Dear Editor,
A recent Jamaica Observer columnist described Jamaica's embattled National Security Minister Peter Bunting and the execution of his communication skills as one of "smugness and arrogance". This comes even as he appears to be standing on the sidelines in what is the island's and his ministry's losing battle to tame the behemoth of crime that continues its relentless run across the island. To the columnist's description I would like to add "aloof and detached", especially following the recent Court of Appeal's chiding of the minister for his deportation of a Curacao national notwithstanding a court order not to do so in April 2013. Not only did the court slam Bunting for claiming ignorance of an order by the Supreme Court barring deportation, but it also rapped the minister for "castigating" a magistrate's decision to hear an application on a Saturday from lawyers. He called the Saturday sitting of the court "very unusual, highly puzzling", and added that "it was very strange to the police officers as well".
Retired Court of Appeal President Justice Seymour Panton, in the ruling, said he was surprised that the minister "does not know that a resident magistrate may properly sit and dispose of matters on days other than those that have been gazetted (especially) in light of the integral function the minister plays in the deportation of an alien", the court noted.
"His statement inveighing against the magistrate for her industry is unfortunate. The rationale for a magistrate or judge making himself/herself available at any time of day or night is to prevent an irreversible wrong occurring, such as unlawful deportation," the court said.
This behaviour displayed, as outlined by the reports, from one charged with such a sensitive portfolio as our national security seems amateurish at best. One wonders if this is the general attitude, and even moreso if this aloofness will allow for the kind of consensus-building that is necessary at this time to bring all Jamaicans together in the fight against crime at home.
Richard Hugh Blackford
Florida, USA
richardhblackford@gmail.com
Is Minister Bunting really serious?
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A recent Jamaica Observer columnist described Jamaica's embattled National Security Minister Peter Bunting and the execution of his communication skills as one of "smugness and arrogance". This comes even as he appears to be standing on the sidelines in what is the island's and his ministry's losing battle to tame the behemoth of crime that continues its relentless run across the island. To the columnist's description I would like to add "aloof and detached", especially following the recent Court of Appeal's chiding of the minister for his deportation of a Curacao national notwithstanding a court order not to do so in April 2013. Not only did the court slam Bunting for claiming ignorance of an order by the Supreme Court barring deportation, but it also rapped the minister for "castigating" a magistrate's decision to hear an application on a Saturday from lawyers. He called the Saturday sitting of the court "very unusual, highly puzzling", and added that "it was very strange to the police officers as well".
Retired Court of Appeal President Justice Seymour Panton, in the ruling, said he was surprised that the minister "does not know that a resident magistrate may properly sit and dispose of matters on days other than those that have been gazetted (especially) in light of the integral function the minister plays in the deportation of an alien", the court noted.
"His statement inveighing against the magistrate for her industry is unfortunate. The rationale for a magistrate or judge making himself/herself available at any time of day or night is to prevent an irreversible wrong occurring, such as unlawful deportation," the court said.
This behaviour displayed, as outlined by the reports, from one charged with such a sensitive portfolio as our national security seems amateurish at best. One wonders if this is the general attitude, and even moreso if this aloofness will allow for the kind of consensus-building that is necessary at this time to bring all Jamaicans together in the fight against crime at home.
Richard Hugh Blackford
Florida, USA
richardhblackford@gmail.com
Is Minister Bunting really serious?
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