Ashford W. Meikle, Staff Reporter
Ambassador Peter King (centre), a vice-president of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA), introduces a past president of the JMA, Clarence Clarke, to U.S. Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson at the JMA board of directors luncheon yesterday at its head office on Duke Street in downtown Kingston. Seated is Ms. Doreen Frankson, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association. - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
DOREEN FRANKSON, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA), says the country's spiralling crime rate has negatively affected the country's psyche and, as a result, Jamaicans are unhappy.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for us to ask ourselves the question: as a collective, is our nation happy? I don't know what your answer is but I know that in a society where persons are happy there could not be such a high incidence of crime," said Frankson while addressing the JMA's annual luncheon held at its head offices on Duke Street in downtown Kingston yesterday.
WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
In the presence of several government ministers, including PNP presidential aspirant Portia Simpson Miller, Ms. Frankson wondered aloud, "What will make our people, as a collective, happy? Is it when crime is under control, when they have access to education, jobs and health services? Is it when we are expanding our industries and there is much to go around?"
Making reference to the PNP leadership contest, the JMA presi-dent noted, "This change process must be carefully managed and the new leader must be committed to Jamaica and Jamaicans."
The control of crime, said the outspoken Frankson, is one of the "non-negotiables that we must insist on for the new management team. They must take stock of where we want to go and develop the blueprint to take us there ... Our top priority must be snatching our beautiful country from the jaws of the crime monster."
Frankson's comments come in light of recent statistics pointing to 1,565 persons murdered so far this year with a little over a week left in the year. Last year, that figure stood at 1,471.
The key ingredient in controlling crime, said Ms. Frankson, was a qualitative investment in the country's human resources.
"For years we have concentrated on the economic variables of the gross domestic product, and although we have had some growth I think it is time to focus on an index that I have dubbed the GNH, or gross national happiness."
