Peter Espeut I SOMETIMES listen to my colleague Deacon 'Ronnie' Thwaites read the newspapers in the early morning on his programme 'Independent Talk' on Power 106. When commenting on newspaper columnists, he often remarks that such and such a writer is clearly tired in the job, for he or she is repeating himself or herself. He also comments that if they can't write about something fresh and new, then they must stop and give someone else a chance.
REPETITION WITH A REASON
Although I have never heard him say that about my column, I know that I have often repeated myself. I have often written about our poor quality education system, and things seem to be getting worse, so I have to repeat myself. I have often written about the link between politics and garrisons and dons and gunmanship. The number of garrisons seems to be increasing, and the gun crimes seem to deepen, and when I see politicians congratulating the dons on their support, and attending their funerals, I hope my brother, deacon, understands that I have to continue to repeat myself.
I have written often that political parties cannot survive without funding from the private sector, and that therefore the private sector must bear some of the responsibility for the political mayhem, and since both the funding and the mayhem continue, I must continue to repeat myself. I have often written about the fast pace at which our natural environment is being destroyed, our fisheries, our coral reefs, our forests and watersheds, our wetlands and the vast amounts of pollution being dumped into our rivers, aquifers and the sea, but it continues to increase. I hence have to continue to repeat myself.
I, for one, would love to be able to report something fresh and new, that things are getting better, that I see even slight improvements in our low quality education system, that I see a growing distance between the politicians and the dons, and between the political parties and the political tribalism and violence, that the private sector has said "Not another cent until you clean up your act!" and I would love to be able to write the good news that we no longer have the most overfished waters in the Caribbean, and that our rate of deforestation is slowing down, and that we are beginning to see a reduction in our high pollution levels. But I can't, because it wouldn't be true; and so I have to continue to repeat myself.
For years I repeated myself about police brutality and our scandalously high rate of extra-judicial killings, and I and Amnesty International and Jamaicans for Justice and Families against State Terrorism and other human rights activists, have been repeatedly called all sorts of names from, bleeding-hearts, to 'lovers of criminals' and 'haters of the police', but finally a public apology has come and officialdom has openly set its face against that sort of behaviour. If we didn't stick to the programme and continually repeat ourselves, I don't believe there would have been a change.
PLAN FOR ACTION
So where do we go from here? Persons in Golden Spring were murdered over the distribution of political spoils, the tribes turned out in full force in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, to defend their extortion turf, in this case, road work, the private sector is deepening its collaboration with the Government, and senior superintendent McDonald has been shot dead in a marked police car.
I for one will continue to repeat myself. Sadly our media are not as independent as they would like us to believe, and more Government public relations takes place each day under the guise of 'talk shows' than ever before. Both political parties are chips off the same old block, and both have long-standing interests in garrison politics, and have taken no steps that I can see to improve the situation. I cannot see in any of my political friends in either party any shame about it.
Jamaican history is not going to be kind to our present crop of leaders in both the private and public sectors. It has already started. as we look back to see how we got here. It is going to be left to civil society to step forward to make the change. Those who have created our problems and who actively perpetuated them, cannot be expected to solve them. We are so deeply divided and suspicious of each other that we don't even know where to begin to find a solution!
A NEW BEGINNING
In my view, we must begin with the truth. Let me repeat myself. What we need is a sort of 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission', like what they had at the end of apartheid in South Africa, where the good, the bad and the ugly about our politics must come out. Let the chips fall where they may. Those who have been part of the problem must excuse themselves and go into retirement and leave the future of Jamaica in clean hands.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
