The Editor, Sir:

On the matter of the August Town peace and unlicensed guns in the hands of community gangs, some comments are needed in respect of two Gleaner editorials.

1. The Gleaner editorial of June 18 claimed that the 'initiatives' in August Town - which are then pinned down to unlicensed guns remaining in the hands of community members - "seem to sit quite easily with Mr Levy and, apparently, other members of the organisation". This is a baseless and unjustified assumption.

2. The decommissioning of guns in Northern Ireland took place seven and a half years after the Good Friday Agreement. (One small party to the agreement still has not turned in its weapons.)

Distrust

3. The reason for this time lag can be summed up in one word: distrust. The same distrust obtains in August Town and across the inner city, distrust of one another, distrust of the police.

4. Talk to Superintendent Rosie McDonald Barker about her experience in Grants Pen. She will corroborate, as will other police, the futility of trying to get guns in at the early stage of peacemaking. There is a process involved, as Professor Chevannes emphasises.

5. The Gleaner editorial of July 1 speaks of the August Town Agree-ment as a "concession by the state to the authority of the hard men of violence, an accretion of power and the legitimisation of their status". This is a complete misreading of the agreement. It is a recognition of a reality that has existed for years. Any "concession" has been there for years. Nor is there is any "accretion" of power whatever, in fact a restriction of power since the Agreement forbids the showing and firing of guns, including the popular gun salute at funerals.

6. The misreading continues with the sentence, "Next is the demand for the keeping of law enforcement agencies away." Absurd. The agreement was signed in the presence of the Jamaica Constabulary Force inspector at the August Town Police Station and of Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields, both of whom stated that no amnesty was involved and that the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences would continue as before.

Misunderstanding

7. To say then, that the murder of Douglas Chambers "has to be read in tandem with last week's affair in August Town", is a complete misunderstanding of the latter event. Chambers' murder is indeed the worst of the challenges (which include all the other cold-blooded murders, including those by the police) to the state that we have seen in many years. The August Town 'affair' runs directly in the opposite direction. It explicitly acknowledges the limitations indicated (numbers 5 and 6) as imposed by the state.

8. The "potency of its [the Agreement's] danger" is entirely outweighed by the likelihood of enriching success, its "might have been farcically comical" by the utter seriousness of the commitments made after concentrated struggle.

9. Why is it, I ask myself, that intelligent persons like Gleaner editors cannot see a positive achievement when it stares them in the face? Why is it that those in power insist on harking back with preventive detention to tried and failed methods and ignore successful and less-costly alternatives staring them in the face?

Lack of experience

10. I suggest there exists a chasm in understanding fed by the absence of experience. The lack of experience derives in large part from the class-race division in our society which results in huge differences in occupation, income, well-being, residence and thence outlook. This leads to the editors classifying the agreement participants as simply 'warlords' and 'criminals', refusing to distinguish community violence (the crimes it commits notwithstanding, a conundrum they need to struggle with) from the criminal variety.

Contacts

11. How is this chasm to be bridged? Politicians do it occupationally, at least in the first phase of getting elected, but should do it more regularly. For other people, in spite of the differences and the distances, contacts occur all the time and can be sought out and explored. Many learn from listening with an open mind to those with experience. The media play a vital role by providing vicarious experience, as The Gleaner has been doing recently, highlighting the communities applying to the Michael Manley Foundation.

12. But there is more to this than knowledge. There is respect and disrespect and this is a more difficult scene. If the 'haves' who rule this country continue to disrespect the 'have-nots' and their culture, we will continue with our "two Jamaicas", torn by endless debates about every subject and snailing along because of an alleged 'lack of political will'.

I was appalled to read that our prime minister did not appreciate the value of Jamaican as our national language. But, at least, he was asking to have it explained to him. Dr Pauline Christie or Professor Hubert Devonish would be happy to oblige, I am sure. That is the thing - motivated at least by a desire for a better Jamaica, the 'haves' have to want to learn and, having learned, appreciate, value, respect. The burst of achievement that would follow would be overwhelming!

I am, etc,

Horace Levy

Kingston