Over the last week newspaper columnists, political opportunists and sensationalists of every creed have been on a spree speculating, conjecturing and fantasizing about motives for the appointment of Jack Warner as Minister of National Security, extreme worse-case scenarios of how he might exercise the ministerial authority available to him, and spewing their personal disapproval of his appointment.
Such pessimism is always expected from perpetual opposers like these. That is their function. Their bias is a given. But it is their right to publicly exercise their imagination in this campaign of fear and smear that surely will not impress the general population.
Regrettably, none of them has given as much as a single paragraph to analyzing the most important question: What can Jack Warner do for National Security that his predecessors over the last decade have failed to do?
In the last 10 years, National Security was led by a fete promoter who was appointed on the criteria of a supposed level head and common sense, a middle manager with no charisma and not a shred of experience in the field, and more than one well decorated retired military officer. None of them could jump-start the machinery for public safety.
Meanwhile, Warner has proven to be good at everything he attempts. He has set a new standard for what is to be expected of a Parliamentary Representative, meeting not just his Chaguanas West constituents but citizens from throughout the country by the hundreds at least twice per month, trying to improve their lives. And he did this even when he was in Opposition and while holding his international football offices.
As Minister of Works he set a new standard for performance. Even the shrinking of his portfolio did not reduce his pace of delivery. In the last two years, citizens witnessed a level of productivity we never dreamed possible from a public service organization.
And while fixing roads and drains is no way similar to curbing crime, what the two have in common is that to succeed you need strong leadership and management.
Warner has an extraordinary ability to inspire people to work. Ask the staff at the Ministry of Works who without hesitation would join him on site visits as early as 1 am.
He likes to think outside the box, bringing new approaches to mobilizing existing resources and solving age old problems. He does not make excuses and does not accept them from his subordinates.
This is what Jack Warner brings to the Ministry of National Security, and this is the shot in the arm law enforcement needs having fallen into a slump - an action-oriented minister.
If anyone can breathe new energy into the police service, Warner can. And sadly, I can't think of anyone else who can.
Finally, with the crime rate as it has been for too long, now is the time for solutions and commentators should consider that if they really want to make a difference the best thing they can do is to use their space and their voice to bring forward constructive ideas.
Charmaine Joseph | Diego Martin
Such pessimism is always expected from perpetual opposers like these. That is their function. Their bias is a given. But it is their right to publicly exercise their imagination in this campaign of fear and smear that surely will not impress the general population.
Regrettably, none of them has given as much as a single paragraph to analyzing the most important question: What can Jack Warner do for National Security that his predecessors over the last decade have failed to do?
In the last 10 years, National Security was led by a fete promoter who was appointed on the criteria of a supposed level head and common sense, a middle manager with no charisma and not a shred of experience in the field, and more than one well decorated retired military officer. None of them could jump-start the machinery for public safety.
Meanwhile, Warner has proven to be good at everything he attempts. He has set a new standard for what is to be expected of a Parliamentary Representative, meeting not just his Chaguanas West constituents but citizens from throughout the country by the hundreds at least twice per month, trying to improve their lives. And he did this even when he was in Opposition and while holding his international football offices.
As Minister of Works he set a new standard for performance. Even the shrinking of his portfolio did not reduce his pace of delivery. In the last two years, citizens witnessed a level of productivity we never dreamed possible from a public service organization.
And while fixing roads and drains is no way similar to curbing crime, what the two have in common is that to succeed you need strong leadership and management.
Warner has an extraordinary ability to inspire people to work. Ask the staff at the Ministry of Works who without hesitation would join him on site visits as early as 1 am.
He likes to think outside the box, bringing new approaches to mobilizing existing resources and solving age old problems. He does not make excuses and does not accept them from his subordinates.
This is what Jack Warner brings to the Ministry of National Security, and this is the shot in the arm law enforcement needs having fallen into a slump - an action-oriented minister.
If anyone can breathe new energy into the police service, Warner can. And sadly, I can't think of anyone else who can.
Finally, with the crime rate as it has been for too long, now is the time for solutions and commentators should consider that if they really want to make a difference the best thing they can do is to use their space and their voice to bring forward constructive ideas.
Charmaine Joseph | Diego Martin
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