THE OPPOSITION Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has dismissed the Government's latest crime-fighting measures as "more of
the same".
Derrick Smith, Opposition spokesman on national security, says this is corroborated by crime data which show that the Government has "continued on the dismal path that it left off, prior to the October 16 General Election".
He pointed to police statistics which, he said, reveal that 300 persons were murdered for the first 100 days after the People's National Party (PNP) was returned to office. That period covers October 16 to January 24. Today marks 100 days since P.J. Patterson was sworn in as Prime Minister to begin the party's fourth term in office.
Mr. Smith said during the 100 days leading up to the election, 205 people were killed. The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) was asked to verify Mr. Smith's claims but it did not respond up to press time.
"Within a month of the general election the nation was under siege as criminal elements wreaked havoc, leaving 117 dead in November alone," Mr. Smith noted.
He pointed out that at the beginning of that month, the Government implemented a second crime plan for 2002 but observed that: "While there had been a lull in the number of killings, it is yet to be attributed to the crime-fighting initiatives as more time is needed to determine the effectiveness of the measures."
Up to yesterday, 62 persons had been murdered since the start of the year. Five double murders were recorded by the police over the period.
On the positive side, the Opposition spokesman said the crime plan, which was promulgated by several interest groups and organisations, is much more multi-faceted than previous crime-fighting measures. This approach was necessary as the Opposition holds the view that there was no short-term solution to the problem.
"It took into account the security, as well as the legislative, economic and social dimensions of the equation this time around," said Mr. Smith. "It is going to be long-term. There is no likelihood of us solving this problem in the short run."
But, he cautioned that much of the plan is still to be implemented and, as such, urges the Government to "move with dispatch on this issue".
The JLP shadow minister and Member of Parliament for North West St. Andrew said the economic aspect of the plan necessitates job creation while the social involves cleaning up the inner-cities. "That has just barely begun," he pointed out.
