We must act now

THE EDITOR, Madam:

As a Jamaican-American, I’m more concerned about what is happening in Jamaica than what has happened in Washington.

For example, hundreds of illegal guns and ammunitions are being shipped to Jamaica and are not being intercepted at our ports. Some of these guns and ammunitions are being stored, while some are being used to commit crimes. Most times to shoot and kill people.

My main concern is that there is the possibility that the stored guns and ammunitions could be used on Jamaica House or on the Parliament building.

We are very familiar with the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that former US President Jimmy Carter wrote for Jamaica in 2007, when former Prime Minister P.J .Patterson and then Leader of the Opposition Edward Seaga invited him to Jamaica to oversee our general election.

We also know that both the prime minister and Opposition leader requested that he write the MOU. We also know that a section of the MOU addressed garrison politics and the consequences if the Government did not dismantle them.

We also know what happened on May 24, 2010, when security forces stormed Tivoli Gardens to arrest a don, but the raid failed, and about 73 persons were killed in the end.

We also know that the Government had ample time to avoid the raid if they had dismantled garrison politics, as the MOU suggested.

Though there may not be a MOU for the hundreds of illegal guns and ammunitions that are being shipped to Jamaica and not intercepted at the ports, we can use this medium to help reduce the hundreds of illegal guns and ammunitions that are being stored and are being used to commit crimes.

CARGILL KELLY