Setting the right example!

May 28, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

A young enterprising businessman has just closed his business place on Water Street and is leaving for home when he is gunned down in his motor vehicle.
His car crashes into a post, and by the time he is rescued and reaches the hospital, he dies. The family believes that the man was a victim of a hired assassin.
A deputy chief security officer of a major pharmaceutical company is shot a number of times and also pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
There is a suspicion that this was a hit.
A university lecturer has just made a purchase at a major supermarket. He enters his car and almost immediately a man walks up to him and dumps excrement in his face. There is a suspicion that persons who are in disagreement with the lecturer’s views masterminded this attack.
An executive of the Guyana Cricket Board of Control is having a beer in a shop. A man approaches him and throws a corrosive substance in his face. He is now disfigured for life. The victim believes that this attack is somehow related to his forthrightness.
All of these four incidents occurred in a matter of days in Guyana. Yes Guyana. Not Jamaica, not Trinidad but in Guyana. And why are these things happening with such impunity?
They are happening because the perpetrators are getting away with these actions. It seems that today in Guyana it is very easy to hire someone to bump someone off.
No society should ever reach a stage whereby people become so vulnerable and attacks are carried out with such freedom and impunity. This should not be.
So where do we begin to lay the blame? Firstly, blame has to rest with the failure of the security forces. While they have made progress in containing armed criminal gangs that had terrified this country, they have been unable remove the threat of hired vigilantes. There has been a great deal of progress as regards gun crimes, but this recent resurgence in violent crimes is a reminder that a great deal of work needs to be done.
It would seem that there is a large criminal network in Guyana and they are constantly planning on where and who next to hit. The police in the meantime are reacting. They need to be more aggressive and try to rein in the disconcerting levels of criminal activity. The problem is that the police seem nowhere close to solving any of the above mentioned crimes.
The justice system must also shoulder some of the blame. One of the serious problems within our society is the manner in which disputes are resolved. There are deficiencies in the conflict-resolution mechanisms at almost all levels in our society. People are going to settle scores through extrajudicial means when they feel frustrated by the formal channels. And this is why we must make the system work.
In every police station there should be a peace officer committed to mending differences. Not every case has to be hauled before the courts. In every community there has to be mechanisms to resolve personal disputes so as to reduce the levels of violence that is taking such a heavy toll on our youth.
But citizens also have to lead by example. Recently a terror attack was intercepted in Times Square in New York because of the vigilance of a vendor and because of the use of security cameras, which allowed the suspect to be found.
There are persons in Guyana who have information that can help in reducing crime and violence in Guyana, but they are afraid to share it because they do not trust the confidentiality of the Guyana Police Force.
There was even a proposal made to address this. It was planned that persons who have information could call certain toll-free numbers, which would be answered by someone outside of Guyana.
The information would be relayed to that person who would keep the identity of the caller secret and then relay that to the security forces.
Yet this project has been stalled. It needs to be restarted and those Guyanese in the Diaspora can help the authorities back home by establishing a company to take the reports on a confidential basis. We can do this guys!
Finally the government has to be more responsible. It has to create a culture of toleration. It has to be temperate in its language and responsible in its response. It has to be fair and responsive to reasonable demands. The government should use its high standing to set an example of the way differences should be resolved. By setting the right example, the government can help to restore confidence in law and order and thus help reduce the high incidence of unlawful killings in our society.

Latest News

Setting the right example!

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| March, 17th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

NSC, Office of the DPP to host Criminal Law and Sexual Offences Act...

Lucas Chung maintains strong standing at 2nd...

Farm Supplies Ltd. supports Bartica Regatta 2025

Legislation and Investment: Trinidad to Brazil,...

Three more matches billed for this weekend

CM Khan rules at 2025 National Blitz Chess...

Features/Columnists

“One Guyana” is no less a national slogan than “Green Guyana”

If Guyana’s President Ali is the “Zelensky of the Caribbean”, who is the Putin?

Partner v. investor

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Setting the right example!

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| March, 17th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]