WE COMMEND the gallant efforts of Messers Paul Burke (PNP) and Desmond McKenzie (JLP) in responding so promptly to the frustration of the embattled residents of the Mountain View Avenue war zone.
Indeed we salute the residents themselves for finally crying "enough is enough" and staging a protest demonstration against the post-election conflict between the political tribes in the community.
As an earnest of their commitment to peace both political leaders have jointly denied any intention of meeting with 'gunmen;' thus avoiding the example of the famous Golding admission of such association in the bad old days.
They do admit, however, to a "broad-based inclusive meeting" which would of necessity involve "some of the combatants." This latter category, we presume, would in all likelihood have been the ones firing sticks and stones or perhaps slingshots!
Which brings us to the remarkable circumstance that the exchange of gunfire last weekend happened even with the presence of the security forces. At one stage they reportedly acted as a buffer between the warring factions as Messers Burke and McKenzie toured the area along Saunders Avenue.
It is unfortunate that this bipartisan initiative in the Mountain View conflict did not happen in Rema. For in that western enclave the savagery of sheer terror took a dreadful toll. As told in yesterday's Letter of the Day from Attorney Bert Samuels, gunmen shot to death a pregnant mother and two three-year-old infants. They died, not by mischance in a crossfire of warring factions, but as deliberate targets of two savages who broke into their home.
The Prime Minister has declared a war against 'gunmanship.' If that war is ever won there will still be more to do. For what political enmity has wrought is not simply the urge to use a gun; it has honed the instinct to kill; and to kill not just a perceived enemy, but also pregnant women and innocent infants.
And for no other reason, it seems, than to satisfy a primal blood-lust. This nation needs catharsis, a cleansing of mind and spirit.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
