Fi Wi Concerns By Michael Spence

This Annual Drought

There seems to be a prohibition of forward planning among those in charge of running the country. Every year during a drought the script is the same until the rain begins, then they all go quiet until the next drought. The real solution is just process the sea water as there is never a drought at sea.06/07/15

Guns for Education

Members of a foundation in an innercity community hope to encourage youngsters who are armed with guns to hand them in to the authorities in exchange for education. Guns are tools of a criminals trade so giving education alone may only work for some. Crime is a multibillion dollar business, gangs invest in guns to create insecurity and then extort to create and maintain security. First order of business is to eradicate gangs and create options for legitimate investments /jobs to take away potential trigger fingers from criminal acts. 06/07/15

Draconian Laws

One traffic cop in St Ann told me on Saturday night that "the revenue must also be collected" when I asked about him exercising his warning discretion so I will have to go to the tax office as no ease up was available to me and “no left or write option it was straight write”.I was being ticketed for not having both lights at the rear and that I was not aware until my ticket was about to be written. My advice check those lights everyday and save $2500 for now because if the government has its way that may become $5000 dollars or more. The new fines are draconian and I hope there are sufficient lawmakers to oppose it. 06/07/15

No Escape for Rapists

 A rape case reported in one of our newspapers, “when it was time for her church brother and neighbour to be prosecuted for raping her, Pamela* did the unexpected. She begged the judge to let him go free”. Rapists should be charged and punished with or without the final cooperation of the victim as long as there is reasonable proof that a rape by the accused took place. Rape cannot be passed of lightly fearing Jamaica in addition to being a murderers' paradise also becomes a rapists' paradise.07/06/15

Motorized Handcart

One night I watched one motorized hand cart sailing down Half Way Tree Road no less than 50 Mph with loud music blaring and attracting onlookers. I immediately wondered what would happen if there was an accident, where would the cart and owner's liability begin or end. It dawned on a group of us that we were witnessing an innovative escalation of carelessness in the form of motorized commercial handcarts .These vehicles must be regulated, licensed and insured to operate on our roads. Drivers must also have appropriate licenses because I am sure they will soon be entrenched in their use as taxis and haulage contractors in all weather conditions. The un-motorized carts were more or less limited to facilitating the crossing of roads during heavy rains and transporting goods. Some are mobile green groceries and dry goods shops, a frequent sight downtown Kingston and other towns across the island. The natural progression would be enclosed with seating and motorization so we as a society need to plan ahead so chaos and disorder does not take us over. For example what would be their classification on the toll roads or under the road traffic act.06/07/15?

Michael Spence