CHAIRMAN of the Hardware Merchant's Association (HMA), Anthony Holness, has called for a national effort to combat the scourge of crime and violence sweeping the nation and impacting negatively on businesses.He made this statement while addressing the membership of the Association at the luncheon following the business session of their annual general meeting at the Terra Nova Hotel on November 16.
He noted that the need was for solutions and compared the idea of the problem being government's alone to appointing a Board of Directors, giving them no co-operation with daily operations and then firing them for failure to perform.
"To the extent that this level of crime in Jamaica is taking on the characteristics of a monster swaying out of control, it behoves us to speak up in support of finding collective solutions."
The chairman said that the national effort of which he spoke should not take the form of a mass meeting at the Conference Centre with all and sundry making presentations and no work thereafter.
"I am of the view that we need to effect, immediately, working committees comprising representatives of the private sector, the Government, the opposition parties, the religious community, the inner-city communities and the service clubs, that will unite in devising strategies designed to break the cycle of crime especially in the inner cities and guide the new generation towards wholesome traditional values."
The business session of the AGM saw the selection of 18 members of the Managing Committee namely, Chairman, Anthony Holness, First Vice-President Michael Brooks; Nicholas Hardy, Keith Reese, Vena Yee, Hopeton Findlay, Richard Anderson, Howard Chin, Richard Crichton, Garth Walker, Kirmit Rose, Rocky Shields, Hanif Persad, Norma Sinclair, Fay Swaby, Hopeton Halliman with Andrea Sibbles and Chris Senior replacing retiring members Roy Paul and immediate past Chairman Gary Scott.
