By Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter
A soldier searches the roof of a house on Upper Oxford Street, West Kingston yesterday as the security forces continued their search for guns. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
NATIONAL SECURITY Minister Dr. Peter Phillips says the security forces are prepared to stay in volatile communities for as long as it takes to break the back of criminal gangs and end the orgy of violence that has paralysed the country.
Giving details of the government's crime plan in the House of Representatives yesterday, Dr. Phillips said the joint police/military curfews which started in selected communities on Monday, would be spread to other areas throughout the country.
"As of today, focused operations have been carried out in Portmore, Spanish Town and other sections of the Corporate Area and will be extended to other areas of the island," the Minister said.
The operations, which started in Hannah Town and Denham Town in West Kingston and Payne Avenue in South West St. Andrew, have resulted in the recovery of four guns and several rounds of ammunition. Several people have also been detained for questioning.
The new offensive is a response to the growing level of crime and violence which has left more than 960 people dead since the start of the year. In November alone, 119 people were killed. About 70 per cent of the murders in the island were carried out in Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine.
Essentially, the new anti-crime thrust will rely heavily on the military working with the police to flush out known criminals, many of whom are involved in drug trafficking. This will be done through cordons, searches and road blocks. The security forces will also be involved in the removal of derelict buildings; a general clean-up of communities and the building of community sport facilities.
"We are resolved to take back our communities, street by street, lane by lane, block by block, house by house," the Minister said.
Yesterday, the Minister also named the members of a review panel which will be responsible for receiving and probing complaints against members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).
They are chairman of the Disputes Resolution Foundation, Novar MacDonald (convenor); Hilary Phillips, president of the Jamaican Bar Association; Dr. Carolyn Gomes, executive director of Jamaicans for Justice; Mr. Jimmy Carnegie of the Jamaica Olympic Association; and retired JDF chief-of-staff, Major General Robert Neish.
Dr. Phillips said the new measures would pose some inconvenience for members of the public but urged citizens to give their full co-operation.
"We ask not only for your patience but your support since ultimately the objective is to build safer communities and a safer Jamaica for all law-abiding citizens," the Security Minister said.
To bolster the efforts of the security forces, the crime plan will also encompass a broad-based poverty reduction programme and a slate of legislative reforms.
According to the Minister, a special centre will be set up in the Ministry of Development to create links between police work and the development of communities. He, however, did not give details about the centre and how it would facilitate poverty reduction.
Meanwhile, Dr. Phillips said the government would look to have three major pieces of legislation approved by Parliament early next year as part of the package to tackle the crime wave. These include amendments to the Finger Print Act and the Port Authority Act as well as the introduction of Plea Bargaining.
