WHERE TO BEGIN? There were so many disturbing happenings and so many newspaper articles last week that deserve comment that I have to try to focus.
Following on from my last column about participatory government, I was pleased to read Adrian Green’s article Time To Expect More From Politics, although Time To Demand More From Politicians would probably have been a more apt title.
Adrian notes that politics is said to be a dirty game . . . and “if we accept politics to be a dirty game we will tend to expect and accept lower standards of behaviour. Because we believe that’s just how it is. One of the biggest barriers to changing anything is the belief that that is just how it is, and how it has to be”.
We Barbadians adopt this attitude with most things, not only politicians, but also the public service and customer service in general, utility companies and so on. What happens is that the deterioration gradually creeps up on us, the downward slide is gradual so we accept the small downward steps, till the slide picks up so much speed that it’s unstoppable.
We’re almost there now so let’s wake up and take action.
It reminds me of the frog that’s put in water which is gradually heated. It adjusts to the gradual change in temperature and doesn’t attempt to jump out until the water reaches boiling point when it’s too late.
But while the frog is a silly cold-blooded creature, we’re supposedly sensible warm-blooded human beings.
As Adrian says “ . . . if politics is a dirty game the first step in cleaning it up must be the belief that it can be cleaned up”.
But is this going to happen if the next generation seems to have no interest in the running of the country? Which brings me to another good column, this time by Antoinette Connell. It wasn’t only really amusing, but told some truths about youngsters – they have no clue about our landmarks, and some I don’t believe know who the Prime Minister is, far less other ministers. Of course, they aren’t totally to blame if we consider the recent comments from our Prime Minister, but if they’re to be the next leaders, they must take some interest.
Antoinette notes the deplorable condition of the roads in St Joseph, but the same could be said for all parishes. Potholes are the rule rather than the exception. Have you travelled across the Brighton and Todds roads recently? Your teeth will chatter and your shock absorbers will suffer.
The trouble is, becoming a republic won’t help all this – the same players are likely to be involved. Just as the new Barbados Water Authority headquarters is hardly likely to lead to better service, the new Justice Building hasn’t helped the justice system one iota, and a new hospital building won’t stop the rot in the health care system. It’s attitudes that must change and there must be the will to change.
Now to the justice system. I was absolutely appalled to read that yet another murder accused was given bail for a murder committed ten years ago . . . And now we have the possibility of two additional murders committed by him. Then there are the reports of prison officers while on sick leave partying with the same murder accused. What next?
Of course, it all comes back to a failed justice system and nobody seems willing to do anything about it. Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson was so well thought of that we reportedly amended a law to allow his appointment in 2011. In the last four years since his appearance on the scene, can anyone think of any part of the justice system that has improved significantly? We hear that blame for the state of affairs can’t be laid at the feet of the present Chief Justice and Attorney General, since this is a long-standing problem.
I suppose we’ll be hearing the same story from their successors and the status quo will remain.
Having read the long, convoluted process described by the Director of Public Prosecutions in the last Sunday Sun, there’s no wonder we have a problem.
But if we can change a law to accommodate the appointment of a Chief Justice, can’t we change the court procedure just as easily?
• Dr Frances Chandler is a former Independent senator.
Email: fchandler@caribsurf.com
