We, like all Jamaicans - save, perhaps, the criminals - wish a speedy and full recovery for Senator Dwight Nelson, the national security minister, who, by now, should have undergone major abdominal surgery in the United States.
Senator Nelson was only five months into an extremely difficult job, but had displayed the resolve that is required of a minister intent on coming to grips with, and defeating the wanton criminality and violence that are all too common in Jamaica.
On the face of it, though, it is unlikely that Senator Nelson will return to work anytime soon. And perchance he does, we question whether, given his previous health problems, he should be subjected to the pressures of this tough and stressful portfolio, from which the public is, understandably, impatient for results.
Indeed, the latest police data on crime, released yesterday, underlined why there is concern and why Prime Minister Bruce Golding requires an urgent fix at national security - a job that has consumed three ministers in the two years that Prime Minister Golding's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has been in office.
Last month, there were 132 homicides in Jamaica, roughly the same as for September 2008. For the first nine months of this year, homicides were down three per cent; it only means that between January and September there were 1,198 murders. By that score Jamaica is on track for a repeat of last year's over 1,600 murders. However, murders do not represent all of our crime problems. This September, reported break-ins, at 282, were 36 per cent higher than last year.
Clearly, national security demands a full-time minister to craft policy measures, to provide consistent lobbying within the Cabinet for the resources required by the security forces to do their jobs, and to hold law enforcement agencies accountable for their performance. Prime Minister Golding has, to say the least, been unfortunate with his appointments to this portfolio.
Mr Derrick Smith, the JLP's long-time shadow in Opposition, soon became ill, spent several months away and was soon removed. Mr Smith's successor, Colonel Trevor MacMillan, seemingly had all the credentials, stumbled, faltered and was quickly booted. And now Senator Nelson.
Sensitive portfolio
Obviously, Mr Golding's mountain of responsibilities makes him a far less-than-an-ideal stand-in over the longer term. And there are few other people in the Cabinet to whom we would entrust this critical and sensitive portfolio.
We do, however, have a suggestion: Mr Delroy Chuck, a lawyer, who now serves as speaker of the House, and is, essentially, wasted talent in a limited pool. Mr Chuck has the equanimity which we believe is important for the job and as speaker displays an even-handedness that is important to the cross-party efforts that are necessary at the ministry of national security. There is the sense that he can win the trust of the Opposition, the bureaucracy, the security forces and the public.
We expect that, as is demanded of senior officers of the constabulary, Mr Chuck, if offered the job, would not be averse to undergoing a polygraph test, as a signal of his integrity and trustworthiness for the post. In fact, anyone who feels he is up to the task should be willing to similarly tested.
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