Take Manning’s hand, Panday

THE EDITOR: The front page of one daily newspaper screamed: “Gas Station Murder.” It also carried the photograph of a young schoolboy holding a pistol apparently hypnotised by its power. The concerned look and protective hand of the WPC seemed typically maternal. The admiring eyes of his colleagues were filled with awe. The same front page featured three people charged with the illegal  possession of a firearm, ammunition and illegal chemicals.

“Another Youth Gunned Down in Laventille” is the caption on a page which also carries the major story of the “Gas Station Murder.” The tale of homicide does not end there because on page six we read, “Trio killed man for $700” and almost kissing it on page seven is “Lawyer wants killer freed” on another matter. The killing theme is constant. Just another day in paradise, perhaps. Another of our dailies on May 5 has discreetly inserted on page eight, “26 year old man shot dead” and on page nine a little note states, “Santa Cruz man shot in chest.”Surely no one can claim cheap sensationalism.

That same day another big daily tucked away this little note “Man executed in Morvant.” No one can claim that our publishers are capitalising on this homicidal epidemic. There is nothing irresponsible about our local press. Indeed the editorial on this particular newspaper was logical and well balanced. The fight, it suggested, against crime must be waged not only by the government and the police service but also by all law abiding citizens whose constant vigilance is as essential as their co-operation with the proper authorities. It seems however that there is a perception, even among the ‘responsible,’ better informed section of our society, that crime is the business of the police and the responsibility of the government. Perhaps the ambiguity is maliciously deliberate.

The unrestrained and predictable babble of the people’s loyal opposition is concerned exclusively with placing the blame on the government and suggesting to the electorate that the blame is theirs also for putting the wrong people in power. The flaunted prosperity of known drug dealers and the widespread rumours concerning the financial success of some of our celebrated citizens have convinced many of the desperately poor and bitterly frustrated among us that drug use and dealing is the way out of their hell. These pariahs, in many cases, tell us that the scions of the well to do live in the posh exclusive suburbia which do not carry the stigma of Laventille and Jones Town. The only fear these social icons have, they assert, is the kidnapper.

Sometimes it is a type of despairing surrender to strangling penury that leads many into crime - victims or criminal. “There, a religious friend told me referring to the tragic death of a Jones Town delinquent, “but for the grace of God go I.” Still, it seems, something potentially explosive sits there awaiting the dreaded spark. There are those who in a rush of righteous indignation might not appreciate the wisdom of Mr Manning’s recent intervention in a certain squatting matter. They, like the infamous Marie Antoinette, suggest better alternatives totally inconsistent with the reality of the times, callously disdainful of the plight of the poor. We need only remember the far away look in the eyes of the front page boy. “Power” a famous oriental leader said, “comes from the barrel of a gun.”

We need to touch the hearts and minds of those citizens who are most in danger of becoming entrapped in the hellish world of drugs and crime, where marijuana and cocaine are not the fantasy makers of the wealthy and privileged but mistakenly viewed as the way out of hell. Life is at times cruel. We need well trained teachers, guides and counsellors. We need caring trust worthy religious leaders as those good souls in Morvant/Laventille who called for community prayer and human intervention. We need well trained, trustworthy, properly armed police officers to enforce the law and bring criminals to justice - to protect and serve.

We need our people to care sufficiently to intervene — to enlist in the war on crime. People must recognise that this is not a game of ‘police and thief.’ The war on crime has to be waged by all of us. We cannot ever offer comfort to the criminals. Who of sound mind would dare suggest that the public is “immune to crime?” Come Mr Panday, reach across with the paternal responsibility of a senior statesman and take the hand of our Prime Minister in the battle against the murderous criminals in our country.

GEORGE DAMIEN
Arima