Leaders upbeat after peace talks By Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter THE SETTING up of a committee to develop consensus on ways to fight crime was among the major agreements reached by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and Opposition Leader Edward Seaga when they met in three hours of talks at Vale Royal, Kingston yesterday. Both men emerged from the talks upbeat that the slate of proposals would reduce the violence and tension in Kingston's west end and clear the way for the generation of economic development in some of the capital's worst slums. Chaired by Minister of National Security and Justice K.D. Knight and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) spokesman on National Security, Derrick Smith, the seven-member crime committee will specifically examine the role and composition of the Police Services Commission. This was hailed by Opposition Leader Edward Seaga as the most significant outcome of the meeting. "To me this is at the heart of the question as to whether the Force can be a professional one or not," Mr. Seaga told The Gleaner yesterday. The Opposition Leader who said he was pleased with the outcome of the meeting, argued that the PSC was appointed "almost unilaterally" by the Prime Minister, and therefore does not act "as decisively as it should as a disciplinary body for officers of the law." The committee which will present its report to the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader within four weeks, will also include two other politicians, a representative from the church, one from the private sector and another from civil society. Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson who described yesterday's meeting as meaningful, also welcomed the agreement on the crime committee, noting that it was one of the most important results of the talks. Other agreements coming out of the meeting include pouring security personnel into West Kingston, to put a buffer between Denham Town, which is loyal to the JLP and Wilton Gardens (Rema) which supports the governing People's National Party. Both communities have been at war over recent months resulting in deaths and residents having to flee their homes. The leaders have also agreed to review the role of the Political Ombudsman to make the office more effective as well as revise the code of political conduct which was first agreed prior to the 1989 general elections. On the economic side, Mr. Seaga and Dr. Davies will examine plans aimed at the economic and social developments in western sections of the city. "If these proposals are put in place, the people of West Kingston can rest assured that they can return to their houses without anyone attacking them," Mr. Seaga said. Yesterday's peace talks comes after weeks of attempts by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica to get the two leaders talking, following a flare up of violence in West Kingston that led to 27 deaths. The talks were mediated by PSOJ president Peter Moses along with four other private sector representatives. The Prime Minister was accompanied to the talks by Mr. Knight, Transport and Works Minister Dr. Peter Phillips, Tourism Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Dr. Davies, Minister of Finance. Mr. Seaga was accompanied by his deputies, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, Derrick Smith, Audley Shaw and Ed Bartlett.
|
