Robert Lalah and Ross Sheil, Staff Reporters
IT IS a chilling reminder of the extent to which criminality has overtaken the nation.
GraceKennedy's full page advertisement in The Gleaner, lists the names of members of its staff as well as associates who have either been murdered, or have fallen victim to other violent crimes since 2001.
Listed were the names of four persons, described as being involved in "GraceKennedy's operations", who were murdered this year. All four murders were committed between February 16 and July 6.
Twenty-seven relatives of persons engaged in the company's operations were murdered over the four year period. And 15 of its employees were robbed at gun point, while two relatives of employees were victims of the same crime.
The murders, said President of the Jamaican Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) Dwight Nelson, were a concern for the nation's human resource development. "I spoke to (GraceKennedy's chief executive officer) Douglas Orange today and I understand that many of these were promising employees poised to move up within the company."
"What this speaks to," continued Mr. Nelson, "is that the spectre of crime is robbing the country of productive human resources."
COUNSELLING NEEDED
Crime, added Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd, executive director of the Jamaica Employers Federation, means workers are not functioning at the level demanded by employers. "There are also transport costs because more and more employees have to be escorted home safely. Many workers, when caught up by the violence need counselling."
Workers from volatile areas, like all workers, need to be at work on time said Mrs. Coke-Lloyd. But she acknowledged they are often prevented from doing so by crime and may need to leave early, before dark, to be safe. Furthermore, she pointed to the issue of crime pushing skilled workers to migrate.
