Stafford Perkins, Contributor

Perkin

After reading the story of yet another eyewitness, Andy Richards being murdered by gunmen on Sunday, February 18, just a day before taking the witness stand in a murder case, one has to wonder if the system of security and justice in Jamaica is a comedy show. How many more eyewitnesses must die at the hands of criminals before lawmakers say enough and enforce laws that will put a stop to the madness?

One has to ask the question, what is it about Jamaica, why after decades of eyewitnesses being eliminated and suspects set free, that our legislators can't fix this problem?

Playing deaf, dumb, blind

Jamaicans have elected 60 legislators to Parliament whom they are paying handsomely to write laws to protect them from social deviants. But instead of writing and implementing laws that could put an end to the killing spree, it appears politicians are playing deaf, dumb and blind to what is happening.

The question, therefore, goes a begging, why are legislatures so slow in making tough laws and stiffer penalties to end the madness? The answer, I firmly believe, lies in the origins of the don man culture.

Just take a quick survey of what has happened to some communities after politicians get appointed caretakers and ultimately parliamentary representatives. Shanty shacks sprout and mushroom overnight and like bees to honey the gun hawks appear and start driving fear in the hearts of citizens.

It's still ama-zing how some-body like the late 'Bulbie' of Spanish Town was able to operate for so long, getting hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money for government contracts for doing work which he was not even qualified to do.

One cartoonist best captured the story of Jamaica when he portrayed a very disturbing scene where a gunman collected a very large sum of cash for government contract work while an unemployed university graduate and his mother, who happened to be a higgler, watched in horror.

It had been suspected for years that politicians played an integral role in the cultivation of dons for which we are now reaping the bitter fruits. MP Heather Robinson helped to shed light to this suspicion when she bravely denounced attempts by dons to co-opt her into their game. One could get pulled into the trap of recalling incidents of criminal and political alliances and call names of the many dons which were spawned by politicians resulting in where we are today. ?

I believe the time has come for a new breed of politics and politicians in Jamaica. People are just plain tired of the boring rhetoric which is presented each time bloodthirsty ghouls destroy lives and damage the reputation of this beautiful island.

Stiffer penalties

Jamaicans of whatever social status need to get back to the days when decent law-abiding citizens were their heroes and not criminals. Maybe it's time to answer the call for a truth and reconciliation commission.

In the meantime, with less than a year left before Jamaicans go to the poll to elect their parliamentary representatives and ultimately a new government, every voter should be demanding stiffer penalties for those found guilty of killing eyewitnesses, informants, and the police.

Laws must be passed making an eyewitness' statement good enough to convict a murderer whether the eyewitness is alive or dead before and during a trial.