Miss P's Patty Shop

Some interesting points of view came out of the luncheon hosted by 'Butch' Stewart this week, views that have been echoed by countless groups at countless luncheons over the years. The government should invest more money in education, more in crime fighting and prevention and create a tax environment that will foster growth, et cetera, et cetera.

One would think that by now the government would seriously explore or, at the very least, look at some of the ideas being presented. After all, these dudes are very successful businessmen in a not-so-successful country. They might have good ideas about making money and investing it successfully, ideas that the current government seems to need pretty badly, especially given their decision to spend billions on the ICC World Cup while the country is in a decrepit moral, educational and physical state.

Both sides of Gordon House would serve the country in a much needed way if they spent more time exploring feasible solutions to the country's problem instead of arguing about who wears short pants and other asinine topics. The country needs to be run like a business and not like Miss P's patty shop. In a well run business executives are given specific targets to meet and are held accountable for not meeting those targets. Accountability is, and has been for a very long time, non-existent in the Jamaican government's vocabulary. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only minister that I can think of who has resigned or been fired because of the non-performance of his ministry is K. D. Knight, and he was simply reassigned to another ministry. We need to start choosing the right people for the right jobs and holding these people accountable. This means making the Minister of National Security someone who actually has experience in that field and not some politician who has no fucking clue about what to do about crime. The same goes for all the other ministries. I firmly believe that this step must be implemented to get us out of the quagmire we're currently in. Too bad the same politicians who refuse to hold themselves accountable are the ones who'll have to implement it.

Jamaicans for justice?

As we all know, the local news has become a bastion of monotony in recent years. Newscasts more often than not unfold like this: people protesting because of a lack of running water; roadblocks mounted by frustrated citizens over the deplorable conditions of the roads; police see a "suspicious party" during a routine patrol and accost the party, the party opens fire which the police return and one or more members are found suffering from gunshot wounds. The wounded are taken to the nearest hospital where they are pronounced dead. Citizens of the community take to the streets in outrage at the "murder" of an innocent person.

Throw in some international news and sports, blend for 60 minutes and you have a perfect newscast.

Some residents of Bull Bay ruined the recipe when they took to the streets (again) in support of three police officers charged with murdering Noel Barnes back in 1999. Their claim is that Barnes was a "terrorist" and the community is glad that he's dead. The policemen, they say, are "heroes" and should be released.

While I can understand the sentiments of the Bull Bay residents, if Barnes was in fact guilty of the charges leveled against him, the fact remains that we can't pick and choose who we want policemen to kill. We can't demonstrate because one victim of the police is an "area leader" and then rejoice when another is an alleged criminal. Murder is murder. Acceptance of one extra judicial killing, if this is what the Barnes case turns out to be, is an acceptance of all extra judicial killings. Our justice system, as fucked up as it is, is still a far sight better at determining guilt or innocence than a group of policemen who are out to eradicate a menace, whether perceived or real. I don't care if the policemen catch someone in the act - unless someone's life is in direct jeopardy then all efforts should be made to arrest the culprit and bring him to justice. Who reviews the evidence the long rumoured police hit squads use to determine who lives and who dies? Jamaicans need to wake up and realize that they could very easily be a victim of an extra judicial killing and vigorously support the prosecution and conviction of any policeman who unlawfully kills any member of our society.

Policemen will complain about being frustrated and at the end of their ropes because people they arrest repeatedly are set free by the courts, often for lack of evidence. My response? Do your fucking jobs properly! I know that resources are limited, but it used to amaze me to watch the news and see all and sundry walking through crime scenes, or see policemen displaying recovered guns to television crews minutes after a raid with nary a latex glove or evidence bag in sight. I'm glad that someone in the JCF finally watched CSI and realized that the proper processing of crime scenes is crucial to ensure the conviction of suspects and is much more effective than swooping into a community, rounding up suspects and then trying to beat a confession out of them.

Residents of Bull Bay, be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

Justice?

I found an article in the Jamaica Observer about a man who claimed that his hunger drove him to steal three live chickens amusing in a depressing sort of way. That is, until I remembered reading about a man who beat his wife to a pulp. Wondering what the connection is?

The chicken thief plead guilty to one charge of simple larceny and got thirty days in jail. The wife-beater plead guilty to two charges, occasioning bodily harm and unlawful wounding, for which he received ten days each - to run concurrently.
The chicken thief stole three live chickens, which were recovered unharmed. The wife-beater punched his wife in the face, dislocated two of her teeth, and punched and kicked her all over her body.
The chicken thief's reason for stealing? Hunger.
The wife-beater's reason? His wife entertained a conversation with their child about cooking stew-peas with pig's tail (he's a Rastafarian). She didn't attempt to buy, cook, prepare, or consume the pig's tail, nor did she even agree to do so. She simply told the child that pig's tail was too expensive.

And that's not even the best part of this story. Both offenders appeared in front of the same judge - who's a woman!!! Yes, RM Judith Pusey heard both cases in the Half Way Tree Resident Magistrate's Court.

Something is inherently wrong with either the law or the judge (probably both) when the theft of three chickens attracts a greater penalty than beating someone to a pulp. Then again, maybe the judge just didn't like stew peas with pig's tail.

Is it worth it?

As the true cost of hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup begins to emerge with the tabling of the supplementary estimates in Parliament, one continues to seriously wonder about the decision making skills of our eminent leaders. Jamaica has, so far, spent J$9 billion on the World Cup, money that could have and should have been spent tackling the plethora of problems that Jamaica currently faces. Yes, I know that the World Cup is one of the largest sporting events in the world and yes, I know that the fact that Jamaica was successful in its bid to host is an honour and yes, I know that it gives us much wanted exposure, but is that really worth J$9 billion (and counting)?

Why spend J$9 billion when there are only seven police cars to cover a parish of 814 sq. km.? Why spend J$9 billion when police reports are still handwritten? When police and fire stations are decrepit. When many parts of rural Jamaica still have no running water. When only 32% of Jamaican CXC students managed to pass Mathematics and only 42% passed English.

Why build a 25,000 seat stadium when there's a shortage of high schools? When babies die at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay (the largest hospital in western Jamaica) because there's only one incubator.

Maybe I'm missing something, but those decisions seem to be conspicuously unintelligent. Is the World Cup really worth it?