Low voter turnout and national security threats
THE EDITOR, Madam:
“WE CANNOT solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” – Albert Einstein. A political commentator on a prominent radio talk show on Power 106 FM recently articulated that it is shameful that there was such a low voter turnout at the recently concluded local government elections.
It is a major negative indictment on the two major political parties that such a dismal voter turn out – 30 per cent – occurred, and powerfully demonstrates the incontrovertible fact that the majority of voters are turned off from the two political parties –the JLP and PNP.
Published polls reveal that the majority of persons regard elected politicians in Jamaica as widely corrupt, along with police officers and lottery scammers. This is the harsh truth, to put it bluntly.
The three cardinal problems affecting this country have to do with the alleged corruption in the Government, the out-of-control crime rate, and the extremely high and exponentially increasing cost of living rates.
The major national security threats within Jamaica are the high rate of lottery scamming, cybercrime, and the illegal narcotics trade. A leading university researcher and pollster stated on a local television evening newscast on March 5 that approximately 43 per cent of murders have been cleared by the police for the years 2022 and 2023. For those same two years, 80 per cent of murders were carried out using illegal firearms. It stated further that the police had seized less illegal guns for the period.
This unfortunate and alarming crime situation is among the contributory factors which resulted in such a low voter turnout in the recent local government elections.
INTENSE INVESTIGATIONS
A highly experienced retired local l aw-enforcement officer recently stated that the vast levels of corruption within the Jamaica Customs Agency need to be addressed through the various Jamaican senior police agencies with the assistance of the immensely experienced United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigations, United Kingdom’s elite Scotland Yard, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Intelligence. I concur with him wholeheartedly. I am publicly and fearlessly calling on Prime Minister Andrew Holness to l aunch a comprehensive investigation into the Jamaica Customs Agency to investigate, arrest, and prosecute corrupt customs officers who are allegedly facilitating the inflow of illegal drugs, guns and ammunition into Jamaica.
When the police and army discover illegal drugs, guns and ammunition at the wharfs, ports or any l ocation, they should stand by incognito, establish a secure security trap, await the mastermind to collect same, and then immediately arrest him, or them. Too many illegal drugs, guns and ammunition are being found by the security forces; however, the criminal masterminds are not being found and held.
ROBERT DALLEY, Esq robertdalley1468@gmail.com