Dear Editor,
The type of banditry perpetrated on the family of the football coach has now become systemic in this country. Every single family – urban or rural – is now traumatised. Lives in perpetual fear. At 2 am, the slightest noise awakes the whole household trembling in fear of a burglary. That’s real trauma. It’s a national crisis. And, the whole nation has been bearing up and living with it for a long time.
I live in New York City, population 8-9 million. Big cities have crimes. Still the crime rate here in every category is not even close to Guyana’s. And, I do not live in constant fear of midnight home invasions. Nor do I suffer the internalised crime traumas every Guyanese household suffers.
Burglars in America tend to be more of the gentleman’s type. If the household is awake, they generally back-off; in Guyana, they are so emboldened, they still break-in and often mutilate and kill the occupants. Bandits in Guyana are more desperate than in many other countries.
Governments in Guyana have no idea how to deal with this crisis – no plan, no strategy, nothing.
If I were to run for the presidency, I would campaign on a single issue: How to make the country safe again for all its citizens – urban, rural, from Skeldon to Pomeroon to the hinterland.
Strategy:
(1) Pass tough laws – quick arrests, trials, and punishments. Murders: if the evidence is ironclad, execution within 24 hours.
(2) Home invasions – do not harm the occupants. If you do and are caught red-handed, you will face the firing squad within 24 hours.
(3) Rape cases: Capital punishment or firing squad.
(4) Drive real fear into bandits. Heavy on deterrence. Once banditry declines by 90 per cent, most of these tough laws will be set to expire in 12 months. (Maybe renewed by 2/3 majority in parliament.
Long-term strategies:
(1) Special gun laws will be passed. Make it impossible for criminals to get guns. Life sentence if career criminals are caught with guns.
(2) Programmes to stop high school drop-outs. High school graduates must have written plans about future careers. Government programmes to help them fulfill those plans. Create functional economy that generates x number of jobs for annual output of new graduates.
(3) Curriculum must include courses that teach personal and civic responsibilities. Parents must bear responsibilities for their teenage kids.
The coalition and previous PPP governments have failed the people of this country. It is not just the responsibility of the Home Affairs Minister – but the responsibility of the Administration and parliament to declare a national crisis and devise a programme of special laws (short and long terms) to deal with the crisis.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Persaud
