John Myers Jr. and Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporters
Msgr. Richard Albert delivers an address at a Gleaner Editors' Forum on the impact of violence on health and society last week. - CARLINGTON WILMOT/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
ROMAN CATHOLIC vicar, Monsignor Richard Albert, has blasted Jamaica's politicians for many of the social ills, among them crime and violence, which are plaguing the country.
Speaking at a Gleaner Editors' Forum last Wednesday, Monsignor Albert suggested that a national committee be established to examine violence and to offer proposals on how to best reduce the problem.
In addition, he suggested that a private sector member should be given a Cabinet post "to be the czar of the inner cities", and that depressed areas be broken down into economic development zones. He said this should be addressed through a multi-sectoral approach.
"Since Independence (in 1962), it's been 43 to 44 years of mismanagement, and unless we have the guts to say it, we are never going to prompt the political directorate into action," he warned during the forum.
The forum, which was held under the theme 'Guns, Gangs, Garrisons: The Impact of Violence on Health and Society', took place at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.
"The political directorate feels as either it is not interested or is basically incapable, but I can assure you the political directorate is responsible for where we are today," said Monsignor Albert, who has been working in some of Jamaica's most volatile inner-city communities for the past 30 years.
Wayne, a forum participant who said he came from Mountain View, St. Andrew, told the forum that he had witnessed politicians distributing guns to men in the area on more than one occasion. "Right now, it's even easier to get arms on the street than rice ... (But) nobody seems to want to speak about it. Politically, we are not accountable ... We see no one being penalised," he said.
Monsignor Albert said while many initiatives have been introduced to tackle the problem over the years, "until we are unafraid to stand up and hold the political directorate on both sides of the isle, nothing will happen."
David Keeling, a member of the Farquharson Institute's council, agreed. He said this would be possible through "the proposed commission (which) would be empowered to summon and examine any person, including elected officials, members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the nation's intelligence-gathering services to recommend criminal proceedings by a special prosecutor against those it believes have broken the law and to recommend parliamentary censure for malfeasance and breaches of the public trust."
Speaking on the issue of public trust and action, Monsignor Albert said social ills have taken place under the existence of private sector and religious organisations which have done little or nothing to put a stop to a type of politics that has sought to divide the people by promoting or encouraging crime and violence.
"The PSOJ (Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica) and the church must also accept responsibility because I (have) sat in meetings where I see fellow churchmen afraid to speak out as we watch the country disintegrate to where we are at a point where we may not be able to take this back," the Roman Catholic priest said.
