Editorial: March 23, 2012
Much are being said about criminal activities have increased or ‘escalated’ within the last few months and currently. Upon deeper investigations the police say that this escalation is in respect of what they term as ‘serious crimes’. These fall in the categories of wounding, sexual assaults and theft.
When the police became the target as the aggressors and get charged following heavy investigations into their own conduct, it highlighted serious problems within the security institution. Already suffering from a lack of confidence among the wider public, this was strong fuel for the attention to be focused on them. That left the Governor, (and according to him Cabinet) invoking full scale review of the police service. More statistical information and the census information will provide a great place to begin a study.
The statements of the police about these matters and their lack of respectful and sensible communication with the media has been one of their major downfalls. Right now they are under the microscope in that regard. And, there are others to come as there has been very serious disintegration in the way much of the authority in this island in how they support and deal with media. Understanding and supporting the (different types of) media can work wonders for the overall development of Montserrat and Montserratians.
The police utterances along with their efforts to connect with the public are all still very lacking. That along with the other sectors of the community, calling for prayers while all good are still misguided and misplaced, if they are not going to seek to find out how this became so important, and now almost irrelevant. In the end it is no more than a cop-out! In spite of all this there are some good observations being made about the state of concern among the island, which if not carefully portrayed, can further destroy what is already receiving lip service attention.
Who understands the cost cutting measures that our Minister of Finance (Premier) government keeps talking about? It is budget time and hopefully everyone will listen carefully, that there is something amiss when all we here about government resources and pretended support for the private sector. We need also to listen to some of what the Governor is reporting on the outcome of his discourse with the senior civil servants as to their responsibilities to support the private sector who at the end of the day must subscribe to their employed existence. So even if what the government is saying sounds good, where is the serious intent, action and capacity to deliver on the good things?
What are the priorities of the government in the cost cutting ventures? Is to properly attend to the real priorities or to further stifle development support in the private sector? The police should disclose that they lost as many as nine posts in the exercises, but yet, being under the gun, they must come out and promise the public that they will increase their presence in the community. There are those who know that is not the answer and if at all is a very small part.
We cannot repeat often enough about the conversation, the information and the education that need to take place that would create the knowledge and understanding needed to impact on how we go forward to stem what can indeed get out of hand and create a bigger crisis. If we believe there is a sore, don’t treat it properly, continue to undermine the treatment and wait for terminal cancer to set in.
The Montserrat Reporter with its appended services, and Forward Communications Inc. see themselves as being party to any development in the delivery required. The police have things to fix, but there is much to begin and the time is now more than ripe for those responsible to understand that what is required is a new, honest, dedicated, but different approach that needs to begin. Right now the Commissioner is not getting close. There are some other and not so obvious related issues that need to be corrected with visible action.
As it is said for Christian people, God answers prayers, but it always requires some action! And in the Bible, He laid down a simple guidelines how to pray.
Most of those willing to remove the scales of corruption, fear and deceit from their eyes are ready to join in all that is necessary to rise up and show how deep some heads are buried in the sand. The prayer vigil and march are all commendable, but what are we praying for? We better careful!
