The latest travel advisory to its citizens from the United States State Department with respect to Jamaica is most frightening.

Its summary of this country states: “Violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and homicides are common. Sexual assaults occur frequently, including at all all-inclusive resorts. Local police lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents. Emergency services vary throughout the island, and response times may vary from US standards. The homicide rate reported by the Government of Jamaica has, for several years, been among the highest in the Western Hemisphere.”

This comes in the wake of another advisory which warns United States visitors to avoid coming to Jamaica because of the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. To put it in plain Jamaican language, “We salt.”

Of course, the irony in relation to the US advisories is that it may well be a case of the pot cussing the kettle. This is a country where, to date, there have been over 200 cases of mass shootings, among the most recent being that horrible incident in Uvalde, Texas, where several elementary school students were brutally gunned down by an 18-year-old man.

Indeed, it may well be that Jamaica should issue an advisory to its citizens going to that country to be very cautious in their movements in the same way that American tourists are being warned to be on their guard here.

Be that as it may, the harsh truth is that tourism remains the jewel in the crown as far as the Jamaican economy is concerned, so that any negative perceptions in the marketplace, especially in the United States from where most of our visitors come, must be cause for major concern. But then, there is even a greater level of concern among Jamaican citizens about this state of affairs in their own country, where murders and mayhem are the order of the day.

In the meantime, the sad truth is that on the eve of this island nation marking its 60th year of having attained political independence, we are yet to get a full grip on this pressing issue of crime and violence. Indeed, the three-headed monster of crime, corruption and COVID may well be the death of us.

Tragically, our two major political parties, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP), who have both taken the stand at the wicket since 1962, have failed most miserably to truly make this country the peaceful, prosperous, and safe place it has the potential to be.

Despite many highly touted policies and programmes aimed at bringing this ideal situation about, this nation continues to wallow in a putrid pit of empty promises, broken dreams, and chronic mediocrity, primarily due to the “gangs of Gordon House”and their recurring incompetence, penchant for corruption, and unwillingness to take the bull by the horns and make those decisions, unpopular as some of them may be, to “give wi back wi sweet Jamaica”.

Let’s face it, despite the best of intentions, neither the JLP nor the PNP can do it alone, and it is time that they both realise that the only way we are going to effectively deal with this spectre of crime and violence is when the green and the orange unite and say enough is enough.

But will this always be a dream deferred? Does Prime Minister Andrew Michael Holness, the man on the bridge, have the cojones to put political one-upmanship aside and make that move like the man in the mirror? And does Mark Jefferson Golding have the testicular fortitude to put aside the partisan hatchet and, instead, take the high ground?

This may all sound like a pipe dream. But, for starters, it continues to become clearer and clearer that what this country needs is a truth and reconciliation pathway. After all, it is no secret that much of what has caused Jamaica’s diseased crime and violence culture had its origins in partisan politics.

Yes, it is time to bell the cat, and our politicians, in order to help pave the way towards a better Jamaica, must come to the altar of repentance and redemption if we are to truly save this sin-sick nation. As one of my avid readers has opined: “Look into economics, and how our inability to grow the economic pie factors into promoting crime. Additionally, I would suggest looking into how our unique brand of politics, earlier, set in motion the continued promotion of crime — it gave us the gun culture and the area don.” Who, in the final analysis, is to be held accountable?

That enlightened reader went on to say (and I fully agree): “True enlightenment, with the people knowing the extent [Michael] Manley and [Edward] Seaga directly fuelled the political upheaval, and accountability, with both leaders held to account after a comprehensive and penetrating investigation — those are the only ways that lasting unity and closure on that dreadful period will be achieved.

“Instead of commissioning a symbol to be placed on a legal tender, which more than likely will not achieve its goal of unity, why not put a commission in place on truth and reconciliation which stands to heal the wounds of the past?”

Truly, the die is cast, and our current political leaders and their respective followers must, once and for all, embrace this long-awaited proposition which will set the stage for a greater sense of unity and a fixity of purpose. No matter who we celebrate this year, popping the champagne, dancing and prancing as well as showing off the best of who and what we are, that elephant will remain in the room and it can only be expunged through a healing process of truth and reconciliation.

To put it bluntly, as William Shakespeare wrote in his play Julius Caesar:

“There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat;

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or lose our ventures.”

Time come to stop the pussyfooting and fiddling while the country burns!

Lloyd B Smith has been involved in Jamaican media for the past 45 years. He has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.