By Dennie Quill, ContributorJAMAICA'S HIGH-CRIME statistics have served to focus the national spotlight more intensely on crime and violence now more than at any other time in this country's history.
At every corner, conversation these days will inevitably turn to the nature of crime in the country and what crime-fighting measures should be employed to deal with criminals. In the end it all boils down to the need for additional resources.
TROUBLING ISSUES
When one begins to analyse the national security vision some troubling issues come to the surface. If the Government sees its main priority as the protection of life and property, why are the police, fire services, prisons and courts starved of resources? There are many examples in the media about these shortcomings. We hear from time to time about telephone lines to police stations being cut for non-payment of bills, limited police mobility, the dire conditions of police stations, prisons and courts. These conditions help to demoralise the men and women who serve in the criminal justice system.
Despite a public demonstration at the National Stadium last week when patrons at an Invitational Meet saw a police vehicle circling the cycle track to deliver bottled water to the officers deployed on the grounds, we know that the conditions of service are way below par. Scores of police stations and many court buildings are rotting shells and fire hazards. I hear the defensive voices already. There are limited resources and the Government is doing its best in the circumstances. Well, I find that unacceptable. I am baffled at the alacrity with which funds are provided for the setting up of quasi-government agencies in swank high-rise buildings, usually with a New Kingston address, whose functions are often duplicating other agencies and whose relevance pale in significance to that of the security forces and the fire services.
WHAT ARE THE
FTC & OUR DOING?
Here are my observations. Take the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) which was ostensibly set up to protect consumers against unfair practices by merchants. Every now and then an announcement is made about the agency's investigation of a complaint and the accommodation that was reached with the merchant. Big deal. If the FTC is doing more they need to contact the JIS urgently to make sure the public has a better understanding of their activities. And if they are doing their job, why is Minister Paulwell setting up another agency to protect consumers' rights?
For my part the FTC would be doing a national service if it were to try and educate consumers on the different credit techniques involved in loan arrangements. For example, how does add-on interest differ from compound interest or simple interest? The Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) is another new-fangled agency whose worth I question. The most important function for such an agency must be to squeeze out the inefficiencies in the operations of the utility companies through rate-fixing mechanisms so that end users benefit from lower costs.
Surely Cable and Wireless must rank very high in the Guinness Book of Records for inefficiency. Why should a utility company be collecting Memorandum and Articles of companies applying for telephone service? Where do they keep these records? Is the OUR undertaking regular audits of our utilities to determine lingering inefficiencies?
Then there is the Jamaica Deposit Insurance Corporation. I understand the need to protect depositors in the event of any new crisis in the banking sector. The corporation acts as a collection agency since regulation and monitoring of financial institutions is undertaken by the Bank of Jamaica and more recently the Financial Services Commission. Realistically, couldn't such an office be housed in the multi-floored BoJ headquarters at Nethersole Place? Apparently not, it looks better perched in a New Kingston high-rise.
PROBLEMATIC CONTENT
Let me not forget Spectrum Management. I tend to confuse its functions with those of the Broadcasting Commission. I have previously aired my concerns about the Broadcasting Commis-sion and Mr. Cordell Green gave a stirring response to my criticisms. I welcome the new initiatives by the Commission to address "problematic content" in the electronic media. I can see Mr. Green trying to rein in the horse, albeit when it is half-way through the gate.
The list is by no means exhausted with final reference to the Maritime Authority of Jamaica. I believe they have something to do with the registration of ships and regulating the shipping industry. One thing I know, at the height of Jamaica's shipping industry when Jamaica Merchant Marine existed there were five ships registered here, and it was a one-man operation housed in the Customs Department. So how many ships have we registered in, say, the last five years? More importantly, how many overseas conferences have we attended in the name of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica?
I have been trying to determine what underpins the justification of establishing many of these agencies to the detriment of the forces of law and order. My conclusion is that additional money may not be the real issue here. Could it be politics? Could it be power? Ministers are given a media moment to announce the establishment of these agencies and it is recorded against their names. But how can any of these compete with the priority of making Jamaica a safer place in which to live? It is one thing if the registration of a ship goes awry because of the inaction or otherwise of an inept employee, the worst that happens is someone loses some money. When the security forces are hampered in doing their jobs, crime escalates and people get hurt. Right now many people in Jamaica are hurting.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com
