The extent of the anarchy that has descended on Spanish Town, St. Catherine defies description.
From well-organised extortion rackets to heavily-armed thugs shutting down entire streets or sections of the town for hours in a continuation of the internecine warfare, lawlessness seemingly has the upper hand. Yet, with all the challenges facing the police, from inadequately trained personnel to insufficient vehicles, we still question whether the security forces and political representatives are sufficiently committed to the task at hand.
How much longer must the good people of this town of a few square metres be held hostage to a relatively small gang of criminals?
As reported in today's edition, not only are the thugs becoming more daring in their open challenge to the security forces, but they have even turned their weapons on school children, firing shots at them and chasing them from the areas they 'control', warning them not to return. According to the latest reports, the elderly have now also become the new and easy prey, so in effect, nobody is safe.
This town, rich in history, has been neglected in several ways. The miserly attempts to preserve the national heritage sites have been undermined by the extortionists and there is scant indication that the administrative bureaucracy cares enough to safeguard the heritage. Now the criminals are in charge of the 'runnings'.
It has also generally been acknowledged that Spanish Town falls within what has become known in Jamaica's political sociology as a garrison community an enclave largely allied to one of the major political parties, with a few pockets 'belonging' to the other side.
Apart from the fear and code of silence governing the lives the people who reside and do business there, this political linkage is of perhaps one of the biggest handicaps in the fight against the criminals. According to a senior police officer, the police run the risk of being accused of taking sides whenever they venture into the area to tackle any upsurge. But is the answer to leave them to themselves?
There are more decent law-abiding citizens who need protection. And of course, as we have repeatedly said, they too have a responsibility to help the security forces with information.
In this regard, the political representatives cannot escape blame. They have been far too willing to 'hug up' the criminals, to use a more popular term, to defend the indefensible and by so doing, have themselves become a part of the problem instead of a part of the solution.
Many of the disputes may not have their roots in political disagreements, but because the people involved are from the labelled areas, everything else then takes on the partisan hue.
The politicians, we believe, can be more than helpful in using their network of contacts to put an end to what is happening.
