Gang-raping Jamaica

Debbie-Ann Wright, Guest Columnist

Mother of us all

Place of our birth

How can we stand aside

And watch the rape of the world?

Jamaica is being gang-raped and some of us are standing around watching the spectacle, and those who can't stand to look have run off to other lands.

The above excerpt from Tracy Chapman's Rape of the World fully expresses how I feel about what's happening in Jamaica today. Our country is being raped by criminals who have taken over, and this land of wood and water has been turned into a land of bloodstains and tears.

A new report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently showed that this little dot on the map called Jamaica has the sixth highest homicide rate in the world. Murders have become so commonplace, the media often do not report on them unless they are multiple killings or are particularly gruesome.

However, murders do not begin to tell the story of all the crimes we are perpetrating against our country. We continue to breed lawless citizens every day by giving them the excuse of poverty. People are poor, so we allow them to steal electricity. Children need to go to school, so leave the illegal taxi operators to break the laws, putting people's lives at risk daily. People need to 'eat a food', so leave vendors to commandeer sidewalks and block roads with their wares.

The solution to poverty can't be lawlessness. Lawlessness only breeds more poverty - for all of us. I don't want to hear my politicians on radio or on television saying that people are stealing electricity because they are poor. I want to hear my politicians, civil society and private-sector leaders actually leading the charge to find solutions for the poverty issues instead of being comfortable with people being poor and then giving them a pass to break laws.

It's easy to point fingers and pass around blame for Jamaica's ills. However, the most heinous of crimes against Jamaica is being committed by us all - corruption. We like to point fingers at our politicians and public officials as being corrupt.

We champ at the bit to crucify the next wrongdoer each time a report of the Office of the Contractor General or the Auditor General's Department is released. It's always shocking to us how millions of taxpayers' dollars are wasted or misappropriated by our public officials. However, we are just as guilty of raping Jamaica's coffers.

We 'buy' our driver's licences, bribe policemen to get out of traffic tickets, and evade our taxes, all while maintaining that we are law-abiding citizens and expressing outrage at 'others' who are tearing down Jamaica. The frightening thing is that corruption is so pervasive that it has now become the norm and people mindlessly engage in corrupt acts without even recognising it as corruption. In fact, people believe there is no point in conducting business above board, as you will be unsuccessful, especially when dealing with Government.

ENDEMIC CORRUPTION

When I wanted to get my driver's licence, I was encouraged to just do my lessons then 'buy' it, because the examiners are corrupt and won't make you pass unless you pay a bribe. I decided to do it the lawful way and got my licence without incident.

The first time I had to do my motor vehicle fitness examination, I was surprised at how simple a process it was, given that I knew it was the norm for people to offer bribes to have their vehicles passed. Corruption is so pervasive that people are conditioned to expect it and, therefore, decide to offer bribes even before trying the legitimate route!

We are also raping Jamaica by the things we do to the environment. Nowadays, at the first sign of rain, we know there'll be flooding. This is because we have been littering and blocking our drains without any thought of the consequences. We have been thoughtlessly building into the hills to show off our affluence, cutting down trees and pouring concrete.

We have been illegally mining sand for construction and for attractions to lure foreigners. We have been killing endangered species like crocodiles and overfishing our waters. When we have managed to destroy our own habitat, what will we do then?

It's time for us to be more thoughtful about how our individual actions impact on the collective. Someone will have to bear the consequence for any advantages you gain illegally or immorally. I guarantee that if each of us, in our small corner, resolved to live according to the laws and less selfishly for just a year, we would begin seeing such a massive turnaround in our collective fortune that we'd never want to return to lawlessness.

Jamaica's fortunes will not change if we keep looking to others to fix them instead of individually playing our part. There is no rescue party on the way; we must save ourselves.

Debbie-Ann Wright is an editor at The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and Debbie-annwright@gleanerjm.com.