Danville Walker, Contributor

Chambers

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) must become a profitable institution if it is to survive. It must be run with discipline. The taxpayers who support it and the riders who pay their hard-earned money for its services deserve an efficient, on-time transport system that can be depended on to take them and their children to and from their affairs in a safe, orderly manner.

If the above is achieved, JUTC will become an asset that will help our citizens to raise their standard of living, their businesses to strive, and the country to reduce its dependence on more inefficient modes of transportation.

This is what Douglas Chambers believed and was working towards when he was murdered on the premises of the very company that he was trying to transform. You do not have to work for free to be of service to your country, but since he took no pay for his work at JUTC, it is clear that his purpose and effort were solely for the benefit of the people who use the services of the JUTC and would be the direct recipients of any improvement in its service.

Corruption, patronage, greed and self-interest will not go quietly into the good night simply because words are spoken out against it. Persons benefiting from multimillion-dollar criminal enterprises will not seek other forms of employment simply because a few managerial changes make it more difficult for their business to be carried on as before.

Corruption and patronage will not be removed because a few of their beneficiaries may be embarrassed by periodic court appearances but who most likely will be freed by the underfunded, inefficient legal system that allows them to make a mockery of the police work and whistle-blowers who caused them to be unconvenienced.

Collective failure

Since Independence we have had some successes but we have been a collective failure with regards to crime and we have criminals among us who are neither afraid of the legal system nor show respect for the Government of Jamaica, whoever forms it. How they must be amused by us who claim to be so educated, so smart, so in charge, thinking that we are actually in charge while we engage in endless debates and intellectually sounding arguments as a substitute for action and leadership.

Douglas Chambers was not murdered because he sent off some workers; that happens all the time without murder being the result. His murder will not also cause anyone laid off to be rehired.

He was murdered because he had the audacity to challenge the status quo of inefficiency, patronage and corruption and the rot that so easily can overtake a place when management is unqualified and incompetent.

He challenged the view that only an expatriate can come here and implement the changes necessary to run an organisation at first-world levels and he was relentless in his pursuit for the necessary excellence. They had no choice; he had to be murdered because others may buy into this vision in sufficient numbers and then their days would be numbered. Their days would be numbered because they cannot compete on a level playing field and they can only succeed with disorder and corruption.

We must press on

We must make sure their days are numbered. Do not be afraid. It is they who are afraid. That's why they killed him. Console his family, we must, while they bear their unspeakable grief caused by his sacrifice. Our resolve must remain strong and unshakable. To do anything other than that would be to give ground to them and strengthen their hands. I know how you feel, we have been in this fight for so long, but we cannot flag, we cannot weaken, we must press on supporting the police, supporting anyone standing up and trying to do the right thing.

This is the only war we will ever fight in this country; no one will ever invade Jamaica causing any dual citizen a mental crisis. This is our fight; the fight against corruption, the fight against indiscipline, the fight for the rule of law. This fight needs soldiers who believe that if you play by the rules you should be able to win. This fight needs soldiers who believe that if you see crime and injustice you should be able to speak about it and not be ridiculed as an informer, because crime and injustice against anyone is a crime and injustice against everyone of us.

A strike against authority

Douglas Chambers' murder was a strike against authority and some are hoping that all who stand up for order will be afraid to take action and to lead your organisation to be free of the parasites who have come to believe that they have the right to live off the industry of the rest of us. Those of you in leadership positions in this country do not let this murder paralyse you into inaction. Press forward with what needs to be done. As my brothers from North Street rightfully repeat, "The Brave may fall, but never yield". We must never yield nor must we appear to yield. Threats may come, and the necessary precautions must be taken, but never, never yield. Farewell Douglas, we will carry on.

Danville Walker is the commissioner of customs. Send freedback to colums@leanerjm.com.