Don’t simply bar dons from Gov’t contracts
Dear Editor,
Over the past 10 years, there have been calls for governments to prevent known ‘dons’ from accessing government contracts. Today, these calls have grown into a public roar as members of civil society and other leaders intensify pressure on the Government to prevent these individuals from accessing the J$88 billion annual contract market.
The current Government has responded by indicating that it will be enacting legislation to make this request by civil society a reality.
However, I hold a different view on the matter. I want to state upfront that I have never, in the past, present nor will I in the future, hold any association with any known or unknown criminal in the society. Neither am I speaking on behalf of the PNP of which I am a registered member.
I have been, for the past 20 years, a devout Christian, with membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The views I share are largely in my capacity as a member of the academic community and one who believes that public policy should be properly researched and formulated, so that it does not create unanticipated problems.
With this in mind, I want to express a caution to the approach of outrightly barring “dons” from participating in the largest pool of governmental financial resources. Outrightly barring them from participating in the process without a mechanism for reformation and transformation will only serve to exacerbate the problem of crime and violence. For when these individuals are forced away from the “feeding trough” they will move further away from the formal structure of society and intensify their prey on law-abiding citizens.
With this caution in mind, I want to suggest the following ideas which are to be incorporated as a part of the strategy to deal with the monster of crime:
* That we put in place a mechanism to have all “gangs” converted to registered companies.
* Each gang member will become a director of the newly formed company in his or her own right.
* That for these registered companies to access the government largess or contracts they must give up all forms of criminal activities, including their guns.
* If a member of any of these companies continues to violate the law, the particular company to which he or she is involved should be barred from the process of accessing government contracts, and the full force of the law be brought to bear on the individual who continues to commit the crime. It will therefore be incumbent on all directors to operate within the confines of the law for the company to be successful.
* A portion of the J$88 billion contract market, not exceeding 10 per cent, should be reserved for these companies. If we want to win the war on crime as a society, in a lasting way, we must be prepared to do some trading. Most of these youths who are involved in the gangs have been denied the opportunity to participate in the economic development of our country through gainful employment. This particular suggestion will certainly create such opportunity.
* The Jamaica Business Development Co-operation (JBDC), the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), the National Transformation Programme, in collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner of Police, should be charged with the responsibility of co-ordinating and implementing this initiative.
* Failure to utilise this mechanism by these “gangs” will result in the full force of the law being executed on them.
These measures should not operate in isolation with current efforts to establish anti-gang legislation. They are measures designed to reform and transform existing gangs, whilst new anti-gang legislation will serve to prevent new gangs from emerging.
It is my belief that if these approaches are adopted and put in place, we would make significant inroads in dealing with this monster of crime within our society. It will also transform these individuals from a culture of blatant criminality, to one of productive engagement within the society.
It must be noted that under the current status quo, it is the “dons” who are the owners of the companies that benefit from some government contracts. They then employ some members of the community and have them trapped in a vortex of crime as gang members.
With the suggestion that I am putting on the table, former “gang” members will become major stakeholders in the companies, and will have to operate in a particular way for the companies to continue to access the government largess.
According to data from the police, there are close to 200 “gangs” operating in Jamaica. From my estimation, each “gang” does not have more than 15 core members. It therefore means that we are talking about a mere 3,000 young and misguided individuals who can be coerced into a culture of production and productivity.
As a society we have to start thinking outside the box in order to solve some of these problems that confront us. It will not be the ordinary way of thinking that is going to solve this monster of crime. Policymakers must be creative and implement strategies that will redound to the long-term benefit of the society. I want to see Jamaica, in my lifetime transformed into a society of peace and prosperity.
With the necessary legislative support, such as the proposed Anti-Gang legislation by the minister of national security, I believe that we would go a far way in solving this problem of “gangsterism” which has overtaken our society, if these suggestions highlighted above are taken on board.
Floyd Morris
Former senator and minister of state
morrisfloyd@gmail.com