Why blame only one man?

THE EDITOR: The recent utterances by the Opposition Leader on the crime situation has again shown that Mr  Panday is willing to sacrifice the country in his continued quest for political power. It can be argued that no one can stop crime but on the other hand measures can be put in place to bring it down to “acceptable” levels. The passage of the Police Reform Bill is a step in the right direction to address what has now become a national crisis, yet Mr Panday and cohorts continue to obstruct the government in trying to implement measures such as this. Even his supporters have turned a blind eye on the stance taken by the Opposition and continually cast blame on one man—Prime Minister Patrick Manning for the situation.

How could one person be blamed when a man decides to rape his three-year-old neighbour? How can one man be blamed when a husband chops his wife then slits his throat after a domestic dispute? How can one man be blamed when parents continually claim that their son “was a good boy” after being killed at the hands of the police? The government has a duty to protect the citizens of this Country but if that were a job for the government alone, then what is the purpose of having a House of Representatives and a Senate? At the same time, what are we as citizens doing to address the crime situation? We continually claim that the government or somebody should do something yet we sit back and do nothing.

DEON JEFFERS
Chairman
Tunapuna Youth League
People’s National Movement