Unfortunately for him, the blast took place less than three hours before the Post Cabinet Media Conference, so that media personnel came armed with a sack full of questions for whoever was present.

It would be unfair to say that nothing is being done to fight the crime wave. The effort is there, and some promises have been kept: Both Scotland Yard and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) are here.

Patrols have been stepped up, and there are new police posts in hotspots, the latest one in the heart of Laventille.

However, the efforts have hardly scratched the surface, and there are many loose ends left undone.

For instance, why is it taking so long to get an effective system of surveillance cameras up and running?

At the Press Conference, Joseph said that his ministry plans to set up systems not only in Port of Spain, but also in San Fernando and Arima.

In explaining why citizens cannot yet enjoy the safety of round the clock video surveillance, Joseph said that “there is a whole set of infrastructure to be set up”.

This is really a weak excuse. Any Form Five secondary school student could set up a video surveillance system with the technology available today.

How hard could it be for Joseph’s ministry to get a system up and running almost four months after the first explosion?

Not a single new camera has been seen anywhere in town, and there’s no sign of any kind of infrastructure being put down.

One gets the impression that it is not high on the ministry’s list of priorities.

The camera issue is just one manifestation of the general attitude of those in government and the Ministry of National Security in particular, towards citizen’s security.

This attitude comes from the very top: Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Minister Joseph, and trickles down to the mean and surly constables sitting in police stations.

Its easy to imagine both Manning and Joseph behind closed doors, with Manning saying: “Oh gorm, why they getting on so, they can’t wait, and Joseph’s sheepish reply: “They’re simplifying a complex issue” (from an actual quote).

But what they don’t understand is that the issue is simple for the average citizen: People are dying out here at the hands of criminals!

This is why when government seems to be dragging their feet on something as simple as installing surveillance cameras, it is so vexing.

This is probably why Cabinet members couldn’t understand the message of the Death March.

While many would agree that the march bordered on macabre, government needs to get the message that it was mainly a cry for help from a large section of the population. But from Joseph’s comments on the march, it’s quite likely that the message wasn’t clear to him.

According to Joseph, his government has no difficulty with persons demonstrating their disgust with the crime situation, but “government is doing a lot to improve safety and security”.

The comment is typical of the flippant manner in which both Joseph and Manning address the security and other concerns of the average citizen.

Anyone who has been observing Joseph would tell you that in answering questions and addressing concerns, he has a tendency to either be dismissive, or to jump from subject to subject as he tries to anticipate what would come next and attempt to deal with it up front.

The result is usually a pitiful jumble of information from which reporters have to pick sense from nonsense.

Ironically, last Thurs-day, Joseph himself said that insufficient information is available.

This comes as no surprise.

In responding to questions, Joseph has a tendency to squeeze in as many minor details as possible.

The result: The questions asked generally go unanswered.

Minister Joseph complained that in many people’s minds, there is a simplification of what is really “a complex issue.”

But one must wonder if Joseph himself wasn’t guilty of oversimplification when he said: “We are putting remedies in place, solutions would take a longer time.”

Fortunately there’s light peeking at the end of this particularly dark tunnel, Trinidad and Tobago could see a reversal of the high crime rate, and sooner than we think. Colombia did it, and so can we.

Joseph himself noted that Colombia, once the crime capital of the Caribbean, reduced their murder rate from 38,000 to just 5,000 in less than five years.
They also brought kidnappings down from 17,000 to 600.

Joseph attributes those achievements to assistance provided by the US, he also noted that there was a “different approach” to the judiciary.

As he did with the Death March, he might be missing the key point that made the difference: it was the change in “approach” that brought success.

Joseph and his cabinet colleagues should seriously consider a different approach, not just to the judiciary, but also to methods of governance in general.

Only then would they be able to apprehend the “Mr. Big” and the “Copycat” bombers, kidnappers, and murders and restore peace to these shores.