THE EDITOR, Sir:

THERE HAVE been over 2,000 murders since Bruce Golding became prime minister less than two years ago. We have had three ministers of national security and our problem of crime continues unabated.

We urgently need to look at setting up the civilian police force under which will fall the Port Security Corp, Transport Authority, a new Praedial Larceny Corp and Traffic Enforcement Team, examina-tion depots and customs. Many of these bodies are not working as effectively as they could and should fall under the direction of an action-oriented person, like Daryl Vaz, under a new agency known as the Social Renewal Task Force and headed by Danville Walker, who would work closely with Joan Gordon-Webley at the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding needs to take a direct, hands-on approach to this problem. He needs to see to the dismantling of the garrisons and zinc fences in all the inner-city communities. City planners need to be working on 24-hour rotation to redesign our inner cities to build major roads through them and open them up and beautify them, so that motorists and the citizens living there will see peace and tranquility.

The Tourism Product Development Company and the Tourism Enhancement Fund should provide the funding for this new agency and to make tourism in the inner cities a major priority.

Police state necessary

We probably have to temporarily establish a police state to arrest this crime issue. We must remove our young men who hang out on the streets into the military, HEART or the National Youth Service. We have to seek to train and arm about 200,000 of our properly vetted citizens to directly take on and confront all criminal gangs and gunmen.

PNP responsible

The People's National Party should not feel that they have been absolved from the crime situation. To the contrary, they are responsible for the blight and decay throughout their 18 years of (mis) governing the country. My disappointment, however, is that the Jamaica Labour Party, in that same amount of time looking at the problem, has come out of the starting blocks stumbling and falling on its face, or floating like a rudderless ship on the crime problem.

The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica should not wait until another of its prominent member is killed before marching again and to say once more that they did not know that people lived in the squalid conditions that exist in some inner-city communities.

Mr Prime Minister, you should read this article and I am sure that you will agree with me that the many years that you have spent working in the inner cities have brought to your realisation that many of the strife that exist there stem from the continued hatred of years of animosity. You would have heard many times whose father killed the other man's father and whose brother killed whom.

Moment of repentance

We will not be able to adequately resolve these issues until we can thrash them out at a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where amnesty is offered, so that people can speak freely. This has to be a moment of repentance and confession and bring the whole country to the table and bear all our ills. We will then let bygones be bygones and start anew.

Mr Golding, this matter needs your immediate attention and focus. I am depending on you.

I am, etc.,

Shawn Johnson

Chairman

National Gun Rights Association

jamaicanshawn@yahoo.com