Monday, October 15, 2007
Mike Henry's visit to Mobay
He came, he saw, and there's no money in the budget so it looks like we'll be stuck in traffic for a loooong time. Thanks Omar!
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
One gun salute
After reading about a police officer's gun salute for his fallen colleague, two questions came to mind.
The first was "if a police officer broke the law so brazenly in the presence of the commissioner, what has he been doing when no one was around?" The answer to that question can probably be be found somewhere in the plethora of stories about extra-judicial killings, bribery, murder-for-hire, drug-running, and various other illegal activities "allegedly" carried out by the police.
The second question was "why did the commissioner have to order other police officers to arrest the trigger happy cop?" You would have thought that, given the number of police officers that must have been at the funeral, the man would have been arrested before the shells hit the ground!
The underlying issue here is the calibre of people that are recruited into the police force and the resultant behaviour of the graduates of the academy. Any man on the street can tell you some kind of story about the police, whether it's suffering a beating or worse for no apparent reason, being called "bwoy" by a cop 20 years younger than you are, being asked to "buy a rounds fi the squaddies" in lieu of a speeding ticket, or suffering the piss poor customer service that most Jamaicans have sadly come to expect from police on all levels. I say most because, as we all know, if you're rich or related to a police officer then things are very, very different.
A big part of the solution to Jamaica's crime problem is getting citizens to cooperate with the police. That won't happen if the police continue to treat the lives and issues of the very people they're sworn to protect with contempt. Simply increasing the size of the force or giving them bigger guns or more cars or giving them a raise of pay won't solve the problem. The fact of the matter is that we need better police officers.
We need more police officers who have more than just a basic education. We need more police officers who can speak standard English. We need more police officers who truly want to serve the citizens of Jamaica. We need more police officers who know how to act professionally and responsibly, even when the people they're interacting with don't. We need more police officers who will do the job for which they were hired - to "serve, protect and reassure with courtesy, integrity and proper respect for the rights of all."
The first was "if a police officer broke the law so brazenly in the presence of the commissioner, what has he been doing when no one was around?" The answer to that question can probably be be found somewhere in the plethora of stories about extra-judicial killings, bribery, murder-for-hire, drug-running, and various other illegal activities "allegedly" carried out by the police.
The second question was "why did the commissioner have to order other police officers to arrest the trigger happy cop?" You would have thought that, given the number of police officers that must have been at the funeral, the man would have been arrested before the shells hit the ground!
The underlying issue here is the calibre of people that are recruited into the police force and the resultant behaviour of the graduates of the academy. Any man on the street can tell you some kind of story about the police, whether it's suffering a beating or worse for no apparent reason, being called "bwoy" by a cop 20 years younger than you are, being asked to "buy a rounds fi the squaddies" in lieu of a speeding ticket, or suffering the piss poor customer service that most Jamaicans have sadly come to expect from police on all levels. I say most because, as we all know, if you're rich or related to a police officer then things are very, very different.
A big part of the solution to Jamaica's crime problem is getting citizens to cooperate with the police. That won't happen if the police continue to treat the lives and issues of the very people they're sworn to protect with contempt. Simply increasing the size of the force or giving them bigger guns or more cars or giving them a raise of pay won't solve the problem. The fact of the matter is that we need better police officers.
We need more police officers who have more than just a basic education. We need more police officers who can speak standard English. We need more police officers who truly want to serve the citizens of Jamaica. We need more police officers who know how to act professionally and responsibly, even when the people they're interacting with don't. We need more police officers who will do the job for which they were hired - to "serve, protect and reassure with courtesy, integrity and proper respect for the rights of all."
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The eighth wonder of the world
The amount of thought put into urban planning in Jamaica never ceases to amaze me. Case in point - the Fairview intersection in Montego Bay. This is the finest example of traffic engineering and planning that I've seen in quite some time.
Imagine this; you have two lanes of traffic coming from Alice Eldemire Drive and two lanes coming from another road (no, I don't know the name of the other road - sue me) all trying to get out of Montego Bay. In a feat that would astound Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, the designers of the highway have managed to merge four lanes of traffic into one in a distance of about a hundred feet!
There are a few side effects caused by this eighth wonder of the world, but turning a five minute commute from Freeport to Bogue into a thirty minute journey, causing a buildup of traffic that stretches from Bogue to the airport on the other side of the city, and forcing commuters to sit in traffic for two hours on a Friday afternoon (four if it rains) are quite acceptable when compared to the sheer brilliance of the intersection's design.
Indeed, even the police officers assigned to direct traffic at the intersection during rush hour (7 -10 am and 4 - 8 pm) seem awestruck by the design, so much so that they are rendered incapable of directing traffic effectively and can only feebly wave cars on while sitting on their bikes or talking on their cell phones. They are often so overcome with emotion that they have to leave the intersection early, knowing that the hundreds of people who have been waiting in line for hours will understand.
Mr. Henry, please come to Mobay and make it a point to visit the intersection any time after 4 pm. You'll be glad you did!
Imagine this; you have two lanes of traffic coming from Alice Eldemire Drive and two lanes coming from another road (no, I don't know the name of the other road - sue me) all trying to get out of Montego Bay. In a feat that would astound Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, the designers of the highway have managed to merge four lanes of traffic into one in a distance of about a hundred feet!
There are a few side effects caused by this eighth wonder of the world, but turning a five minute commute from Freeport to Bogue into a thirty minute journey, causing a buildup of traffic that stretches from Bogue to the airport on the other side of the city, and forcing commuters to sit in traffic for two hours on a Friday afternoon (four if it rains) are quite acceptable when compared to the sheer brilliance of the intersection's design.
Indeed, even the police officers assigned to direct traffic at the intersection during rush hour (7 -10 am and 4 - 8 pm) seem awestruck by the design, so much so that they are rendered incapable of directing traffic effectively and can only feebly wave cars on while sitting on their bikes or talking on their cell phones. They are often so overcome with emotion that they have to leave the intersection early, knowing that the hundreds of people who have been waiting in line for hours will understand.
Mr. Henry, please come to Mobay and make it a point to visit the intersection any time after 4 pm. You'll be glad you did!
Friday, September 28, 2007
A new course?
So Mr. Golding has taken the reins of power with promises of a new, better course, a course that will take Jamaica to a place where "not everyone may be rich, but no-one has to be poor." One hopes that the swearing in of this government will mark the start of a new chapter in Jamaican politics where there is more positive action than rhetoric and one in which the rights and interests of the Jamaican people will be protected and pursued respectively. We've all heard lots and lots of promises in the past from both parties, and the first hundred days of Mr. Golding's stewardship will be watched closely by the public, many of whom suspect that he may have bought his license and are therefore doubtful of his "driving ability".
To his credit, Orett appears to be on the right track so far, with promises of reducing government red tape and abolishing transfer taxes scoring him brownie points with the private sector and the middle class and plans to work more closely with the opposition than previous administrations silencing some of his detractors for now. It's still early though, and we'll all be watching the construction of Mr. Golding's course very closely to see if it turns out to be an eight lane highway to prosperity or a dirt track to the politics of yester-year.
To his credit, Orett appears to be on the right track so far, with promises of reducing government red tape and abolishing transfer taxes scoring him brownie points with the private sector and the middle class and plans to work more closely with the opposition than previous administrations silencing some of his detractors for now. It's still early though, and we'll all be watching the construction of Mr. Golding's course very closely to see if it turns out to be an eight lane highway to prosperity or a dirt track to the politics of yester-year.
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