Seeking an Independence gift

Lambert Brown, Contributor

Our national leaders have challenged us in their Independence Day messages to reflect on our journey over the last 48 years of Independence. That is well and good because it allows us to acknowledge that we have come a long way from the inequities, discrimination and stagnation associated with colonialism.

Progress there has been, but as a country we are too far from where we need to be as a nation. It is time for our leaders to do their own reflections on how, by their conduct, they have contributed to the retardation of our progress.

This reflection is imperative as we sail, almost, on autopilot, towards our 50th year of Independence, floundering on the treacherous rocks of crime, economic hardship, and indignity to the masses of the Jamaican people.

In my column last year August, I pointed out that our leaders should use the ensuing three years between then and our golden anniversary in 2012 to adopt more of a cooperative rather than competitive approach towards nation building. Sadly, the signs of cooperation have been outnumbered and dominated by partisan bickering, which has subordinated the national interest to the dictates of political ego. Statesmanship, along with the best interest of our people, have been abandoned. Hope has once again been dashed. The error-filled past seems destined to be our guide to the future.

It is time for civil society to rally and demand that our leaders 'draw brakes' and stop their journey down this destructive path. The assessment made last year in my August column remains as valid today as when it was first made. I repeat it today in the hope that it may be a guide to action.

"Our economic underdevelopment is self-inflicted in the main. Yes, there have been external factors which have adversely affected us. So, too, in recent times have climatic conditions impacted us negatively, but the greatest problem has been our disunity. We went into Independence divided as a nation, and up to today, we remain lacking in national unity.

"The way we conduct our politics has so divided us that partisan competition dominates over the need for national cooperation. Too often, the desire for power leads our politicians to oppose good ideas or policies which would strengthen our ability to grow our way to economic independence and prosperity for our people. Both major political parties have been guilty of this practice. Valuable time and momentum are lost when good ideas are rejected in opposition but then belatedly embraced when they become government."

Critical issue

It is clear to me that on the critical issue of crime fighting, our national leaders are missing the opportunity to unite and wage a crusade against the heinous criminals that have stalked our land, maiming and destroying our people, their dreams and aspirations.

The recent debate about the extension of the state of emergency provided us with an abject lesson of what is wrong with our politics. Areas of agreement were made into poles of division, and instead of common causes becoming platforms for unity and action, they became ceremonies of partisan chest-beating and point-scoring. No country can progress with this approach.

The juvenile behaviour cannot be allowed to continue towards our 50th anniversary of Independence. The struggles of our ancestors summon us in a search for a common-sense approach to solving our most urgent problems. Having wasted another year "fighting one another for the power and the glory" and watching "Jah Kingdom go to waste, I want to remind our leaders of this call for action made in that column.

Let them reflect on this.

"Imagine the positive impact on our country if, instead of those moments of political opportunism in the past that unnecessarily divided the country, we had chosen national cooperation over partisan competition. Maybe we can hope that in the next three years, when we would have come to celebrate a half-century of Independence, our political leaders can find the will to adopt more of the cooperative rather than the competitive approaches to nation building. A significant reduction in crime and the promotion of good values and attitudes among our people are two areas of national life where cooperation must replace partisan competition. If we can achieve these goals in three years, then our future Independence celebrations will be more joy rather than sorrow."

The call by this newspaper in recent editorials for 'a new approach' in the battle to reduce crime, which includes intense parliamentary focus and action, is most welcome. It seems consistent and in sync with views advanced by Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller in her Budget Debate speech just three months ago. So, too, do the views of businessman, Patrick Casserly, in his call for rescuing the youth at risk, as well as positions advanced by Gleaner contributor Don Robotham about focusing on the thousands of young men who are the source from which our criminals spring, find favour with the Opposition, as reflected again in Portia Simpson Miller's main parliamentary presentation. I am sure that the Government will find merit in these practical and realistic approaches to addressing the number one problem confronting our nation.

Unity against crime

Now we know that we have ways to tackle the crime problem. Missing is the political will to unite. Can our leaders grant us that reality of unity against crime as our golden anniversary Independence gift? I hope we will not wait in vain. In 1962, there were 66 murders committed in all of Jamaica. Today, we exceed that number every month. In fact, most months, we more than double that figure. It may be unrealistic to expect that we will ever get back to those days, but they must be the sky at which we aim. If we fall short, let it be at numbers where at least in this single area we can account to the founders of our Independence that we served the nation well. To the task of unity against crime we must all dedicate ourselves as our thanks to our ancestors for the gift of Independence we now enjoy.

Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers' Union and can be contacted at labpoyh@yahoo.com.