THE VIOLENT outbursts in Spanish Town and the Corporate Area have reached new levels. We have moved from attacks on single persons to murderous assaults on communities conducted boldly in broad daylight. Entire areas of Spanish Town, August Town, East Kingston and Arnett Gardens are no-go areas in which even the police enter at their peril. As the poignant appeals published in this newspaper yesterday show, the ordinary Jamaican citizen is terrified and weary ­ and not only in the afflicted communities. This simply cannot continue.

We know what the causes of crime and violence in Jamaica are. We understand the high unemployment rate among young males, the dysfunctional educational system, the harsh human conditions in which many live and the negative and vulgar moral climate. But this can never justify what is happening today. Murder and intimidation, kidnapping, extortion, ruthless seizure of the small property of other poor people, the attempt to cow entire communities must be halted and halted now. No society can tolerate this state of affairs as long as we have, and expect to survive much less to grow and prosper.

We are well aware that the police and the army by themselves cannot be expected to address what is a severe social problem with very deep roots. But there is no doubt that they have an essential role to play right at this moment. They must take the necessary steps to squash this upsurge and the Jamaican public must give them their support in carrying through this difficult task.

But we cannot stop at such short-term approaches. They merely buy us some limited time until the next upsurge. A concerted and carefully thought out programme must be formulated to address the broader social problems which afflict this lost generation of young males. These include their educational and other deficits which make many of them untrainable, unemployable and full of a destructive inner rage which fuels crime and violence. Such a programme, if well formulated and administered, can win substantial local and international support, garnering real resources. It will need this support from sympathetic foreign friends, if it is to succeed.

Nobody wants Jamaica to fail, especially after the debacle which is Haiti. It is up to us to demonstrate that we have the will to unite and take the urgent steps required to address this dire situation ourselves.

THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.