Political will critical to find solutions to crime

THE EDITOR, Madam:

IT IS important for members of both the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP) to begin to critically assess their parties for the future.

This is no time for loyalty, we are going through serious times: the depth of poverty unprecedented and country overrun with violent gangs. This liberal politics, with its association with high levels of criminality, is not new. This was the case of the decades of the 1980s, a cessation in the 1990s and a resurrection of this society of violence and cultural decadence. Of course, the British newspaper report on Jamaica was not comprehensive, it was aimed at congratulating this neoliberal order that has deepened inequality and produced a high level of crime. Crime is a product of the way in which the society is organised. Whether you are PNP or JLP adherents, you are not immune to crime and this state of insecurity.

Since the 1980s, Jamaica has embarked on a new path of political and economic thinking grounded in neoliberalism: marketisation of society; deeper privatisation; new values and the rise of raw individualism, leading to a transactional society. Both political parties subscribe to this form of state practice. The state has become an instrument to protect and advance foreign investments, the landed and commercial elites, at the expense of majority of the population. On the surface, with incoming foreign investments and promises of more-mega projects, it should not be seen as successful policy making. Yes, there is prosperity but only for the few. The majority of people are being told that they need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The reality is that they have neither boot nor strap. There is the need for a two-pronged approach to development, the existing complemented with a kind of selfreliance and rural development component.

The foreign press is proud of what is happening in Jamaica because the government is doing what pleases foreign investors. It is not about displeasing anyone, but these two parties need to look at another path, another route to development of people and country. There is the need for balance in development: strategies grounded in self-reliance and rural development; widening the base of development. There is no reason to gloat about the newspaper report about the great success in Jamaica. There is a new generation of youngsters who have no loyalty to either the PNP or the JLP. We are in the danger zone and it is time for all Jamaicans to take an objective approach to political analysis, because the times are getting more unbearable among the masses. More police and soldiers can protect the private interest, because that is their role. But they certainly cannot manage crime effectively. The solution to crime must be political.

The voice of the large body of independents must begin to grow louder.

LOUIS MOYSTON