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From left, Younis, Ammar, Clarke, Hart and Kerr-Jarrett
Omar Anderson and Monique Hepburn, Gleaner Reporters
BUSINESS LEADERS in Kingston and Montego Bay yesterday bemoaned the current spiralling crime level in the country.
They point to the need for a new perspective in the fight against crime and violence.
Members of the business community were reacting to killings in St. James and a flare-up in Spanish Town, St. Catherine on Monday night, following the murder of Oliver 'Bubba' Smith, leader of the reputed 'One Order' gang.
Mark Kerr-Jarrett, chairman of the St. James Parish Development Committee and CEO of Barnett Ltd., said: "All of us as citizens need to realise that crime in St. James is not the police's problem. It is everybody's problem.
"Crime is bound to affect business and tourism in the parish if it is not curbed. Investment is dependent upon actual stability and not an appearance of it. It is essential that we take steps to find out the causes and take steps to abate it.
Mr. Kerr-Jarrett noted that the Office of the Prime Minister has called a special meeting scheduled for today with the city's business interests and the police, to discuss the crime problem in St. James that has claimed close to 80 lives since January, almost double the figure for the same period last year.
"Obviously, the increase of crime in the parish is of concern to everybody because of the nature of MoBay as tourism capital," said Mark Hart, chairman of the Hart Group of Companies.
POOR LIVING CONDITIONS
He said: "Poor living conditions and the influx of drugs seem to be driving crime, which used to be generally confined to inner-city areas. Before we know it, if the city's reputation as a friendly and quiet town is changed to one of hostility, our livelihood could be affected."
For his part, Michael Ammar, Jr., managing director of Ammars on King Street, said "Crime is out of control and we have to look at it from a whole new perspective. We (JCC) are working on a proposal to deal with the general crime issue," emphasised the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) president.
Sameer Younis, managing director of Fabric de Younis, said there is a lack of value shown when someone senselessly kills another person. "When a person can take a gun and shoot a woman or a child, or a person walking on the street, that shows an absence of value for life," said the former Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA) president.
According to him, violence not only destroys the livelihood of business persons and their employees, but it also affects residents in violence-prone communities.
Similar sentiments were expres-sed by Clarence Clarke, immediate JMA past president and managing director of Windows Limited. He said that the high level of crime in the community has always bothered him. "While we have to put long-term measures in place, we need to seriously get outside help," he said. "The long-term solution we need to implement is to put back on the table, the Values and Attitudes programme announced by the Prime Minister several years ago."
