At the beginning of the new year many people try to adopt a positive attitude and articulate a language of hope. Indeed, The Gleaner editorial of January 2, 2015, was headlined ‘Keeping hope alive’, and quoted the New Year’s Message of Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, who said, in part: “Let us begin writing the first chapter of our life in 2015, using a different language of hope, faith, forgiveness, and love, and be the change we want to see in Jamaica.”

The expression of hope can be nothing more than wishful thinking, and the attempt to adopt a positive attitude to one’s situation and life, even when the context suggests things to the contrary. I am fully aware that the governor general is a man of Christian faith, and as such rests his hope not just on what he can conjure up as an expression of inner strength, but in an understanding of life as grounded in God and God’s providential care, and that the events of life and the world occur within the economy of God.

In articulating his call for this different language of hope, the governor general is no doubt giving expression to the sense of hopelessness and despair which many citizens express from time to time as it relates to life in our society and the prospects which they see for change.

Yay! or Nay!

A recent release indicates that the number one concern at this time is jobs, followed by crime and violence. It is interesting that these two things have featured prominently in the utterances of leaders in governance toward the end of the year and the beginning of this new one. Energy minister, Philip Paulwell, has announced the reopening of the Alpart bauxite mines during 2015. This has been greeted with much enthusiasm and celebration in St Elizabeth, and across the country, to the extent that some did not bother to listen to the distinction which he had made between the start-up date for the shipment of bauxite and the processing of alumina with the reopening of the plant after a number of modifications had been made concerning the energy source for the plant.

What has been the primary concern for many is that it will see the resuscitation of the economy of some of the communities across St Elizabeth, the creation of jobs, and the generation of valuable foreign exchange. These are all things that are commendable and the value of which cannot be diminished. At the same time, we must not allow urgent and pressing needs to let us lose our perspective and the ability to reflect on actions being taken and the long-term consequences for the nation.

There is no question that bauxite mining has contributed a lot to the economic development of this nation. But there are lessons we have learnt along the way and which we still need to keep learning. We have certainly learnt that the returns from bauxite mining have not always brought us the most advantageous leveraging in the relationship with external partners. The adjustments to the bauxite levy have had to address that issue with tumultuous consequences for us, even in the international arena for a time.

We have noted also that the contractual arrangements with the mining companies regarding the restoration of mined-out lands have frequently been observed in the breach and, for one reason or another, those in governance seemed unable to hold them to account for fulfilling their obligations beyond the precincts of the most traversed roadways and communities. Now that it is being proposed that the mined-out lands be used for bamboo cultivation, it will be interesting to see whether the restored lands are at a standard that will allow even bamboo enough soil in which to take root.

On a recent trip through Williamsfield in Manchester, I could not help reflecting on the large orange groves that once existed near the roundabout and which now can only serve as pasture for livestock. If we multiply this several times across various parishes, and the prospect of government opening the Cockpit Country for mining, we must wonder about the long-term impact on the agricultural capability of this country. Bauxite is not mined from marginal stony hillside land, but lands with deep pockets of soil where the machinery can function with ease. Are there questions which we must bring to this discussion regarding food security of this nation? And after the best soil has been mined, will the future of agriculture rest with peasant hillside farmers, who are currently a dying breed?

Perhaps the most pressing question in all of this initiative to kick-start the bauxite industry has to do with the way in which the Government honours the undertaking which was made when bauxite mining began, namely, that significant returns from bauxite should be invested in the communities in which mining is taking place, so that when the bauxite is exhausted they will still have sustainable and viable life and economies in those communities. So, while the people of St Elizabeth rejoice over the impending news of the reopening of the mines, they must ask themselves whether the experience of recent years offered them any assurance that, under past dispensations, their interest had been protected, and whether the handling of this new dispensation will offer any assurance that their children and grandchildren will be the inheritors of viable and sustainable life in the communities when the mines are empty and gone.

The way of crime

Minister of National Security Peter Bunting has been most affirming of the members of the police force for the decline in the level of murders which has taken place during 2014. While the minister has been modest in not claiming the spotlight for himself, it appears that we do not know all the factors that have contributed to the decline, and to attribute it to a single factor may be quite premature and hold the prospect for future embarrassment. Perhaps wisely, Commissioner Dr Carl Williams has been much more cautious in pinning down the cause to a single factor, and also in being caught up in a percentage- and target-setting exercise. Certainly, the number of murders that have occurred in less than two weeks of the new year support the caution which the commissioner is exhibiting.

At the same time, there are other considerations on which the commissioner has not elaborated, but on which he needs to focus lest he become a scapegoat down the road. While gangs have featured in many of the murders, and the police may use good policing strategies to infiltrate and disband gangs, as opposed to eliminating its members, there are social factors leading to the crime statistics which cannot be relegated to the police for solution. Social intervention by government-directed strategies, the involvement of non-government agencies, the Church, the private sector, and socially aware citizens, among others, is necessary for the alleviation of murders and the crime statistics.

Consider the case of the two 16-year-old boys accused of the New Year’s Eve killing of 79-year-old retired nurse Hyacinth Hayden in Trelawny. Reports carried in this newspaper indicate that these youngsters met, not in school, but in jail, during which they developed a friendship and mapped out a plan of criminal activity. What are these 16-year-olds doing in jail? And where are their parents? What is it that plants in the hearts and minds of these youngsters such a wayward life, and which allows them to carry out such a vicious act when so many 16-year-olds would shudder at the mere sight of blood?

This, therefore, brings me to the question: What is it that the police ought be doing to prevent crimes of this nature? Clearly there has to be something wrong in the homes, the socialisation, and in the very life of the community which leads them along the path they have chosen. It is beyond the mandate of the police to stop crimes of this nature, even as they have a responsibility to investigate, arrest, and see that the matter is brought to the relevant part of the justice system with thoroughly prepared dossiers.

Hopefully, the commissioner will keep his force focused on their portfolio responsibilities and leave the politically loaded aspects of crime fighting to the political players of both sides of the political divide.

He who hath voice

This brings me to the issue of who has a voice in this society and who has a right to speak on issues of national interest. Toward the end of 2014 there was a media focus on some utterances from various sources concerning the legitimacy of certain people and leaders to speak on issues of national concern and to be named to representative bodies of civil society. In one instance, questions were raised concerning the integrity and credibility of someone to speak on social ills whose past political involvement and social stance was public knowledge. In another, questions were raised regarding the right of persons who are part of the leadership of various non-governmental organisations to occupy positions on broad-based representative groups appointed by the Government, even as some were being labelled as members of the “vocal minority”. Minority status, it would appear, means that they should keep silent so that the “silent majority” may rule. A more subtle, but equally disturbing position is one which suggests that the people who have a right to speak on national issues are elected officials of representational politics.

These are positions that I urge the citizens of our country to oppose vehemently. All of us have a right to speak as much as any other, whether we speak in a personal capacity or as representative of a vocal minority. Likewise, while elected officials have a right to shape the laws and policies which govern the nation, they have no more right to an opinion and a voice on matters of public interest than each citizen.

As Sir Patrick has exhorted us, “Let us begin writing the first chapter of our life in 2015, using a different language of hope, faith, forgiveness, and love, and be the change we want to see in Jamaica”. The writing and the speaking of that language going forward in 2015 is neither the prerogative nor preserve of certain individuals or representatives of interest groups or political constituencies. It is an appropriate call for all of us to come on board in shaping the life of our nation in 2015.

Howard Gregory is the Lord Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

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