Dear Editor,
I tried not to make this letter about an incident that ended 2014 and started 2015 reflect a sour note since it is my first for the year. During the holidays, as has become a regular feature powerful squibs deafening to the ears were going off almost everywhere, and as expected, at the break of the New Year the sky was literally the limit. The rocket-like blasts were relentless; they went on and on with the usual effects: animals were scared out of their skin, babies were lost, helpless, frightened, constantly jumping out of sleep and confused beyond comfort; some elderly died many times over as their weak hearts couldn’t cope with the bombardment.
Editor, I recall that these dynamos which are imported and used to ‘spread joy’ were banned; the authorities were forced to do so for a number of reasons – destruction, damage and mutilation of people and animals; the similarity of the explosion to the legally authorized explosives/ammunition, etc. But most significant for me was the indiscriminate and inconsiderate manner in which simpletons would discharge them – in crowds; behind unsuspecting folks in company; into buildings and others’ yards at random, and this is the kind of assininity that is most reprehensible.
Now if these ‘fun bombs’ were used in a responsible way that could have been accepted on a give and take basis – it’s a season for celebration – but not this wanton tossing of them. But what boggles the mind is knowing that this commodity is supposed to be banned yet firecrackers are openly displayed for sale and discharged in the midst of law enforcement officers. And like many others I too have observed that in many instances the law is just a big flare-up, like an old stove and nothing more.
Take, for instance, the deafening music in minibuses. A campaign was launched; the police deemed it unsafe, a noise nuisance, unhealthy even vulgar. The campaign started off like a rocket, then decelerated to snail’s pace before it petered out finally. And so today the vulgarity and noise nuisance continue uninterrupted.
I saw a ‘Don’ in town cruising, you could have heard the music from his car loud and clear between an entire block. Traffic cops on beat paid him no mind – what the hell! he sat relaxed in his machine, the expression on his face pompous, haughty and daring.
Then there was this policeman in Linden who drove around in his pride vehicle black as coal; you couldn’t see him except the music pumped up to the max wherever he went – hospital, church or else. Why! he even drove into the station the same way and no senior officer could stop him in spite of the numerous complaints. Now music of the most repugnant kind, loaded with raw ‘cuss’ words can be heard blaring from parks, beer gardens, buses, cars, SUVs, etc, defying morality, an assault on society and anything decent.
Then further it was the same flare-up exercise with excessively dark windscreens/windows, especially during the period of regular crimes like kidnappings, robberies, drive-by shootings, etc. Special permission had to be given by the Ministry of Home Affairs to have tinted windows remain or be installed in a vehicle because they were deemed a security risk and the bad guys were having a field day. Then in the midst of the very crime spree the campaign stopped suddenly, and all and sundry were using dark tinted vehicles. Now the call is on again to pull them off, the reason being they are the cause of many accidents. Boy, oh boy, here we go again.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
