Dear Editor,

On November 26, at the International Monetary Fund meeting held in Washington DC, USA, Jamaica’s Prime Minister stated that a commission on crime will be implemented in 2019. I had hoped that I would never hear this but now I have, so I must register my strongest objection to the idea. In my view there should be no new commission enquiring into anything in Jamaica and I doubt I have a singularity of thought on this issue. Not crime, not poverty, or any other issue or topic until the FINSAC Commission report is made public.

I am wondering now if it is that those culpable of causing the financial sector meltdown during the 1990s under PJ Patterson’s government are going to be allowed to grow old, retire, collect pensions or die before the findings of that illusive report are made public?

Who is on the side of the public?

Who can be trusted to present the facts before the masses? Who has been monitoring the value received for money paid for commissioners in the millions when reports are yet to be made public as promised?

I contend that if former Prime Minister Bruce Golding can conclude a commission report on CARICOM in less than a year, hand in his report and it was made public, no excuses should be pushed for the still outstanding Finsac report?

For God’s sake many lives were wrecked, business demolished, spirits crushed and some even committed suicide. Why the foot dragging and side stepping of the report? The horse and pony show needs to end and so too the lining of the pockets of those already wealthy. Government must report to the people. Government is subject and answerable to those that elected them. Give us the Finsac report.

A new commission of enquiry on crime is not the answer Mr PM. Consider the Tivoli commission that paid the commissioners far more than the victims, wouldn’t it make better sense to divide the money paid to the already wealthy lawyers and retired judges on pension posing as commissioners to actually compensate the victims who suffered unjust loss?

Let me state clearly my take on crime, it is as a result of corruption and collusion between dirty politicians, police and public sector workers, fostered by unauthorised communities, Dons, unwanted children, insufficient social nets and irresponsible parenting. Fix those and crime will be fixed.

No need for a commission to know that.

Joseph Edwards