JaRistotle | For the greater good

Two weeks ago, I made a plea for the police to display more initiative in carrying out their functions, particularly in relation to the enforcement of rules on our roads. I am happy to report that I witnessed an officer doing just so this week at the intersection on Hope Road in front of the gates to King's House. No blocking of the intersection, a seamless flow of traffic.

The officer's actions may have been inconvenient to some motorists, namely those who would have wanted to block the intersection and better guarantee their passage to the other side rather than wait, even with a green light, so as to allow for unimpeded flow through the intersection. Their selfish intentions were superseded by actions which served the greater good, to the advantage of the majority of motorists traversing the said intersection.

This is a ready example of the importance of taking appropriate action, invariably to the chagrin of the selfish minority, for the benefit of the whole. Put another way, it highlights the need to avoid the sort of inaction that facilitates undue inconveniences and endangering of the citizenry at large.

SECURITY

The continuation of the existing zones of special operations (ZOSOs) and the states of emergency (SOEs) has my support: while they may be an inconvenience to some, the majority of persons living and working in the affected areas have benefited from reduced exposure to murderous gangsters and like demons. These ZOSOs and SOEs have proven to be for the greater good of the majority.

In like manner, the apparent strategy of 'preventive detention' as applicable to known purveyors of mayhem and murder but for who hard evidence is lacking, has no doubt reduced the scope for them to either directly or indirectly endanger the citizenry at large. I note the howls of protest that already exist, and will no doubt come about as a result of my views, but so what? Keep them confined for the greater good.

With the prospect of an additional 20 ZOSOs, no doubt intended for the greater good of the areas where they will be implemented, I must query what the authorities have planned for those areas outside of the current and planned ZOSOs and SOEs. Criminals will move with the flow and embed themselves in areas of least heat: we therefore need an all-island net to make everywhere hot for them for the greater good.

The now repealed Suppression of Crime Act of 1974 comes to mind, wherein the security forces could conduct operations with greater spontaneity without having to depend on the umbrella of a SOE or ZOSO.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Then there is the recent lame-duck explanation proffered by the head of the National Environment and Planning Agency regarding the 'almost' ban on the catching of parrotfish, wherein he effectively threw the Fisheries Division under the bus.

Yow, fisherman ketch fish, and the more di better. Most ah dem no business bout the role of parrotfish in keeping reefs and beaches healthy and vibrant for future generations, tomorrow is somebody else's problem. But they are part of today's problems: the harvesting of juvenile fish owing to the mesh size of fish-pots is a direct spin-off of their ill-informed outlook and official inaction. No parrotfish or juvenile fish spells for a tomorrow devoid of reefs, fish and beaches. Think of the greater good.

There are countless other burning national issues being belaboured by inaction and indecision on the part of our politicos and public officials, issues which demand timely decisions and actions for the greater good which, in any language, should always take precedence over myopic politics and minority interests.

Let's get it on.