Herbert Lewis, Guest ColumnistEVERY SINGLE well-thinking Jamaican, both at home and abroad, is not only concerned but must be feeling a sense of shame that our country has earned the reputation of being the murder capital of the world.
But it is not only the number of murders which have taken place and continue to take place which have given rise to concerns. There has been a general breakdown of discipline and respect for law and in this country.
Respect for women, and authority, children and especially young girls, all seem to be a thing of the past. Power, privilege and money all make the difference. What is equally frightening is that some of these coarse and boorish behaviours are condoned by some parents in high places who see nothing wrong. I have heard many of our Jamaican men and women argue that we should not worry too much because this type of thing is happening all over the world. Who cares a hoot if it is happening elsewhere? Is this a good enough reason why we should turn a blind eye on what is having a serious effect on us? What about the good things which are happening on a daily basis, can't we adopt those?
LACK OF RESPECT FOR EMPLOYEES' WELFARE
My main focus, however, in this article, has to do with the lack of respect for employees' welfare and for property. Let me first deal with the question of respect for, or the lack of it, as it relates to employees.
From time to time we talk of people being our most valuable asset, but are these only catch words in certain quarters?
Some in our society label our policemen and women as being lazy, corrupt, inept, disrespectful, abusive and a whole host of other negatives. No doubt some deserve these criticism, but I dare say that I believe that the majority of our policemen and women are good and decent people, and deserve to be treated as such. But I have a deep concern for the welfare of many of them, and my concern stems from reports which are carried in both the print and electronic media of the environment in which many of them have to perform their duties.
I have visited police stations and seen policemen and women using boxes as chairs. Their desks are broken and in state of disrepair. Important documents are tied with string and stored on the floor. This is bad, but of late, we are being shown on television screens, raw sewage in their bathrooms, flowing through the premises where they have to work.
What is alarming is that in some instances, the situation remains uncorrected for long periods of time. And if this was the situation at only one station one might not be as alarmed, but it would appear that this is par for the course at several stations from time to time.
Is there any wonder that our policemen and women demonstrate such a poor attitude, low morale and poor productivity? And which well-thinking citizen of Jamaica would not wish to sympathise with them? A pay increase, one or two new computers, a car or two, are not sufficient to boost morale, improve work attitude, encourage employees to cope better with change, improve management-employee relations or improve output and return on training investment.
It is a stinking shame to expect proper policing from men and women who are asked to work in filth.
SEWER DISPOSAL PLANT IN HARBOUR VIEW
But if the police situation was not bad enough, consider what has been happening to the residents of Harbour View. Almost in the middle of this residential area, a sewer disposal plant has been broken down for a long time now. The residents have been required to be paying sewer rates all this time without the benefit of the service. The result: raw sewerage is flowing into the harbour. Mosquitoes and flies have become a nuisance to the residents. The secondary school which is a stone's throw from this mess has been disrupted from time to time because of the foul odour emanating from the non-functioning plant.
It is a stinking shame! The authorities need to clean up the police stations and the Harbour View situation soon.
Herbert Lewis is an industrial relations specialist and past president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation. Email: Herblewis@cwjamaica.com.
