Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
Attorney-at-law, Frank Phipps, Q.C., (left), in an animated discussion with Dwight Baugh, president-designate of the Kiwanis Club of downtown Kingston, at the club's weekly luncheon held yesterday at the Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
PROMINENT ATTORNEY-AT-LAW, Frank Phipps, Q.C., yesterday scolded the Governor-General and the Government for failing to find a solution to the country's skyrocketing crime rate.
"The judgement of history will be unkind to this generation and the blood of victims will continue to be shed in vain if we fail to find a solution for murder and do what is necessary to control crime," said Mr. Phipps. He was addressing the weekly luncheon of the Kiwanis Club of downtown Kingston, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.
The Queen's Counsel also questioned "the use of a Governor-General in times of national crisis," and urged those in charge of the country's affairs to step up to the plate.
GOVERNOR-GENERAL NEEDS TO TAKE ACTION
Mr. Phipps, who also wears the hat of chairman of the Farquharson Institute of Public Affairs (FIPA), said it was apparent that the Governor-General was not aware of the powers invested in his office by the Constitution. "If he is in doubt of his constitutional powers, then he must get independent legal advice, not rely on the Attorney-General ... this is a matter in his purview and he should do something about it," stressed Mr. Phipps.
He emphasised that he was not asking for the removal of Sir Howard Cooke as Governor-General, but said: "What we want him to do is to take action in the national interest, he can't just leave us in the cold when crime is running unprotected in the country."
Mr. Phipps charged the Governor-General to even challenge Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, if necessary, on behalf of the good of the public. Mr. Phipps revealed that FIPA had approached the Governor-General in April with a petition to set up an Independent Commission on Crime. The initial response to the request was favourable, he explained. But, the follow-up has been non-existent. "Today, six months later, the period of gestation for our proposal seems to be ending in an abortion," Phipps said.
