Tuesday, July 3 2007

CONGRESS of the People (COP) national security advisor Captain Gary Griffith has said that Prime Minister Patrick Manning could learn from entertainer Akon and rather than trying to blame everyone for his indiscretion, should take the blame himself.

American pop singer Akon grabbed headlines locally and internationally when he engaged in a raunchy sex-simulated dance with underage Danah Alleyne at Club Zen several weeks ago. He recently released a song titled “Sorry” in which he accepted full blame for the Zen incident.

In a statement issued Sunday, Griffith made the Akon/Manning connection while referring to the Prime Minister’s recent statement on the road carnage. The Prime Minister said that society is to blame for the present carnage on the nation’s roads because “drivers cut too much style behind the wheel.”

But in a cutting response, Griffith accused Manning of refusing to accept responsibility for his own failures. “In a similar manner to Akon’s recent song of alluding to the fact that certain people attempt to blame others when something goes wrong, once again Patrick Manning has come up with the most idiotic reason to blame society for the road carnage, with the reason being that drivers cut too much ‘style ‘behind the wheel,” Griffith said.

“The one constant is Government once again trying to find a way to blame society for a national problem and trying to absolve themselves from being the cause of the problem by failing to take responsibility. How stupid can we get?”

He continued: “This is similar to the ridiculous reasons and plans derived by the same Government in the fight against crime. They come up with a personal gut feeling, with absolutely no data or research done, and then utilise a vast amount of resources to deal with the problem. But the resources are obviously pointed in the wrong direction as the problem is not solved and the only change is the amount of taxpayers’ money wasted.”

The responsibility for the road carnage in this country must be placed squarely on shoulders of the Government for their failure to effectively implement the necessary policies as follows: The five year procrastination to implement the breathalyser test, as if for some reason it was a deliberate attempt to stall such an Act.

The embarrassment the Police have to endure by using prehistoric techniques to apprehend drivers who break the speed limit by hiding behind and then waving feverishly to their comrade who then jumps in the road to stop the driver, with the strong possibility of the Police Officer himself becoming a road causality.

This Government is one of the few in the world that has not allowed the Protective Services to utilize 21st century speed trap techniques which are as simple as the use of the speed gun which is even more accurate than the present system, with a greater likelihood of apprehending those drivers.

The many defective vehicles being on the roads due to the ineffective procedures to properly crack down on the vast number of ghost garages giving the necessary certificates for vehicles which would otherwise not be road worthy. 3Waiting until after a road death for the State to then put the necessary street lights, traffic lights, traffic signs, or placement or even the removal of concrete slabs which was the cause of the accidents in the first place.

The failure by Government to have proper preventative maintenance of Police vehicles and accountability for such vehicles to ensure that they are roadworthy, which means that there is an unnecessary shortage of patrol vehicles which is a major deterrent for drivers who break the law on the roads.

“So the Prime Minister should indeed start looking at the man in the mirror and do what it takes to reduce road carnage and accept responsibility for this unacceptable situation, with it being the consistency of this Government’s failure to implement the effective policies being a prime reason for this nation’s road carnage.”