STRESSING THE need to stem the flow of guns and drugs on the nation's streets, Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, said the Government will be looking to its overseas partners for assistance.
Addressing a Rotary Club of Kingston luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston yesterday, the Security Minister said he was pleased particularly with efforts being made by the United States to monitor the number of guns leaving its shores and earmarked for Jamaica.
He said Jamaica was currently in discussions with the authorities in Florida to hammer out ways to track weapons leaving that state into Jamaica. "We expect this to lead to even greater levels of co-operation," he said.
"This is especially so considering that most of the weapons leaving from the United States for Jamaica are coming in from Florida."
He added: "The Government is working assiduously to strengthen existing partnerships with the U.S. and the United Kingdom and to forge new partnerships with other countries. In a few weeks we will be able to consolidate a co-operation agreement with the Panamanian authorities and with other authorities in Central America."
According to Dr. Phillips, organised crime should be considered a "transnational activity." To counteract it, "will require collective effort and co-operation between different nation states."
LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
The Security Minister also pointed to the need for Jamaica to enhance its legislative framework, citing the passage of Fingerprint and Anti-terrorism legislation as an example. He explained that the Fingerprint Act "is simply to provide for persons who are arrested for particularly serious crimes to be fingerprinted at the point of arrest with appropriate authorisation from the police." He noted that despite the criticisms "the Act does not infringe on any fundamental rights of citizens... this is done in countries such as Australia."
The Minister pointed to the effectiveness of the recently-acquired Ion Scan machines in stemming the flow of drugs at the island's two major airports. He said a greater effort will be made to install Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in strategic locations to curtail criminal activities.
Also, Dr. Phillips said the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) should be institutionalised and given more resources in order to expand its services to the rest of the island. He cited western Jamaica as an area where it was currently needed.
"The launch of the PMI has resulted in the saving of scores of lives in the country... and what is evident to us is that we need to further institutionalise its work to provide the administrative support and also provide more financial resources," he said.
