Political culture — and not just in Jamaica — places oversized importance on public relations (PR) to soothe the populace in situations in which an event is deemed to be unfavourable to the carefully curated image or narrative of the governing party.

Indeed, the PR message is, more often than not, replacement for the action that should have been taken or should be taken to remedy the situation, which is nothing short of an attempt to hoodwink the people.

The usual press statement is already on file, with only a few blank spaces to fill in the new names, places, and dates, just waiting to be signed by the minister and issued by the PR officer, whose job is then to follow up to see that it gets published or aired.

The constant stream of great news about the wonderful strides the Government is making on reducing homicides in Jamaica — 14 per cent between January and June this year, compared with the same period last year — has been spectacularly smashed by the stunning slaughter of eight people and injuring of nine in Cherry Tree Lane, Four Paths, in Clarendon on Sunday.

“I condemn this reprehensible, brutal, and senseless attack which resulted in several people in Clarendon being killed,” says the statement from Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “I extend my deepest condolence to all families who are affected by this tragedy.

“I have spoken to the Police high command and advised that all efforts must be extended to bring the perpetrators to justice, as quickly as possible. The Jamaican State will not countenance such savagery being meted out to our people. We will respond strongly.”

For his part, the National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang is, as usual, “committed to supporting the community and our dedicated police officers as they work tirelessly to bring those responsible for this heinous act to justice”. Of course, he couldn’t resist the obvious PR: “The police have made significant progress in Clarendon, with a 39 per cent reduction in murders compared to last year.”

Jamaican politicians are not alone in their empty outrage. On Sunday, 19 people died after a landslide at a huge garbage dump in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. Local media said homes, people, and livestock had been buried in mountains of waste at the landfill after a collapse caused by heavy downpour.

The response of President Yoweri Museveni is to “demand to know who allowed people to live near such a potentially hazardous and dangerous heap”. Press reports said he called for an investigation and ordered the removal of all those living in the “danger zone”.

The conclusion in both the Jamaican and Ugandan situations is that these politicians did not know beforehand of the lurking danger. Who do they think they are fooling?

Dr Chang was reported to say that the Clarendon massacre might be related to reprisal activities by gangs. What action was taken to head off such reprisals?

In Uganda, the area’s Resident District Commissioner Yasin Ndide blamed the “encroachment” of local people who had breached the perimeter fence. A second government spokesman blamed corrupt officials whom he said had been “syphoning off money that should have been used to maintain the landfill”.

To the politicians in both these countries we suggest they listen to songbird Ms Nadine Sutherland and Terror Fabulous: “Action, not a bag o’ mouth.”