Herbert LEwis, Guest ColumnistTHE CLEAREST glimpse of things to come is not always to be found in plush board rooms. Instead it is in the streets, in the communities, in the bars, in the barber shops and beauty parlours, and on construction sites.
In fact, it is to be found in some of the most unusual places like in our schools, our security forces, yes, and among our politicians. The truth is that so many of those who should at least have a glimpse of the gathering storms are too busy looking after their own thing or they don't care a hoot about the impending dangers others are likely to face.
Which one of us in this country of ours has not seen the erosion of discipline getting worse day by day? This is not something which has happened upon us overnight.
This is something which we have over the years, turned a blind eye upon.Those who have taken a stand against indiscipline have been branded as oppressors, as people who fail to recognise that slavery has long been
abolished. How have we come to this stage in such a short time in our history?
Have our parents of today contributed and continue to contribute to this situation? Many in our society strongly believe that this is the situation.
In today's Jamaica, we find children having children. We find grandparents at age 30. We find in families, children mothers and grandmothers, none hardly older than the other roaming the streets; none being able to guide the other; none in a position to tell the other what is right or wrong. In other words, none has any basic parental skills.
EFFECT OF GREED
Don't get me wrong. It is not only from these unfortunate groups that we find indiscipline. We see children from educated and well-to-do families behaving in coarse and brutish way on a daily basis.
They do so in schools and they are even more so driving on our roads. They flaunt their wealth everywhere with scant respect for law and order. What then can we expect when they become adults in our society?
Which one of us in this country of ours has failed to notice the effect of greed in every sphere of life here in Jamaica?
Greed and envy have pushed this country into a state of almost non-redemption. Children are injuring each other at school for a name-brand bag. Men and boys are stealing cars just to get at some fancy rims for their cars. There is wide-spread corruption at all levels of our
society. Our laws, our policies, our regulations our rules are being circumvented in an effort to satisfy the greed for power and for more than we are justly entitled.
Civil servants have lost their lives because they have refused to countenance
corruption. Some have even been sidelined for
promotions because they refused to lend support to acts of corruption.
Business people have also lost their lives or suffered in one way or the other because they take a stand against this monster.
Now that the public outcry has reached the ears of our Prime Minister and has given cause for him to gather his administrators to discuss the seriousness of corruption in this country, it is hoped that this subject will form a part of the Vale Royal agenda with the Opposition Party.
TACKLING CORRUPTION
Corruption in Jamaica has very serious implications for our image abroad as much as crime does and therefore should be dealt with on a national level, and in a cooperative way.
For a very long time, the people of this country have been hearing of cost overruns on various projects and of individuals or organisations by-passing systems which have been put in place for good governance.
What is the cost to the country of these actions and who are the people benefiting? What the people have not heard is that
someone has been held accountable for their actions and punished accordingly. I cannot think of a private sector business which would continue to countenance such behaviour.
What is the use of building a fence around your property for security purpose but you leave the gate open at all times? Worse,
whenever there is an intruder you promise to close the gate, but you never did.
If we are speaking of good governance and accountability, then somebody should be in control. When I speak of control, I do so in a business sense. In other words, I am referring to that individual or individuals who take
ownership for the business's policies.
The airline business must be regarded as one of, if not the most competitive of businesses today. It is a business in which our Government has pumped millions of dollars.
Yet, Air Jamaica continues to lose money on an ongoing basis. Many saw the storm coming except the park rangers, it would appear did not. Not until Mr. Stewart decided to pull out and the pilots decided that they wanted more money, did the park rangers realise that the storms were upon us.
What did they expect when policies were in place which provided for pilots to be paid overtime while they were on vacation and sick leave?
As a matter of transparency and in the
public's interest, can someone say how much this overtime payment amounts to over a five-year period?
BECOME PROACTIVE
Every single one of the problems we are now facing began small. Crime, corruption, indiscipline, poor governance, lack of accountability, greed and envy, breakdown in our
education system and many more have been treated as no 'big thing' in the past. Today, every one is a monster.
Let us all become pro-active and deal not only with the monsters but all the little ones which we see a glimpse of. Park rangers need to be observant and take action to protect the park and the users.
Herbert Lewis is an industrial relations specialist and past president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation.
