If we seriously are disappointed with the direction in which the country is moving, then talking about or physically pointing to the direction in which we must go to succeed isn’t going to be enough.

The government would be quick to say that progress is being made, just as fast as the opposition would say that we’re heading for doomsday.

The government’s initiative, that of arming the country’s law enforcement agencies with the hi-tech resources necessary to fight today’s sophisticated criminals, is slowly but successfully ridding our country of the scourge of violent crimes that shocked us beyond compare 13 months ago.

The opposition supports the crime fight in principle, but sees the death of criminals in their shootout with law enforcement officers as a calculated plan to kill, not apprehend.

Many opposition supporters obviously agree. One person was reportedly heard to suck his teeth while news of Shawn Brown’s death was being read on television.

Whatever the convictions on both sides of the political divide, we want to see government and opposition seriously taking non-partisan initiatives to grapple with issues that affect us to the bone - issues like violent crime, the escalation of which still threatens to numb us into a sense of unease and foreboding.

We’re concerned not only because violent crimes are affecting business, traumatizing and disintegrating families, and festering lawlessness and instability. We are also concerned because the future of the country’s youths is at stake.

We’ve talked a lot about the need for civic participation in the national development thrust. We repeat that call here. Without doubt, the preparation of our young people for effective citizenship is a major concern of every Guyanese who believe in the rule of law, who abhor lawlessness, and who say they have become disillusioned with the manner in which government and opposition are running our country.

They may not be all right. But as we’ve learned along life’s way, perception “is everything.”

Preoccupation with a constellation of issues of staggering complexity, both at home and abroad, has nearly always left little room for a revolutionary governmental approach to youth education and civic involvement in national development.

If we expect our nation to overcome the enormity of the problems that President Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Robert Corbin have committed their government and parties to addressing, it’s obvious that civic participation has to be factored into the scheme of things.

The approach the two leaders have agreed to, includes more open government and the implementation of policies, programmes and strategies that underlie our determination to address the problems of crime, homelessness, and violence that haunt Guyana.

All Guyanese should see the joint services approach to crime fighting as a rallying point to injecting new life and more resources into the effort at the community or civic level.