IF THE mayors and parish councillors who attempted to walk towards Jamaica House on Monday were engaged in civil disobedience and wilfully violated laws relating to protests within the precincts of the Prime Minister's office, they should have been arrested and charged.
As things turned out, the police on the scene typically and foolishly engaged in the unnecessary use of force by discharging tear-gas canisters along the busy Hope Road in St. Andrew.
Their actions demonstrated a lack of thinking, planning and foresight. Maybe in their minds, none was required. The group of parish councillors did not in any way impede either the motoring or pedestrian traffic; they were not engaged in any blocking of the roads; they were simply walking, some more briskly than others, towards Jamaica House using either side of the road.
If the police cannot control a group of people numbering less than 200, how can they control 5,000 in a more violent situation?
Considering that the Andrews Memorial Hospital, Ardenne and Priory schools, as well as a nursing home for the elderly, are all within close proximity to Monday's fracas, the potential harm to innocent people cannot be overstated.
Regrettably, also, the fracas has overshadowed the more pressing concern which was the subject of the councillors' protests, namely, their contention that they are being starved of funds needed to effect urgent road repairs, out of political spite. The country has long heard that resources are inadequate to address all its needs, but we are caught in a Catch 22 situation. Failure to address the most basic repairs, will sooner, rather than later, affect productivity and exacerbate our already bad situation. In any case, the Government is able from time to time to reallocate resources in response to different crises.
We do not expect that in a competitive political environment and with its eye set on reversing its fortunes in the polls at the local level, central government will be overly eager to help Jamaica Labour Party councillors look better to their constituents. On the other hand, the cynical manipulation of the plight of the country's citizenry for political gain by either party is to be condemned. Surely, the councillors would have known that a Cabinet meeting was in progress at the time all 100-plus of them decided to deliver a letter to the Prime Minister, with whom they apparently had no prior appointment. Was it their expectation that he would have excused himself, come to the door to receive their mail? To what end? It is time we cut the political gamesmanship at all levels, and deal with the real issues affecting the lives of all Jamaicans.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
