Letter of the Day | Gov't continuing crime blame game in 2019

THE EDITOR, Sir:

The murder toll for 2018 in Jamaica is (at least) 1,281, according to the media. Jamaica has a population of two-point-odd million citizens.

The City of Chicago, with a population of 2,000,687, saw a 15 per cent decrease in homicides in 2018, with a homicide total of 530, down from 650 in 2017.

The homicides in Chicago are due mainly to Chicago's illegal gun market, which is bigger than in New York or Los Angeles, simply because Chicago is bordered by states with lax gun laws.

Incoming Governor J.B. Pritzker, in trying to fix this problem, will sign a bill requiring state certification of gun shops.

And he will also call on Congress to do more to stop the flow of guns across state lines.

The city of London, with a population of 8,787,892 citizens, had a total of 130 murders for the year 2018, the highest it has seen since the year 2008, when there were 154 murders.

I read the press release from the Office of the Prime Minister, dated December 31, 2018, on the meeting between himself and experts to plan further crime strategies.

And every other paragraph was to talk about the People's National Party (PNP) and lay blame. What was laughable was the part about the Government not wanting to make security a political football, when the entire press release did just that.

 

No forward thinking

 

What is evident is that the prime minister had no forward thinking or solution for crime in Jamaica, and was obviously expecting his states of emergency to last forever.

Now, part of the solution would be finding the root cause of guns entering Jamaica, as the only thing bordering the island is seawater.

It is evident that the prime minister is in over his head.

And common sense would dictate that he finally admits it, and seek outside help to come to a solution.

And for anyone to say "well, the murders are less this year than last year" is abject rubbish.

A country of two-point-odd million citizens should not be recording murder totals in the hundreds, much less thousands.

What is evident, based on the press release, is that 2019, much like 2018, will be a blame game, with the Jamaica Labour Party and its supporters placing responsibility at the feet of the PNP, because they simply have no clue.

So much for sleeping with doors and windows open.

Michelle Bradshaw