THE EDITOR, SIR:JAMAICA HAS a very serious problem and we had better get a hold of it before it derails the fragile economic and tourism prospects that have just begun to rebound. We are just over two weeks into the new year and already the murder rate is 70-odd and counting.
We have elected new governments, appointed new ministers of security and commissioner of police, and created more names for 'new' police squads than most of us can remember, and somehow the 'homicide monster' continues to ignore and elude the 'wisdom of Jamaica'.
We have all heard the old adage, 'one of the definitions of insanity is to continue to do the same things and expect different results'.
It is evident from the recent 'Johnson' poll results, (published in The Sunday Gleaner, January 9, 2005) that an astounding 36 per cent of persons polled believe that the most significant thing the police can do to fight crime is to improve their relationship with the public, so we had better hope that Commissioner Lucius Thomas has a 'new and different' plan.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
The time has come for us to do something different, "that is if we desire a better Jamaica", and I believe that I may have an 'idea' that can work, but it will require the collective will of 'the Church', the private sector and the government to implement a programme based on the principles to be found in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 58. These principles simply 'demand' that we feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless, that is if we ever want to break the '40-year curse' that has claimed some 1,000 lives every year, in this our 'land we love', and begin to realise some semblance of peace and economic prosperity.
The concept itself is not new, and would be very similar to a 'kibbutz' as found in Israel, but until we systematically create a programme which includes shelter, food and clothing, along with trade or farm training for the idle young men who roam the streets, do not be alarmed when the homicide record of 1,500 set last year is exceeded.
There is more than enough land, resources and money in Jamaica to do what is necessary. What is lacking is the 'collective will', and my prayer is that those who have 'the vision' for a better Jamaica, will grasp the opportunity and quickly, before we all perish with the 'misconception', that a 'new' commissioner, along with a 'paltry' 20 per cent increase in the minimum wage can save us.
I am, etc.,
MICHAEL C. MOYSTON
jahspeed@hotmail.com
32 Sunset Blvd, Montego Bay
