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As a matter of fact: Gobbledygook comes in many forms
3/28/2009
By David "Joey" Harper
And the Lord said, “what have you done?
The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to
Me from the ground. And now you are cursed
from the ground, which has opened it’s mouth
to receive your brother’s blood by your hand.” – Genesis
THE Prime Minister, in describing an intervention by the Leader of the Opposition, stated that it was all a lot of legal gobbledygook. A statement like this coming from the prime lawmaker in our country concerns me, especially when that person is also an attorney-at-law by profession and is speaking to a fellow member of his profession, and I ask myself what is meant by ‘legal gobbledygook’? Are there some sections of law that are deemed by that profession as nonsense? And if so, what effect would legal gobbledygook have on citizens seeking legal redress within the system that dictates the life of Barbadians within the ambit of the law?
These are just questions I need answered, since there are many people who try to find their rights in the courts of this country and may have some concerns when the lawyers face off against each other. Please explain exactly what you mean, Prime Minister.
Parliament is our highest court and must be taken seriously at all times. Every decision made in the Parliament of this country binds the citizenry to that decision. When a law is passed, whether it is based on housing, taxes or paying a bicycle licence, disobeying that law comes with a concomitant fine, term of imprisonment, or removal of some right.
We, the citizens of Barbados, must not be allowed to feel that the Parliament is a place for attacking the interventions, deeming them nonsense simply because they are not in agreement with one’s own ideas or philosophy. No parliamentarian, whether Prime Minister or sitting member, has the right to dismiss law as gobbledygook until after it has been tested; otherwise other laws may be discarded simply because they are not in the interest of the party who commands the majority – a dangerous precedent that could easily lead to a change in the democratic principles that we hold dear.
Our tourism plant cannot afford to be disrupted by the actions of a few who do not understand the importance to the survival of our nation in these troubled times. The shuffling of boards and other important structures in the industry is cause for concern, but one must never jump to conclusions and should always temper one’s doubt with the hope that careful consideration has been given to the action taken.
Of more critical importance is attacks on our visitors or citizens. Do not for one moment believe that the international press does not pay careful attention to the matter of escalating crime in the region. People must feel safe in their environment and the two or three weeks that visitors come to our island is a period when they are hoping to get away from the criminal element in their own countries. The idyllic setting as described by travel agents and copious brochures sends a message of safety to the tourist.
If this trust is broken the results can be very long term and will defeat all the efforts made by the Tourism Ministry.
Let us pay careful attention to how we deal with the matter of safety and security for our own citizens. By doing this the criminal element will recognise that robbing a gas station, holding up a fast-food outlet, or snatching a bag from an old woman who has collected her pension, will not be tolerated. By extension the desire to rob an innocent tourist will be seen as challenging the work of our dedicated tourist promotion specialists; something that will bring speedy responses and significant terms of imprisonment. The country constantly watches and this includes the criminal element.
I laud the speed with which steps were put in place to apprehend the killer of Ms. Schwarzfeld, but feel a little concerned that the same effort has not been put in place to gain information and the possible apprehension of the murderer or murderers of Mr. Kenrick Hutson, a man who dedicated himself to the service of Barbados and tourists as head of the Immigration Depart-ment. I am concerned that this man – whose only crime was to sit in the comfort of his patio – that his life was not worth a twenty thousand dollar reward for the apprehension of his killer.
I still don’t feel that the trail is too cold for an injection of a substantial reward to place some heat under the feet of a now complacent criminal whose next victim may be a high-ranking police officer, politician or priest. Just as Ms. Schwarzfeld’s loved ones must be feeling some comfort at the arrest of a suspect, it would be nice if our citizenry could be given the same comfort to see the closure of a long and painful sore in their psyche.
This may be discarded as ‘columnistic’ gobbledygook, but then again someone with a conscience may listen and bring closure to my friend Crystal’s hurt at her father’s death at the hands of person or persons unknown. But hey! You know something? The God of the Jew and gentile knows and that keeps my faith alive. We may not have twenty thousand dollars, but we have faith – and that is important.
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