Mark Golding Discusses Crime, Ganja, and Valiant – Watch Interview

Leader of the Opposition, Mark Golding, shared his insight on a number of things with the hosts of The Fix, including the situation with marijuana, crime, politics, education, and dancehall artiste Valiant. Golding, an attorney-at-law, shared the initial plan to normalize ganja to the point where small farmers could legally earn from growing the crop.

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However, he said that when the People’s National Party (PNP) lost to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), the objective was not pursued by the governing party. Speaking on the State of Emergency (SOE), which he had shown his disapproval of Golding explained the ineffectiveness of consistently implementing it.

“It’s not a crime-fighting strategy… State of Emergency is about detention, it’s not about investigation, and it’s not about case preparation, and it’s not about prosecution, and conviction. Now fighting crime is about those things so people are held to account and there is some punishment for those who deserve punishment,” he explained.

Golding, who also spoke about his interest in seeking solutions for squatting, went on to explain that the education system is one factor that contributed to the crime rate.

On the topic of dancehall artiste Valiant making a Dunce Cheque dubplate for Antigua and Barbuda’s election, Goding shared that he is a fan of the song despite it being infamous for endorsing dunce.

“When I listen to it, essentially that guy is saying, yeah, him neva get nutting out of school, but he’s, you know, somebody. As he said, he’s a working progress; he’s trying to improve himself,” he said.

While acknowledging that he is also a “work in progress,” Golding said that he had something to contribute to the nation.  He added that he understood the common perception that politicians are corrupt because there are some corrupt ones.

Watch Mark Golding’s interview below: