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<span style="font-weight: bold">Ex-senator bats for 'dons'</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">Says preventing them from accessing State contracts, without reform measures, will worsen crime</span>
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
A former senator and junior minister in the previous People's National Party (PNP) Government has cautioned against preventing dons from accessing government contracts, saying that such action, without adequate reform measures, would only worsen the country's crime problem.
At the same time, Floyd Morris has proposed a seven-point strategy to support his position, among them <span style="font-weight: bold">the conversion of gangs into registered companies with each gang member holding a directorship</span>.
In a letter to the editor in which he made clear that he was not speaking on behalf of the PNP, Morris — who was the minister of state in the labour ministry — noted that over the past 10 years there have been calls by civil society for governments to prevent known 'dons' from accessing government contracts.
"Today, these calls have grown into a public roar as members of civil society and other leaders intensify pressure on the Government to prevent these individuals from accessing the J$88 billion annual contract market," he said.
Stating that has never had any association with "any known or unknown criminal", Morris said he held a different view as he believes that public policy should be properly researched and formulated in order not to create unanticipated problems.
"With this in mind, I want to express a caution to the approach of outrightly barring 'dons' from participating in the largest pool of governmental financial resources," said Morris. "Outrightly barring them from participating in the process without a mechanism for reformation and transformation will only serve to exacerbate the problem of crime and violence. For when these individuals are forced away from the "feeding trough" they will move further away from the formal structure of society and intensify their prey on law-abiding citizens."
Against that background, Morris listed the following measures which, he suggested, should be incorporated as a part of the strategy to deal with crime:
* A mechanism to have all 'gangs' converted to registered companies;
* Each gang member will become a director of the newly formed company;
* For these registered companies to access the government largess or contracts they must give up all forms of criminal activities, including their guns;
* If a member of any of these companies continues to violate the law, the particular company should be barred from the process of accessing government contracts, and the full force of the law be brought to bear on the individual who continues to commit the crime;
*<span style="font-weight: bold"> A portion of the J$88 billion contract market, not exceeding 10 per cent, should be reserved for these companies;</span>
* The Jamaica Business Development Co-operation, the Peace Management Initiative, the National Transformation Programme, in collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner of Police, should be charged with the responsibility of co-ordinating and implementing this initiative; and
* Failure to utilise this mechanism by these 'gangs' will result in the full force of the law being executed on them.
These measures, he said, should not operate in isolation with current efforts to establish anti-gang legislation.
"They are measures designed to reform and transform existing gangs, whilst new anti-gang legislation will serve to prevent new gangs from emerging," said Morris who served in the Senate from 1998 to 2007.
"It is my belief that if these approaches are adopted and put in place, we would make significant inroads in dealing with this monster of crime within our society. It will also transform these individuals from a culture of blatant criminality, to one of productive engagement within the society," Morris argued, adding that under the current status quo, it is the 'dons' who are the owners of the companies that benefit from some government contracts.
<span style="font-style: italic">Says preventing them from accessing State contracts, without reform measures, will worsen crime</span>
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
A former senator and junior minister in the previous People's National Party (PNP) Government has cautioned against preventing dons from accessing government contracts, saying that such action, without adequate reform measures, would only worsen the country's crime problem.
At the same time, Floyd Morris has proposed a seven-point strategy to support his position, among them <span style="font-weight: bold">the conversion of gangs into registered companies with each gang member holding a directorship</span>.
In a letter to the editor in which he made clear that he was not speaking on behalf of the PNP, Morris — who was the minister of state in the labour ministry — noted that over the past 10 years there have been calls by civil society for governments to prevent known 'dons' from accessing government contracts.
"Today, these calls have grown into a public roar as members of civil society and other leaders intensify pressure on the Government to prevent these individuals from accessing the J$88 billion annual contract market," he said.
Stating that has never had any association with "any known or unknown criminal", Morris said he held a different view as he believes that public policy should be properly researched and formulated in order not to create unanticipated problems.
"With this in mind, I want to express a caution to the approach of outrightly barring 'dons' from participating in the largest pool of governmental financial resources," said Morris. "Outrightly barring them from participating in the process without a mechanism for reformation and transformation will only serve to exacerbate the problem of crime and violence. For when these individuals are forced away from the "feeding trough" they will move further away from the formal structure of society and intensify their prey on law-abiding citizens."
Against that background, Morris listed the following measures which, he suggested, should be incorporated as a part of the strategy to deal with crime:
* A mechanism to have all 'gangs' converted to registered companies;
* Each gang member will become a director of the newly formed company;
* For these registered companies to access the government largess or contracts they must give up all forms of criminal activities, including their guns;
* If a member of any of these companies continues to violate the law, the particular company should be barred from the process of accessing government contracts, and the full force of the law be brought to bear on the individual who continues to commit the crime;
*<span style="font-weight: bold"> A portion of the J$88 billion contract market, not exceeding 10 per cent, should be reserved for these companies;</span>
* The Jamaica Business Development Co-operation, the Peace Management Initiative, the National Transformation Programme, in collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner of Police, should be charged with the responsibility of co-ordinating and implementing this initiative; and
* Failure to utilise this mechanism by these 'gangs' will result in the full force of the law being executed on them.
These measures, he said, should not operate in isolation with current efforts to establish anti-gang legislation.
"They are measures designed to reform and transform existing gangs, whilst new anti-gang legislation will serve to prevent new gangs from emerging," said Morris who served in the Senate from 1998 to 2007.
"It is my belief that if these approaches are adopted and put in place, we would make significant inroads in dealing with this monster of crime within our society. It will also transform these individuals from a culture of blatant criminality, to one of productive engagement within the society," Morris argued, adding that under the current status quo, it is the 'dons' who are the owners of the companies that benefit from some government contracts.
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