NOW that the Sexual Offences Bill has been signed into law, can another area be examined and be considered for action? That of dirty music.  It is no strange coincidence that the advent of this filth parallels the mushrooming of sexual offences and acts of indecency. It is not suggested here that such music is the single cause of sex crimes. I am aware that there is a ban from the airways of such type; but, this genre has otherwise proliferated, and is often played in many private homes, parties, and in minibuses, especially.

There is debate as to the correlation of this music to the behaviour of perverts, specifically. Already, there is a negative opinion from a Jamaican academic, and a similar view from a very popular show promoter. My empirical experience begs me to differ from such an informed opinion.

Many males do appear to get a ‘high’ when listening to this music, and do object loudly, whenever disapproval is voiced. Travel aboard minibuses that offer this degraded lyric, irrespective of the presence of women and children; and should one request its discontinuation, one will either be asked to disembark or be ignored, and even abused, as is so often the case. This derogatory must be removed from the shelves of music stores, and wherever else, they are kept. It is time that the powers that be act on this negative influence. Too many of our young, especially, mouth this effluence from their mouths. For them it becomes a norm and an accepted form of living. It forms their outlook on life; and they finally put into practice the sordid, heinous end result of rape and other indecent acts. Such an influence must be removed as much as possible.

I trust that Cabinet will soon consider action on this particular issue.