Dear Editor,

There is an air of fear haunting the Jamaican society for some time now.

However, since last year, with the instances of more than one person being murdered in one incident, fear is becoming more and more widespread.

There was a time when deep rural communities were never exposed to these multiple murders and other vicious crimes. This is not the case any longer, as we now have a situation in which people are being viciously murdered in deep rural Jamaica.

Murders are being committed with the use of guns, cutting instruments and arson. Those committing acts of murder by arson are cold, calculated and vicious people who will trap or lock individuals in buildings then set the building on fire.

The perpetrators of these vicious acts of crime are mainly young men under the age of 30, who are demanding from society the right to live a life of luxury without having to work.

In fact, it can be said that Jamaica is now under the spell of ‘The Big Fraid’. Many citizens who witness acts of crime, and are able to assist the police with the apprehension of the individuals who committed the crime, refuse to give information to the police because they fear that somehow the criminal whom they report will be informed and will come back for them.

There is no doubt that the greatest concern of the majority of us is crime. That being the case, the Government should place priority on giving the constabulary and defence forces all the resources they need, including human and material, to go after the people who are committing these crimes, as well as the connected individuals who are arranging and facilitating the importation of guns and ammunition.

We need a Government that is brave enough, tough enough and determined enough to take on the criminal underworld and the crime bosses at every level. Smash their enterprise, thereby freeing the citizens of this country from fear.

Linton P Gordon

Ocho Rios,

St Ann

lpgordon@cwjamaica.com