THE GUN attack on the home of the secretary/manager of the St. James Parish Council marks a new and ominous dimension in the arena of public service.True enough, there is more than ample scope for discontent in the prevailing economic climate. Some private sector workers via union activity have avenues to pursue the settlement of conflict at the workplace; and there are long-established laws and regulations to facilitate this. The same applies to the public sector.
For the most part protest against policy, operational changes or conditions of work has taken the form of strikes, or other industrial action, or even the illegal roadblock; but the main players, be they management or the leadership cadre on the workers' side, have been immune to physical attack.
The late-night gun attack on the residence of Mr. Christopher Powell therefore signals an escalation from protest in dispute over some grouse, into dangerous criminality with a public figure being the presumed target.
The police investigation of the attack, presumably, will try to find out if it is rooted in the contentious tenure of Mr. Powell as chief administrator of the Council, now functioning under new political leadership.
Be that as it may, the sinister nature of the attack, apparently firing at random into Mr. Powell's home, reflects yet again the ubiquitous spread of the gun culture with too many of the firearms being in criminal hands.
As is reported elsewhere in this edition, hundreds of private licence holders are waiting to buy weapons, the importation of which now faces some delays.
That so many persons feel the need to protect themselves, or their homes, in this way is testament to the danger so many feel. Already several public figures holding high political or bureaucratic office get personal protection from the State, as indeed they should. But such protection cannot be allocated willy-nilly to every level of government administration.
The spread of the private security industry even into some upscale residential neighbourhoods is justified by this decline in public safety.
We endorse the condemnation of the shooting in Montego Bay expressed by both the Minister of Local Government, Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller, and the Mayor Councillor Noel Donaldson.
We urge the police to use their intelligence sources to the fullest extent to bring the shooters to justice.
