Who is responsible?

It is said that success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. Translating this into political terms, it means politicians will claim credit for success and avoid blame for any failure.

Apart from the performance of the economy, the issue of personal safety and security is the number one priority for citizens. Violent crime, home invasions, and the murder rate have galvanised public opinion as crime has continued to escalate. Extortion is commonplace, and all cash and carry businesses are feeling the heat. Most will pay up rather than suffer the consequences.

Gun crime is pervasive, and the gunmen are indiscriminate. Five-year-old Anika Guerra’s murder in Moruga along with her father was not collateral damage. She was shot five times, including a shot to her head. Perhaps she knew and could have identified the killer. Perhaps it was a message to others. Perhaps we will discover the reasons. More probably, we will never know, as the detection rate in murder cases is less than 15 per cent. She is not the only child to have been murdered.

Whilst violent crime and the murder rate are indeed a cause for concern in many Caricom countries, that is no comfort to T&T citizens who feel neither safe nor secure. The key consideration is the success of measures to reduce crime and inhibit criminals. The Prime Minister’s comments at the post-Cabinet news conference last Thursday were not reassuring.

Perhaps he misconstrued the criticism directed at him and the administration as blame. Hence his assertion, like that of the Minister of National Security, that he is not to be blamed for the current crime situation. He went on to limit his responsibility. He defined his “wuk”, “his job”, as merely “to ensure that whose job it is to identify and to chase down and bring them (criminals) to justice, that they are on the job …”

The comment is passive, not action-oriented. It separates the political authority from the responsibility for finding and promoting all the possible solutions. Although the Prime Minister recognises the existence of serious social problems, he does not acknowledge his Cabinet’s responsibility to address the problems.

In evidence, the Prime Minister unveiled his legislative agenda for the rest of this administration’s term. Since this is his last year before the general election, one presumes that the matters disclosed are national priorities. Yet there were no proposals for addressing crime in the wide list of matters to be addressed. How could crime not be a priority? Perhaps this explains the Prime Minister’s arms-length approach to crime perpetrated by the “devils” amongst us.

It has been widely alleged that government contracts have indirectly facilitated gangs or “community leaders.” A Commissioner of Police has published evidence confirming that gang leaders or persons associated with gangs have received government contracts. No political party has clean hands in this regard, even if this may have happened “inadvertently”.

More importantly, neither party has committed to finding a way to prevent this practice. What will be the outcome if the purse strings are loosened in an election year?

Having two ministers in National Security is unlikely to achieve better results than those achieved in the past. Prime Minister, what will you do differently over the next 12 months to address the crime situation?

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