Illusions are not reality

May 05, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Illusions have been responsible for many mishaps in the world. A number of illusionists have been grabbing centre stage with some unexplained performances. In one case a man walks on water, in another he snaps two adults in two and exchanges the body parts. The latter was done in a public park and had people running for their very sanity.
On hot days many a motorist would swear that they have seen pools of water in the middle of the road when there is none. The same illusion causes many people to see oases in the middle of deserts. Then, there are people who give the illusion that they are either very wealthy or very poor for reasons best known to themselves.
Many persons have been taken by the illusion of a well-dressed individual who in reality is a scamp and a confidence trickster. That people are tricked into believing is testimony of the success of illusions. Many business places have reported that well-dressed businessmen have gone to them with cheques and have obtained millions of dollars in goods. The problem comes when the business place tries to encash the cheques.
Over the past two months the police have been reporting a drop in crime. There was a time when Guyana must have been the crime capital of the Caribbean. Scarcely a day passed without criminals invading homes and killing people during the execution of robberies.
Such was the state of things that the roads became empty at sundown. Night life had ground to a halt because people preferred the safety of their homes. The police and the army managed to pull things back but then again, the presence of drugs always sparks criminal activities. It was not long before the guns came out.
The coalition which now forms the government campaigned on an anti-crime platform. Such was the campaign that it is the belief that the desire of the public to see an end to crime helped torpedo the coalition to political power. But since then the political opposition has been fueling the image that crime is just as bad if not worse than when the previous administration was in power.
This week the police released its crime statistics and for two months running there have been a substantial decrease in crime. The police report read: The Guyana Police Force has recorded a 19 per cent decrease in serious crimes at the end of April this year relative to the same period last year.
There was a nine per cent reduction in reports of murder; a nine per cent decrease in gun-related robberies; an 8% decrease in armed robberies where other instruments were used by the perpetrators; a 38% decrease in robberies with violence; a 38% decrease in robberies with aggravation; an 18% decrease in rape; and a 22% decrease in break and enter and larceny.
The reports made in April 2016 represent a 32% decrease against those reported in March this year.”
But there have been some sensational crimes. There was the robbery attack on the Ramada Princess Casino that was captured on tape. The fear on the faces of people and the injuries displayed by the survivors was enough to make people conclude that crime is just as bad.
There were the murders, some for hire and some because of a misunderstanding during a bout of alcohol. The fact that the newspapers and television gave these crimes some prominence merely fueled the perception that crime was just as bad or even worse.
A former Home Affairs Minister now General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, has been promoting the view that crime is out of control. He has chosen to ignore the statistics released by the police and he says why. Public perception is always more acceptable than reality. If the public feels that crime is on the rise then that must be the case.
The task now is to change public perception but with politicians now in the fray, this is going to be a difficult proposition.

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