Daraine Luton, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

Less than 24 hours after the execution of the former Iraqi dictator in the Middle Eastern country, Mandeville's political representatives are calling on Government to follow suit and quickly reinstitute the death penalty here.

"The time has come for us to reinstitute hanging as a mode of punishment for murder," Mr. Palmer, People's National Party (PNP) caretaker for Central Manchester said. He was speaking to The Sunday Gleaner at the Martin Hill Dump, near Mandeville in Manchester, during the police's recovery of two bodies yesterday.

Mr. Palmer said his views were also a reflection of the way many Jamaicans felt. One of these persons is Ms. Sally Porteous, the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) candidate for Central Manchester.

Ms. Porteous, the deputy mayor of Mandeville, said that unless the death penalty was reintroduced, criminals would roam free.

"I am asking the Minister (of Justice) to immediately resume hanging; bring back the death penalty for kidnapping and abduction. We used to have it in this country, and we need it back," she said.

Like many Jamaicans, especially those in and around Mandeville, Mr. Palmer and Ms. Porteous are angered by the abduction of Richard and Julia Lyn, senior citizens who were taken from their homes by criminals and then believed killed.

Despite hanging being on the law books, Jamaica has not carried out an execution in over three decades. Former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson had long promised to reinstitute hanging and the PNP campaigned on its resumption in the October 2002 General Election. However, despite viewing their mandate as a vote for the death penalty, Government has been unable to carry out a single execution, especially since the United Kingdom-based Privy Council, Jamaica'a final appellate court, ruled that automatic death penalties are unconstitutional.

Not the total answer

Mr. Palmer agrees that there needs to be an overhaul of the justice system to ensure that the man being hung is indeed the criminal. He has also acknowledged that capital punishment is not the total answer to the country's crime problems.

Meanwhile, Ms. Porteous is moving to have Mandeville safe, indicating she plans to convene a meeting with national security stakeholders to discuss rising crime in the parish capital.

"It has taken this for people to say, 'Look what is happening in Mandeville.' It is not a safe little town anymore. It is not a little donkey street anymore," Ms. Porteous said. "It is big enough to be a city and it has the problems of a city."

Among the many things Ms. Porteous wants to see in Mandeville are more and better police vehicles, and adequate police personnel.

Superintendent of Police for the parish, Michael James, said he has just about 60 per cent of the police officers that are needed to effectively police Manchester. Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green has said they have detected the presence of criminal gangs operating within Mandeville.