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| Ananda Dean - the missing child later found dead some years ago - the Ananda Alert for missing children is named for her. |
Observer column by Jean Lowrie-Chin published Monday, October 01, 2012
"Mama!" We hear the scream of the child as the thug reaches through the
window of her house, grabs her by the hair, puts a gun to her head and
orders her family to open the door or they will blow her head off. We
hear her cries as she and four family members are dragged to the open
lot and brutally violated. Now the tiny eight-year-old is wracked with
pain of body and trauma of spirit. The mother, also a victim of the
attack, weeps by the side of her child's hospital bed, fearing for her
future.
"One of my officers broke down and cried," said a senior police officer
from the Granville Police Station in St James, after they had visited
the house in Irwin. They had seen the man of the family who was not at
home when the horror unfolded last Monday, sitting on the steps of his
house weeping in despair.
As we consider these unspeakable deeds, we ask ourselves how this little
island could breed such wickedness. Over the past 14 years, we have had
an average of 1300 murders per year, a total of over 15,000 people cut
down under various circumstances, leaving tens of thousands of
Jamaicans in grief.
Last year, when a mother and daughter were beheaded in Lauriston, St
Catherine, we waited and waited for condemnation of this horrendous act
by leaders of both political parties. If memory serves me right, and I
would be happy to be proved wrong, all we got was silence. Was it fear?
Was it too delicate a time in the political campaign that had been
circling the island to speak out? Whatever the reason, evil must have
been emboldened when no expression of shock or sorrow came.
Some have asked: What is the point of dressing in black and marching in
Half-Way-Tree? What is the point of observing silence? We do this for
the same reason that we attend funerals to mourn with the bereaved. We
do this for the same reason we go on our knees and try to find the
faith, hope and courage to continue our fight against the
unrighteousness in our land.
And then what? you ask. And then let us dust off the pages of the years
of research done by the Claudette Crawford-Browns and the Herbert Gayles
of our country and use it to inform our social planning. Dr Claudette
Crawford-Brown has repeatedly pointed to the recurring decimal of the
absent mother in cases of juvenile delinquency, yet many of our children
are still being raised by remittance. I saw a play on television staged
by primary school children about wicked relatives who live high off
remittances while the young beneficiaries are given the crumbs.
In an annual Cobb Lecture entitled, "The Potholed Road Ahead", Dr
Herbert Gayle appealed for targeted assistance to poor mothers. These
mothers, uneducated and victimised by a string of men, have children
they cannot afford to maintain, continuing the cycle of grinding poverty
that would shock those who have never ventured out into an inner-city
community.
There are so many agencies, NGOs and do-gooders in this country and yet
we have not been able to make the change we so desperately want. It is
heartbreaking to see police officers struggling out to community centres
after a hard day's work to mentor young people while some civilians sit
idly at home cursing them out for the ills in the society.
If only our Social Development Commission could harmonise the efforts of
various NGOs, so they do not trip over each other in well-meaning but
unproductive efforts. Our government agencies need to sharpen their act
if they are to carry out their mandate.
With all the starving children in Jamaica, I know of a Canadian couple
who have been waiting for over a year to adopt a Jamaican child, and
still no word. We have to improve the calibre and accountability of
those who manage our social services. We should not be squandering
scarce funds marked for welfare, chatting and shuffling paper while the
country goes to hell in a basket.
COMMENTS (
7)
Africanus J
10/1/2012
A venture capitalist said that it does not matter how creative
workers are, if they don’t have good managers, they will not do well. He
gave one example of why some bad movies do well at the box office, but
some good ones don’t do well and the difference he said was marketing
which comes under management. All companies and countries fail or
succeed because management. I am inclined to believe that 80 percent
success or failure of companies and countries come from management.
jam rock
10/1/2012
There was a time when our politicians were thinking BIG.
Scrolling thru some of the plans and development especially for downtown
Kingston I was amazed at how far reaching and futuristic the
achievements were. Nowadays I see a lot of the politicians just chasing
females and driving expensive cars. They are not even interested in any
writings, books, literature, etc. Just cass cass which we are tired of.
Mr. Blindmice
10/1/2012
Only the obtuse/fool think that all action don’t come with
consequences. The tragedy of poor governance is that people suffer,
perish and die. The people of Jamaica/Zimbabwe deserve every ounce of
agony they get from the inept, incompetent, corrupt and imbecilic govt.
they elect and reelected. Fairness should mean people get what they
deserve. The Syrian people didn’t elect Assad; he was imposed on them;
and sympathy should be given; Jamaican/Zimbabweans don’t. Only 1 time a
fool ever change.
David Armstrong
10/1/2012
"...we ask ourselves how this little island could breed such
wickedness." Let's not beat around the bush. Most Ja'cans know by now
should know that the cause of the evil acts of murder, rape, mob
killing, and widespread criminality are the result of a political system
that is corrupt to the core. This political corruption, which gave us,
dons like Dudus breeds gangs and gunmen like how stagnant water breeds
mosquitoes. It is also the reason why we have poor political leadership.
Winston Allen
10/1/2012
Jean- your thoughts are in the right place - i hope God is also in your heart
Winston Allen
10/1/2012
On climate change - if the sea rises all we have left in Jamaica
to survive off is the land - so greater investment should be in food
& land. There is not many places in the world that produce the
quality food as the rock does. Food price is going up this Christmas for
all Jamaicans including chicken meat because the USA had a drought -
will we keep paying or producing more Jam-rock.
Winston Allen
10/1/2012
Jean - the reason why governance is bad is because the best
candidates may not be political or of the party in power - just like in
England - the people who do the most damage to a situation is put
forward - will the government look to God as PM said "God elected her" -
or will she look to those who has the devil's formulae who want seat
power and money. PM has called for a sex offenders register - that
caused innocent people to lose thier life in England, by error of the
public grief.
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