Laxity puts the nation at more risk

Jun 27, 2008 Features / Columnists

Carelessness is something that leads to disaster. Sometimes the disaster is so disastrous that people lose their lives. It is for this reason that many agencies, although they train their employees, put in place devices for the safety of the same trained employees.

It is the same with people being entrusted with dangerous tools, including motor vehicles. Emphasis is placed on being careful to the extent that one of the crucial elements to be understood before a driver’s licence is issued is care.

It is therefore impossible that people entrusted with the security of dangerous people would be so lax as to allow one of the most dangerous people in this country to escape their grasp.

The government is keen to protect the people of this country and each year it spends huge sums to guarantee this safety.

And in recognition of the role the people who are designated custodians of the peace every year, the government through the President offers them as a bonus such sums that amount to one month’s salary tax free.

There are other benefits for these people because those in uniform are given additional incentives including an allowance for the clothes they wear.

It is not easy to be watchful all the time but being careful is another matter and that is why the various systems always insist that no less than two persons conduct patrols or examinations. The focus is on being careful because there is nothing like being too careful.

And so it is that there is anger over the disappearance of one of the most dangerous criminals in the country. It cost a lot of money to arrest this young criminal and even more to keep him custody.

But the cost of keeping him was nothing compared to the cost of keeping the nation safe and the people comfortable, because a comfortable people lead to a better nation.

The government, over the past few years, has been blamed for the crime wave. People point to the age of the young criminals and argue that they were born after the PPP came to power.

The government has been in power for almost sixteen years and it is dishonest to link the current criminals to the advent of a new government. Traditionally, most of the criminals are between the age of eighteen and 30 years.

This would mean that the vast majority of the criminals would be born in the latter years of the PNC administration and grew up under the current government.

The older criminals grew up under the PNC but at no time did anyone conclude that the PNC created criminals.

So it is dishonest to blame the government but that is the name of the game these days because the people who cast blame want to get into power; they want to see the government out of office because that is the role of the opposition.

At present the government, at great cost, is conducting a manhunt in the interior of this country for a group of men who have killed many people and who vow to kill many more.

This manhunt has allowed the nation to see the extent to which others are prepared to visit this country with untold hardship because they harbour these dangerous criminals without realizing that the very criminals could turn on them one day.

The police have on record the testimony of a woman who heard when a resident of Agricola, as he was being attacked by gunmen, say to one of them, “After all I do for you?” The resident was beheaded.

The most recent addition to the criminals on the streets is Jermaine Charles who killed no less than one dozen people during a spree. The police worked hard to capture him and equally hard to keep him.

However, carelessness on the part of other policemen has led to this dangerous person ending up back on the streets.

Those on the fringe are going to blame the government; they are going to say that the lock-ups have not been repaired so that they are not good enough to contain a criminal who wants to escape.

But the government spends a lot of money on these facilities even as the PNCR wants the government to stop spending on infrastructure and spend on anything that the opposition recommends.

People will have to be seriously disciplined for this lapse but this will not change the fact that the nation is now exposed to yet another dangerous criminal who was once in custody awaiting trial for his crimes.

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Laxity puts the nation at more risk

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