Leave Horace Chang in place

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I believe we can all agree that there is no short-term fix to this country’s chronic crime situation. The policies of the six ministers of National Security that held the portfolio prior to Horace Chang all had one thing in common: they articulated and implemented crime plans that failed.

Horace has steadfastly resisted calls to similarly advocate and implement a crime plan. I agree with him simply because it’s a fool that does the same thing and expect different results. While he has taken some measures to try and mitigate the situation in the short term, it is evident that his basic policy has been to implement strategies to deal with the crime situation in the long term through unprecedented investment in the human resources and equipment of the security forces. This approach, I believe, will bear fruit in the medium to long term.

The ongoing trial of the 30-plus members of the Clansman gang is evidence of the potential fruits of this approach. The Gleaner has done a good job of keeping the public informed of how much it is costing taxpayers to pay the public defenders; in this case, J$50 million and counting as of September this year. The case has taken more than two years to investigate and bring to trial, so it would not surprise me if in the end, the total bill is much more than $J150 million, all things considered, including witness protection programmes for former gang members turned state witnesses.

With some 260 active gangs in Jamaica, I will leave it to others more qualified than I am to come up with an estimate of the potential cost of dealing with half these gangs through the courts over the next 15 years.

MONEY WELL SPENT

Questions will be raised about if we can afford this level of expenditure on just one of several national priorities, to the detriment of others. My view is that, given the human, social and economic cost (five per cent of GDP, according to one World Bank study) of not effectively dealing with our chronic crime situation, this will be money well spent.

I therefore believe Dr Horace Chang should be left in place to see through this policy, until at least the next election. The electorate can at that time adjudicate as to the effectiveness of this approach, and whether or not they agree with this level of expenditure on solving our crime problem.

ALWYN K. GREGORY