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Is Smith up to the task?
We agree with those who have asserted that the new Minister of National Security, Derrick Smith, has shown no signs that he is up to the job of National Security. Derrick Smith is no neophyte. He has been a part of the Parliament for greater than 20 years and he has had the portfolio responsibility of Shadow Minister for National Security for more than ten years. It is in that context that we view with disappointment his failure to make any definitive policy statement or preside over any new initiative in the first month of taking office.
Since the JLP has taken office, the trend of high incidence of violent murders has continued, so too has the incidence of homicide by the police in dubious circumstances at an alarming rate. More than 200 persons have been killed by the police in the first ten months of 2007.
The problems of excessive use of force by the police, the murder of member of the security forces and Jamaica’s runaway murder rate are all complex problems that defy simple solutions. We have accepted all along that there was no ‘silver bullet’ in fighting crime. However, nothing that Derrick Smith said or did while in Opposition led any one to believe that he did not think that he had the answer for Jamaica’s crime problem.
The performance or lack thereof of the new Security Minister Derrick Smith is a tacit reminder that the solutions to Jamaica’s crime problem does not lie in the change of political administration, nor in the personalities we import from abroad, for that matter. There are complex and intractable forces at work. Special pleadings and strong condemnations are good and necessary, but cannot take us very far.
Watch it Mr Shaw
Is it appropriate for Finance Minister Audley Shaw to endorse a company which is fighting a legal battle with the government? Could the finance minister’s comment while addressing a function as guest of hotelier Gordon Butch Stewart in Antigua that his administration backs the Sandals group be construed as continuation of his support for the Sandals Group?
Readers will recall how Minister Shaw, while he was chairman of the Public Accounts Committee probing cost overruns on the Sandals Whitehouse hotel took what many said was a one-sided position in support of Gorstew Limited. Gorstew Limited and Sandals Whitehouse Management Limited are first and second claimant in a multimillion lawsuit against the Urban Development Corporation, National Investment Bank of Jamaica Limited and Ackendown Newtown Developmnt Company Limited.
Readers will also recall how Stewart scolded and demanded that party leader and now Prime Minister Bruce Golding to take action against Member of Parliament Andrew Gallimore for statements he made in the House criticizing his company’s management of Air Jamaica.
As the chief purse keeper we believe Minister Shaw should tread carefully on his public endorsements, especially since it is perceived in some corners that the party is in the pockets of certain private sector interest.
We agree with those who have asserted that the new Minister of National Security, Derrick Smith, has shown no signs that he is up to the job of National Security. Derrick Smith is no neophyte. He has been a part of the Parliament for greater than 20 years and he has had the portfolio responsibility of Shadow Minister for National Security for more than ten years. It is in that context that we view with disappointment his failure to make any definitive policy statement or preside over any new initiative in the first month of taking office.
Since the JLP has taken office, the trend of high incidence of violent murders has continued, so too has the incidence of homicide by the police in dubious circumstances at an alarming rate. More than 200 persons have been killed by the police in the first ten months of 2007.
The problems of excessive use of force by the police, the murder of member of the security forces and Jamaica’s runaway murder rate are all complex problems that defy simple solutions. We have accepted all along that there was no ‘silver bullet’ in fighting crime. However, nothing that Derrick Smith said or did while in Opposition led any one to believe that he did not think that he had the answer for Jamaica’s crime problem.
The performance or lack thereof of the new Security Minister Derrick Smith is a tacit reminder that the solutions to Jamaica’s crime problem does not lie in the change of political administration, nor in the personalities we import from abroad, for that matter. There are complex and intractable forces at work. Special pleadings and strong condemnations are good and necessary, but cannot take us very far.
Watch it Mr Shaw
Is it appropriate for Finance Minister Audley Shaw to endorse a company which is fighting a legal battle with the government? Could the finance minister’s comment while addressing a function as guest of hotelier Gordon Butch Stewart in Antigua that his administration backs the Sandals group be construed as continuation of his support for the Sandals Group?
Readers will recall how Minister Shaw, while he was chairman of the Public Accounts Committee probing cost overruns on the Sandals Whitehouse hotel took what many said was a one-sided position in support of Gorstew Limited. Gorstew Limited and Sandals Whitehouse Management Limited are first and second claimant in a multimillion lawsuit against the Urban Development Corporation, National Investment Bank of Jamaica Limited and Ackendown Newtown Developmnt Company Limited.
Readers will also recall how Stewart scolded and demanded that party leader and now Prime Minister Bruce Golding to take action against Member of Parliament Andrew Gallimore for statements he made in the House criticizing his company’s management of Air Jamaica.
As the chief purse keeper we believe Minister Shaw should tread carefully on his public endorsements, especially since it is perceived in some corners that the party is in the pockets of certain private sector interest.
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