Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA DEFENCE Force (JDF) personnel could soon be called on to assist the police in a more structured way in the fight against crime and violence, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said yesterday.
Addressing board members of Guardsman Group Limited at the company's Old Hope Road headquarters in St. Andrew, Mr. Patterson said he was awaiting the results of a review of the entire JDF by local and Canadian experts before a decision is taken. The results he said are expected in April.
"We got in some former people from the JDF, but we've also got in some people from Canada, and we're working with some local people who are not in the military field, but who are dealing with structures," Mr. Patterson said of those conducting the review.
He added: "The JDF presently is involved in what I call a review of how it fulfils its mission to secure and defend Jamaica. In any state, you are going to need a special capability to do particular things that only an organised force can do."
He said what may become the JDF's new mission will impact on the training and the deployment of its 3,640 members.
"Nobody is conceding that the JDF has to go to war with a foreign power," Mr. Patterson added. "That battle principally is within. And within I just don't mean on land, I mean around our shores and in our airspace and that needs some level of specialisation."
With 55 days gone in the new year and the country recording more than 200 murders, the Prime Minister said there were cases where the threat to civil order and the maintenance of peace and security require the country to call "upon these resources", referring to the JDF.
"If we accept that right now the greatest threat is internal, then I think the JDF in discharge of that mission, has to develop a capability to respond to that challenge," he remarked.
Two weeks ago, William 'Bill' Clarke, managing director of Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), called for the merger of the JDF and the 8,000-plus Jamaica Consta-bulary Force (JCF) into what he said should be a new multi-disciplinary force of no less than 30,000, relevant to the needs and future of Jamaica.
Last night, National Security Minister Dr. Peter Phillips said the primary focus was to protect the nation from the crime onslaught, adding that the JDF has an integral role to play in achieving the mission.
"I have even had discussions publicly and privately with Senator Bruce Golding on the role of the JDF and how we can best maximise its capabilities," Dr. Phillips said. But as the Prime Minister is suggesting, lets await the review and see how best we proceed."
But while conceding that the role of the JDF needs to be consistent with present local security realities, Mr. Patterson said a merger of the two security forces was not necessarily the answer to the country's crime problem.
And emphasising that the JDF's chief role is to protect Jamaica's sovereignty, the Prime Minister said that the organisation's mission needs to be discharged "in accordance with the needs of the state and the resources and skills available."
