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The Government came under increased pressure yesterday to deal decisively with the growing crime wave as gunmen continued their reign of terror between Wednesday night and yesterday morning, killing three people, injuring three others and fire-bombing four houses in separate incidents in the capital, Kingston.
The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), which represents the island's business sector, called on the Government to share with the nation its approach to dealing with the escalating crime situation.
"The PSOJ views with concern the recent rise in the murder rate and the appalling and brazen attacks on our security forces," President Chris Zacca said in a statement.
"The PSOJ believes that tackling crime, and in particular violent crime and murder, should be 'Job Number One' for the Government," Zacca said.
A string of violent murders since last Wednesday, including those of two cops on foot patrol in Trench Town on Friday, has renewed fear among Jamaicans and pushed the murder toll close to 700 since the start of the year.
Yesterday, Zacca said that while the PSOJ acknowledged that the roots of the crime problem are complex and multi-faceted, there are a number of key interventions that can be undertaken in the short, medium and long term.
He pointed to the Colonel Trevor MacMillan 'Roadmap to a Safe and Secure Jamaica' report commissioned by Prime Minister Bruce Golding while he was in Opposition and suggested that elements of the report that are applicable should be implemented immediately.
"This 'MacMillan Report' points out that tackling crime and violence requires a sense of urgency, focus and seriousness of purpose," said Zacca. "The PSOJ believes that a concerted effort should be made now to implement the recommendations of the 'MacMillan Report'."
Zacca's statement, which declared the PSOJ's commitment to playing its role in coming up with solutions to address the inadequacies in Jamaica's crime-fighting and justice systems, came at the same time that the Patriots, the young professionals caucus affiliated to the Opposition People's National Party (PNP), called for a special session of Parliament "to define and agree upon a national response and strategy to ebb the increasing rate of violent crimes in the country".
"That our security personnel, children, mothers, siblings and fellow citizens are being permanently harmed or killed as victims of this thus far unending scourge is not a matter for partisan political score keeping," the Patriots said in a statement.
"We entreat the prime minister to grant our request for a special session of the Parliament on the issue. The sole objective of same is to harness all constructive proposals to formulate a national response to our crime problem and to present the nation with a clear and comprehensive policy to resolve the problem," the group said.
The Patriots criticised the Government for what it said was "the vacuousness" of its responses to "this growing threat to our nation's stability" and said it was dissatisfied with Golding's response to questions on the issue during his monthly radio programme, Jamaica House Live, on Wednesday night.
During the one-hour call-in programme, Golding, pointing to legislation that clearly states that matters of policy resided with the political administration, while operational issues were the remit of the police high command, said that the responsibility for designing a crime plan was that of the police.
That comment also earned him flak from Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller who said she was shocked by Golding's utterances.
"The prime minister, who is also the minister of defence, has a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the nation and his comments were careless and reckless," Simpson Miller said.
She said that while it was true that the minister of national security has responsibility for policy and the police for operations, the JLP, while in Opposition, "indicated that they had a plan to solve the crime problem and gave the country an undertaking to reduce violent crimes in a six-month period".
The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), which represents the island's business sector, called on the Government to share with the nation its approach to dealing with the escalating crime situation.
"The PSOJ views with concern the recent rise in the murder rate and the appalling and brazen attacks on our security forces," President Chris Zacca said in a statement.
"The PSOJ believes that tackling crime, and in particular violent crime and murder, should be 'Job Number One' for the Government," Zacca said.
A string of violent murders since last Wednesday, including those of two cops on foot patrol in Trench Town on Friday, has renewed fear among Jamaicans and pushed the murder toll close to 700 since the start of the year.
Yesterday, Zacca said that while the PSOJ acknowledged that the roots of the crime problem are complex and multi-faceted, there are a number of key interventions that can be undertaken in the short, medium and long term.
He pointed to the Colonel Trevor MacMillan 'Roadmap to a Safe and Secure Jamaica' report commissioned by Prime Minister Bruce Golding while he was in Opposition and suggested that elements of the report that are applicable should be implemented immediately.
"This 'MacMillan Report' points out that tackling crime and violence requires a sense of urgency, focus and seriousness of purpose," said Zacca. "The PSOJ believes that a concerted effort should be made now to implement the recommendations of the 'MacMillan Report'."
Zacca's statement, which declared the PSOJ's commitment to playing its role in coming up with solutions to address the inadequacies in Jamaica's crime-fighting and justice systems, came at the same time that the Patriots, the young professionals caucus affiliated to the Opposition People's National Party (PNP), called for a special session of Parliament "to define and agree upon a national response and strategy to ebb the increasing rate of violent crimes in the country".
"That our security personnel, children, mothers, siblings and fellow citizens are being permanently harmed or killed as victims of this thus far unending scourge is not a matter for partisan political score keeping," the Patriots said in a statement.
"We entreat the prime minister to grant our request for a special session of the Parliament on the issue. The sole objective of same is to harness all constructive proposals to formulate a national response to our crime problem and to present the nation with a clear and comprehensive policy to resolve the problem," the group said.
The Patriots criticised the Government for what it said was "the vacuousness" of its responses to "this growing threat to our nation's stability" and said it was dissatisfied with Golding's response to questions on the issue during his monthly radio programme, Jamaica House Live, on Wednesday night.
During the one-hour call-in programme, Golding, pointing to legislation that clearly states that matters of policy resided with the political administration, while operational issues were the remit of the police high command, said that the responsibility for designing a crime plan was that of the police.
That comment also earned him flak from Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller who said she was shocked by Golding's utterances.
"The prime minister, who is also the minister of defence, has a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the nation and his comments were careless and reckless," Simpson Miller said.
She said that while it was true that the minister of national security has responsibility for policy and the police for operations, the JLP, while in Opposition, "indicated that they had a plan to solve the crime problem and gave the country an undertaking to reduce violent crimes in a six-month period".
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