as acceptable! We are a country in crisis - deep, deep crisis!
It seems clear to me that new supplies of guns were brought in for the elections. The word on the streets is that "man ah arms up." What seems to be also clear is that the security forces are not coping, in fact I think they stopped coping years ago in spite of their valiant efforts! This new influx of guns combined with the approach of the Christmas season is a sure formula for more funerals and more grief..
Please be not fooled by any temporary lull in the murder rate in the absence of the guns being found. The guns will not disappear by wishful thinking or by merely increasing the presence of the security forces on the streets or even by praying only. (Please understand here that I believe passionately in a God who answers prayers through Jesus Christ but we must pray and act at the same time).
The real solutions lie in the long-term which will include taking all necessary action to stop the flow of guns into the island. But we must do something now or be forever engulfed in violence. People of Jamaica insist on action now if even only out of a survival instinct for the solemn question is - who will be the next victim?
I am, etc.,
S. RICHARDS
12 Hope Road
Kingston 10
