The Interior Ministry”Great Achievements”! [Archives:2007/1020/Opinion]
By: Mohammed Al-Qadhi
Last Wednesday the Ministry of the Interior held their 17th Conference for ministry leaders. The ministry shrugged its shoulders at its ability to bring nationwide security and control crime. It talked about an endless list of achievements. President Ali Abdullah Saleh pinpointed a very significant issue – the link between security and development. Foreign investment cannot flow into the country without competent security. The security of the citizen is a signal of a good environment for investment.
The ministry forgot about the crime rate which soared in 2006. There are now almost four crimes taking place per hour. A scary statistic.
Thousands of Yemeni people are killed annually due to crazy traffic accidents. Almost every day we hear reports of people killed or injured because of traffic accidents. According to Saba News and September 26 mobile service SMSs last Thursday, eight were killed and five inured from one family in a car accident on the Sana'a-Marib road and that ten were killed and two injured in another car accident in Hajja. In Al-Dhal'e and in the same day four were killed and another eight injured in a car accident. This is just in one day and there might be more that have not been reported. People are dying as though it's a war.
Who is responsible for this? What is the business of the ministry and the traffic authority in addressing such terrible problems? I believe it is the role of the ministry to initiate stiff regulations to address this issue.
A foreign diplomat told me once that he used to take a bus to go around in Sana'a as he is afraid to drive because of the traffic mess. An overhaul of the traffic system is a first step towards tacking this concern.
Again, the Ministry of Interior, whose business is to protect the lives of the people, has done nothing to address the torture crime of Hamdan Darsi at the hands of the arrogant influential Sheikh Shua'eeb al-Fashiq and his cruel escorts. Darsi also faced sexual harassment. Anisah al-Shuaibi was taken to jail and raped by the jail officers. These two victims are still searching for justice and it seems they are facing intimidation to drop their cases and forget their plight.
If the ministry has failed to bring the predators of such heinous crimes to justice, what sort of nonsensical “achievements” are they talking about.
Hey guys, I understand the biggest achievements you can celebrate is your ability to bring arrogant and influential guys like Al-Fasheq, Mohammed Ahmed Mansur and the like who are behaving like dictators in their territories and considering their fellow citizens as their subjects in their own kingdoms that do not recognize law and order.
Mohammed Al-Qadhi ([email protected]) is a Yemeni journalist and columnist.
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[archive-e:1020-v:14-y:2007-d:2007-01-29-p:opinion]
