During his previous tenure as commissioner of police, Major General Antony Anderson, while addressing a Kiwanis Club meeting, declared that young males had become an endangered species in the country.

Just this week, commanding officer for St James, Superintendent Eron Samuels, while speaking on International Men’s Day, made the startling revelation that over 95 per cent of those in police custody in the parish were young whom he bemoaned “could have been real pillars of society if they had chosen a different path”. He further noted that of the 186 individuals in custody, only 10 were female.

If one were to use St James as a microcosm of the Jamaican society, then it is clear that too many of our young have opted for a life of crime, while many of them have become murderers or are being murdered. In addition to this startling situation, there are the many extrajudicial killings allegedly carried out by the police with most of those victims being young men.

Interestingly, in the Jamaican culture there are various descriptive names for young males from “little youth”, “big youth”, or even “youthman”. Recent statistics have revealed that the country’s population is dwindling and some experts have attributed this to women taking greater precautions with respect to their reproduction choices. But one discerning cynic has pointed to the fact that many young men have been experiencing a low sperm count because of excessive exposure to ganja smoking as well as bleaching, both of which have certain chemicals that can be very harmful to the ability of the male to successfully impregnate a female.

In another sphere of national life, ganja smoking and the consumption of strong liquor have been blamed for many of the fatal crashes happening on our roads. All of this scenario speaks to a dysfunctional society in which so many of our young men are also having mental health issues relating to depression, unemployment, in addition to the various “pressure points” bombarding hundreds of “youthman” who are lacking in the necessary coping skills.

Many years ago, renowned talk show host, the late Wilmot “Motty” Perkins, bemoaned the fact that many sections of Jamaica, especially in the inner-city enclaves and increasingly in rural sections of the country as well, had become incubators of violence producers and criminals. He oftentimes quoted a concerned young woman from the ghetto who had come on his popular programme Perkins On Line, who pointed out that, in those areas, “It was good to be bad.”

I well remember being asked to do a pep talk with some grade six boys at a St James school on Boys’ Day and was quite taken aback by the response I got from a little youthman who, in answering the question, what would you like to be when you grow up, replied quite forcefully with his hand way up in the air, “Sir, I want to be a gunman!”

What was even more disturbing was when several of his classmates chirped in unison, “Is true him talking, Sir, his father is a gunman!” I was momentarily speechless. Of course, this dramatic revelation had come against the backdrop of St James having the dubious distinction of being the murder capital of Jamaica.

One of the tragedies of modern-day Jamaica is that successive governments have placed greater emphasis on economic performance and infrastructure while ignoring what is, perhaps, the most important part of any nation’s overall development — its social capital.

In this regard, we continue to see the social disintegration in our school systems that has been wracked by violence and crass indiscipline. Indeed, one high school principal recently remarked in response to Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s latest “grand design” dubbed Jamaica’s Next Chapter — and quite rightly so — that our politicians continue to miss the boat by sidestepping or downplaying the pivotal importance of enhancing the nation’s social capital.

In real terms, social capital is the value of positive connections between people and the benefits that come from those connections. It is a set of shared values or resources that allow individuals to work together in a group to effectively achieve a common purpose. Underpinning all of these ideals must be people empowerment and in the inculcation of those values and attitudes that make for a useful and happy citizen. This obsession with the “prosperity” mantra which sees materialism as the be-all and end-all of national development is myopic and self-defeating, which is why the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), along with its Leader Andrew “Brogad” Holness, has been slipping dramatically in the polls. To put it bluntly, the pouring of concrete and asphalt cannot and should not be how a country boasts of progress and growth.

In the meantime, there has been also talk about exploiting the full benefits of Brand Jamaica. Here, again, focus should not just be on inanimate objects or intangibles, but it must be stressed, and repeatedly so, that the people must remain at the centre of any “next chapter”.

And this is not a People’s National Party (PNP) sloganeering departure. What has begun to happen in the lucrative tourism industry, where workers are now demanding their fair share of the pie, is but a tip of the iceberg. Most Jamaicans have not forgotten the whopping salary increases that were given to Members of Parliament and other government bigwigs. “Tom drunk, but Tom no fool.”

Yes, there have been a number of social and even economic interventions aimed towards our young men and women, but the issue surrounding our “youthman” has now become a national crisis and must be treated as such. A former United Stated ambassador, Gary Cooper, who was not afraid to shoot from the hip, upbraided the behaviour of our national decision-makers who have had a penchant for making announcements but not following through in delivering the goods.

This weekend, JLP Leader Andrew Holness will again unveil a menu of goodies, especially against the backdrop of an upcoming general election, at his party’s annual conference, but after the fanfare and ebullient shouts of “Shower!”, the question that must be asked is: Where is the beef?

And, in that regard, the plight of the Jamaican youthman must take centre stage if we are to save this nation from ultimately becoming another Haiti. Enough said!

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full-time in Jamaican media for the past 49 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.