I even saw a story that one day on the junction road, gunmen shot a man in board daylight and threw him over a bridge with motorists seeing it all in clear view. It sends shivers up your spine when you visualize the mind of these criminals terrorising the public daily. There is also the story of a serial rapist who is terrorising the females in Mona. It seems like a lot of the news is being suppressed of late. We have to wonder why this is happening. With all the exploits at the World Championship(WC), the criminals continue killing each other and innocent people. The Government seem to have lost a grip on the situation, and the Opposition seem to have accepted the fate of Jamaica. Who will change things? It seems that the Prime Minister will have to come with some plans fast. He mentioned the cutting of certain expenditure in the budget, so how will crime be solved. This cutting exercise will ultimately mean that persons will lose their jobs, there is no way around that. So when people lose their jobs, then what? How can they provide for their families?

Are we going back to the days of 'tightening our belts'?

It seems that there is no safe place to live in Jamaica anymore. Everywhere is being bombarded by criminals. My own view is that drastic measures need to be taken to solve our problems.

Firstly I believe that the tax system must be improved immediately. The number of persons evading taxes is far too high, and the corruption is still too high. We need to ensure that everyone now has a TRN, and then go through every person on the TRN system and find all who are delinquent and assess them. The tax laws must also be modified so that persons who evade taxes must also be placed in prison, it cannot just be that they arrange to pay over 10 years. That is just ridiculous. Our tax dollars are supposed to help us to pay our bills and for nation building.

Secondly, our police need to be given all the tools they require. Not just guns and vests, but the latest technology at their stations and in their police cars. Crime fighting is no longer a 'dark age' concept, but a modern day problem. I was happy to see the emphasis on the forensics training, and this will no doubt pay off in the long run. I believe also that all citizens of Jamaica should be finger printed, and this should be mandatory.

Thirdly, employment must be emphasised. This has been said over and over by many, but here is my viewpoint. Farming should be brought back into the fold, especially in this time of recession. Jamaica needs to be producing for itself. Here's my plan. Every able body man/woman who are not working should be given the tools to do farming. This would mean that the Government provide the lands to do this, and there is a lot of land. Here's the catch, if everyone that is not working is doing farming, then there should be no idlers,right... To this end, everyone who is farming is given an ID that proves that they are working, right. If you are seen on the road not working, then you must explain why, no exceptions to this rule..the devil find work for idle hands. We therefore solve the crime problem[to an extent] and the employment problem in one go. There are other factors to be considered, but this is a 5-10 plan, which will be reviewed as other employment areas become open.

Fourthly and very controversial, the tearing down of garrisons. We know that both parties have garrisons, this is no mystery. We also know that most of the crime originates from these garrisons. So why are we keeping them? We know that they support one party or the other. If both parties come together and get rid of them, then we know that crime will go down by 50%. But it goes further than that, the criminals in these areas would have to be a part of the farming project, without exception. Their guns would have to be turned in, everyone one of them. If not, then they would be arrested and imprisoned. Sounds harsh, yes it is. After this is done, Government would have to change the whole culture of these areas. The whole infrastructure would have to be changed, putting in proper housing, parks, clinics, police stations, malls. A total transformation would have to take place in these areas, and we know it can be done. Some would have to move of course, if they are to work in the farming project and other areas.

These are just some of the initial things that I think need to be done. Some may say that education is also a must. But the Government is really doing a lot in that area as we can see. It is not all gloom and doom. Health care is also getting a big boost, with free health care and the national health card.

However, unless crime is curbed then all of the pluses will try to minus in a short space of time. Jamaica can be better, but our leaders must lead. This ain't about one party,but about both parties seeing a vision of a better nation that is united. We have seen the performance of our athletes at the WC. They have given their all for Jamaica. It is about time that the citizens give their all to make us a world class nation..