The Editor, Sir:
Congratulations on your timely and pointed editorial of Friday, December 22. It certainly touches on important issues that require immediate and substantive responses from the relevant authorities.
In that regard, please allow me to use your forum as a venue for a public confession in a private pursuit for atonement. I must confess that I have broken the law. In one sense, I am a common criminal; in another, I am much worse. The specific consequences of my malfeasance are hard to ascertain, but may range from contributing to child delinquency, to facilitating child abuse, to possibly aiding and abetting death.
The law which I have surely broken is contained in the Child Care and Protection Act, 2004, Part 1, Section 6, Paragraph 2 where it clearly states that the "duty to report need for care and protection [of a child]" lies with "any person who has information which causes that person to suspect that a child (a) has been, is being or is likely to be abandoned, neglected or physically or sexually ill-treated; or (b) is otherwise in need of care and protection." I must admit that I have been that 'person who has information'.
How often have I passed through the intersection at Waterloo and West King's House roads or stopped at the red light at Howard Cooke Blvd. and Gloucester Ave. in Montego Bay, and seen the youngsters washing windows, or begging, or doing whatever else is in direct violation of the above mentioned law and not done enough to fulfil my lawful obligations?
How often have I been made aware of a wide variety of deficiencies/illegalities taking place in Jamaican children's homes and places of safety, and not taken all and necessary steps to bring about full compliance with the laws of the land?
And most recently, how can I account for my silence, my belatedness, my reluctance, my shameful withholding of information that may have been instrumental in saving the lives of those two children who died in the fire at the SOS children's home?
In a vain attempt to assuage my conscience, I am quick to remind myself that, for years, others and I have tried to persuade the relevant authorities to carry out their duties in care and protection of our children.
At the highest levels of Parliament, ministry, and organisational protocol, on both sides of the political divide, I have engaged those who have been entrusted with the care and protection of our children. I have presented letters, anecdotal stories, and hard evidence of abuse, neglect, and mistreatment. I have challenged the powers that be to address the fundamental shortcomings of the system, to follow the law, and to 'just do their job'. If truth be told, I have only told them what they already know.
Bureaucratic excuses
In most cases my remonstrations have fallen on deaf ears. And, unfortunately I have allowed bureaucratic excuses and stonewalling to leave me frustrated and reluctant to do what I know the law requires. In the face of the new law being in place for nearly three years without the existence of any effective means of implementation or sanctions, (i.e. no child registry and no regulations) I have succumbed to the recalcitrance and foot dragging of a bureaucracy more intent on disseminating public relations pontifications rather than delivering essential services. I have to admit that I may have become less than vigilant in my obligations as a citizen - and human being - to observing the letter of the law in the protection and care of our children.
Sadly, as I dare look myself in the mirror, the recitation of these well-meaning, but thwarted, efforts does nothing to assuage the feelings of guilt I must endure. For surely my propensity for inaction, my giving in to a disinterested and hostile bureaucracy, and my failure to advocate relentlessly for those in most need of it - our children - has made me a collaborator in unlawful acts most dire.
May God have pity on me, forgive my slackness, and give me the courage to act as if my life, and others, depends on it - because it surely does.
I am, etc.,
GUILTY AS CHARGED
Kingston
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