WHAT TO DO NOW?

WHAT TO DO NOW

A government leads the people with it's laws. The laws tell what the government cares about and how much it cares for its people. So the first solution to our corruption problem is really a solution to our legislation problem. Without further ado, we must get rid of those stupid laws if we are serious about getting rid of corruption. And of equal importance do not make any more stupid laws. The stupid laws I speak of are the ones that force naturally good people to sin against man and God.

It is not that our law makers are evil persons but again the system blinded them. Many of us don't even realize the true definition of a country because if we did each well thinking person would have a say in the making of the laws and not only in voting (because voting is the least of the governance process); but this point will be for later explorations.

STUPID LAWS- SOLVE IT

The most recent of the stupid laws is the 'ban on smoking'. Now, not because the laws are stupid means the persons who formulated them are. They just didn't spend enough time thinking about the matter properly.

Now, there is a ban on smoking in public places but only tobacco was prohibited. So what happened to the many marijuana smokers who were puffing in public spaces and were smoking the 2 ounces quantity allowed on their person? They got away for a while with the 2 ounce (and decreasing), although they were making others uncomfortable. They escaped possible punishment until amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act, gazetted April 2015. So ganja smokers have to be prosecuted under a different set of laws from tobacco smokers.

There should have been a broad ban on smoking in public with fines for breach and may be the purchasing of permits to light even small fires for burning rubbish and smoking permits for social events (like Rastafarian supported festivals). But they didn't come to me. Did they come to you? Although my plan is not perfect, if they had consulted me I would have suggested a way to:

1. Protect persons right to fresh air
2. Maintain order
3. Earn for the government.

It's on the point of earning that I must point out how our laws lead to corruption. The traffic laws/ regulations are a major driving force for corruption in Jamaica. I have always heard my father say that police enforce laws that force the public to break them. The government through the Ministry of Finance and Planning also formulates a budget which predicts how much the government should earn from otherwise innocent citizens of Jamaica.- these regulations, our traffic laws, are the main cultivators of corruption, turning hard working Jamaicans into criminals. Because of the laws and blatant harassment from the Police and Transport Authority, I don't think any taxi man can categorically say he is 'earning his honest bread'. He can say he is 'trying to earn his honest bread', but nothing less. Can you imagine that because of a country's laws a good amount of the gainfully employed population is an offender? Or worst a law breaker?

"me can expressly say that if dem want me fi vote some of our traffic laws must go."

Apart from laws, the hassle our citizens face when applying for access to some services and benefits makes them think twice or thrice about obtaining such benefits illegally. I say screening is necessary to find out who really needs some services. But there are some things that are asked for in applications, especially those from government institutions and agencies that are just not needed at all, at all. 

Talk about hassle. Some processes require my Jamaican brothers and Sisters to be going to 3-4 different institutions and even different buildings for the same institution to make an application or do a test. The time some of these processes take and the transportation cost required is going to force people to find a "cheaper" means. Some persons use their 'links' and others use their economic power.

So the solution is to make the links available to everyone then. If it can be done for one it can be done for all. If cheating the process is considered as the easier way then if the easiest way possible is used for legal process to get that benefit then no cheating of the process can happen then? Fairness, equality and equity will not be achieved until we start thinking in this manner.

GARVEY'S TAKE ON CORRUPTION

I think I should close this chapter of my thoughts with an excerpt from one of the Jamaican greats.

If you have friends and influence; if you are powerfully allied with the party in control of Government; If you are potently rich or if you are born to the silver spoon and among the elect of society, you may have "justice" your way, whether you are guilty or not. Sometimes it is invoked by the "call" on the telephone, the chat around the dinner table, over the "glass" at the club or by the "written" letter.

  

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REFERENCE

An Act to Amend The Dangerous Drugs Act. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2015, from http://www.japarliament.gov.jm/attachments/339_The Dangerous Drug bill 2015.pdf

"Corruption." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2015. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corruption>.

Dangerous Drugs Amendment Act 2015 Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2015, from http://www.moj.gov.jm/content/dangerous-drugs-amendment-act-2015-fact-sheet

Garvey, M., & Garvey, A. (1986). Statement of Conviction. In The philosophy and opinions of Marcus Garvey, or, Africa for the Africans (Centennial ed., Vol. 9, p. 331). Dover, Massachusetts: The Majority Press.

The Jamaica Gazette Supplement, Proclamations, Rules and Regulation, The Public Health Act (Tobacco Control) Regulations 2013. (2013, May 20). Retrieved September 13, 2015, from http://www.japarliament.gov.jm/attachments/412_The Public Health (Tobacco Control) Regulations, 2013.pdf