A Wall for Beetham...

On Sunday evening last the nation was traumatized by the spectre of violent hooligans blocking the main artery to and from the nations capital with mounds of debris and hurling flaming missiles at passing vehicles in an expression of rage over an alleged shooting of a member of the community by the police, causing massive traffic jams and leaving at least one little girl injured and scarred for life. Like something straight out of the movies, the issue threatened to escalate all of Monday morning, and, with the lack of anything like a decisive government response and no word from any real representative of the community, boiled over and became a full scale riot by Monday afternoon, causing many to wonder how it continues to be so easy to bring this country to a halt.

First off, regardless of the circumstances, this should never have been allowed to take place. Targeting innocent citizens who have no say in the matter is terrorism by every definition of the word and the response by the protective services should have been swift and it should have been severe. If the intention was to get attention for their community they got it, but if the idea was to garner sympathy they failed in the extreme.

Now the issue is no longer the conditions under which so many of our dispossessed brothers and sisters live, but how to prevent them throwing another violent tantrum, putting innocent people in danger and disrupting every one else's lives.

My solution? Build a wall.

Every where in the civilized world where a major highway dissects or passes in such close proximity to a densely populated community a wall is built to baffle sound for the benefit of residents and to provide a measure of safety for motorists. Clearly that is what is needed here and is the only solution that makes sense where the greater good is concerned.

To my mind the only question to be asked is what type of wall should be built. In an ideal world it would be strong enough to withstand any attempt at damaging it, but should also allow for some ventilation and light. Perhaps a combination of fence and wall might be the best way to go, with a further 'screen' of trees and plants on either side for beautification.

Are the people of these communities victims? Of course. Of a voter padding exercise gone mad? Of uncaring and unfeeling governments? Of their own deliberate and poor choices? Absolutely, but none of that gives them license to victimize others. Many of the rioters themselves are to blame for their own circumstances by the poor life's choices made, and whether or not it is politically correct to say so, as long as we allow and encourage the cycle of functional illiterates producing more functional illiterates into society it will remain our responsibility to care for them. Until someone in a position to do something about it is willing to bell THAT cat we will not be able to begin the necessary work required to bring these communities back into the national fold and all of the talk is for nought.

Education is the key. Judges and Magistrates should have the authority to demand a literacy test of all who appear before them with a view to nipping this cycle in the bud. Sentences should require a school leaving certificate in order to be concluded or shortened, and all activism designed to engage the community must be built on literacy first.

Adult literacy classes should be MANDATORY for any state assistance, and steps should be put in place to make education easy, accessible and attractive in these communities. Truancy laws need to be brought back and enforced. The Ministry of Education should be mandated to make these communities priority front burner communities for the introduction of skills and technical schools and Universities.


All these things must we do to break the cycle of the under-skilled, unemployable, young people entering into lives of crime due to lack of choice. Real leadership understands the causes and drivers of a thing and begins its work there. To do otherwise is to waste time.

Until then our decisions must be made on our realities, not on our emotions, and the harsh reality is this: This is not the first, fifth or even tenth time this disruption has been attempted and it is only a matter of time before someone loses their life. At another time in another article we can return to the discussion of further meaningful, results driven social interventions and community redevelopment policies and ideas, but for now we must focus on the more pressing issue of protecting the general public from being made victims in someone else's war.

Build the wall.