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Crime and corruption
Jamaicans highlight country's two major illsObserver/Don Anderson Poll
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Almost 60 per cent of Jamaicans believe that the country's biggest problem today is crime and violence, while significantly more people see corruption as a major ill affecting the island, the latest Observer/Don Anderson Poll
has shown.
According to the data, gathered between June 25 and July 2, of the 1,000 people interviewed islandwide, a huge 57 per cent point to crime and violence as the main thing wrong with the country at this time.
"This is a view shared by all groups within the population and indeed by persons who voted for one or the other of the political parties," said Anderson, whose team from Market Research Services Ltd conducted the survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.
In most polls conducted in the island over the past eight years at least, crime and violence has topped the list of major concerns among Jamaicans.
And each year, with crime, especially murders, escalating, those concerns have grown into frantic calls for the Government to implement tough measures to address the problem.
Just last week, a grouping of the island's private sector bodies called on legislators to amend laws "to deal with the special nuances of our current wave of criminal activity".
The group suggested that the Government:
. Implement mandatory imprisonment on conviction for any gun-related crime, including illegal possession of firearms, for a minimum of 15 years. Persons so accused should be denied bail and their cases fast-tracked through the court system.
. Introduce a three-strikes law for all repeat dangerous offenders. Anyone convicted three times of a serious crime - including robbery, wounding, rape, or unlawful possession of firearms - should be jailed for a minimum of 25 years without the possibility of parole.
. Implement video evidence to record witness testimonies and allow such to be used in evidence, supported by a video link for cross-examination purposes.
. Amend the Fingerprint Act in order that fingerprints, photographs and DNA samples (mouth swab) are taken from all persons arrested or charged with a criminal offence.
. Formulate, share and achieve buy-in of a comprehensive and structured plan to fight crime, incorporating short, medium and long-term solutions and use the 2006 "Road Map to a Safe and Secure Jamaica", a study done by a team led by current Security Minister Colonel Trevor MacMillan, on how to deal with the crime problem, as the main reference point.
The call by the private sector grouping came after statistics released by the police showed that 199 murders were reported in May alone, an increase of 95 per cent over the same month last year. It also followed on news that more than 700 murders were committed in the first five months of this year.
Anderson, in his analysis of the poll findings, said that there was "an increasing feeling amongst all demographic groups within the population that Jamaica is not safe".
In addition to crime and violence, the pollsters also found that 21 per cent of respondents were clear that there was too much corruption in the country. This compares to 5.4 per cent of those who held the same view last year June when Anderson conducted a poll for the Observer.
Anderson said that it is a factor that consistently emerges when the question 'What is the main thing wrong with Jamaica today'? is asked.
Other factors raised by respondents to the question were the attendant state of the economy, and the high prices of food and other basic items.
But amidst the gloom of crime, violence, corruption and high food prices, the pollsters found that sports and music were regarded as major positives for the country.
Said Anderson: "There is a view that has been held for sometime, without being scientifically substantiated, that the value of the contribution of sports to the positive image of Jamaica is not widely appreciated or indeed generally understood.
"The poll shows that the performance of our sporting personalities and our teams is seen as the single most positive thing that people living here associate with their country."
According to the poll, 31 per cent of respondents said that our sporting persons are the single most positive thing that they can think of that they would associate with Jamaica and say that this is good about the country.
"Our notoriety for our music, pioneered by the late and legendary Bob Marley, is seen as the second strong positive that they associate with the country," said Anderson. "Twenty per cent overall feel that this is what is good about the country."
Anderson said that while a number of other factors were mentioned, such as our rivers, the general beauty of the island and the education system, "these two beacons - our sporting persons and our music stand out as strong and positive pegs on which brand Jamaica can be effectively marketed to the world".
Jamaicans highlight country's two major illsObserver/Don Anderson Poll
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Almost 60 per cent of Jamaicans believe that the country's biggest problem today is crime and violence, while significantly more people see corruption as a major ill affecting the island, the latest Observer/Don Anderson Poll
has shown.
According to the data, gathered between June 25 and July 2, of the 1,000 people interviewed islandwide, a huge 57 per cent point to crime and violence as the main thing wrong with the country at this time.
"This is a view shared by all groups within the population and indeed by persons who voted for one or the other of the political parties," said Anderson, whose team from Market Research Services Ltd conducted the survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.
In most polls conducted in the island over the past eight years at least, crime and violence has topped the list of major concerns among Jamaicans.
And each year, with crime, especially murders, escalating, those concerns have grown into frantic calls for the Government to implement tough measures to address the problem.
Just last week, a grouping of the island's private sector bodies called on legislators to amend laws "to deal with the special nuances of our current wave of criminal activity".
The group suggested that the Government:
. Implement mandatory imprisonment on conviction for any gun-related crime, including illegal possession of firearms, for a minimum of 15 years. Persons so accused should be denied bail and their cases fast-tracked through the court system.
. Introduce a three-strikes law for all repeat dangerous offenders. Anyone convicted three times of a serious crime - including robbery, wounding, rape, or unlawful possession of firearms - should be jailed for a minimum of 25 years without the possibility of parole.
. Implement video evidence to record witness testimonies and allow such to be used in evidence, supported by a video link for cross-examination purposes.
. Amend the Fingerprint Act in order that fingerprints, photographs and DNA samples (mouth swab) are taken from all persons arrested or charged with a criminal offence.
. Formulate, share and achieve buy-in of a comprehensive and structured plan to fight crime, incorporating short, medium and long-term solutions and use the 2006 "Road Map to a Safe and Secure Jamaica", a study done by a team led by current Security Minister Colonel Trevor MacMillan, on how to deal with the crime problem, as the main reference point.
The call by the private sector grouping came after statistics released by the police showed that 199 murders were reported in May alone, an increase of 95 per cent over the same month last year. It also followed on news that more than 700 murders were committed in the first five months of this year.
Anderson, in his analysis of the poll findings, said that there was "an increasing feeling amongst all demographic groups within the population that Jamaica is not safe".
In addition to crime and violence, the pollsters also found that 21 per cent of respondents were clear that there was too much corruption in the country. This compares to 5.4 per cent of those who held the same view last year June when Anderson conducted a poll for the Observer.
Anderson said that it is a factor that consistently emerges when the question 'What is the main thing wrong with Jamaica today'? is asked.
Other factors raised by respondents to the question were the attendant state of the economy, and the high prices of food and other basic items.
But amidst the gloom of crime, violence, corruption and high food prices, the pollsters found that sports and music were regarded as major positives for the country.
Said Anderson: "There is a view that has been held for sometime, without being scientifically substantiated, that the value of the contribution of sports to the positive image of Jamaica is not widely appreciated or indeed generally understood.
"The poll shows that the performance of our sporting personalities and our teams is seen as the single most positive thing that people living here associate with their country."
According to the poll, 31 per cent of respondents said that our sporting persons are the single most positive thing that they can think of that they would associate with Jamaica and say that this is good about the country.
"Our notoriety for our music, pioneered by the late and legendary Bob Marley, is seen as the second strong positive that they associate with the country," said Anderson. "Twenty per cent overall feel that this is what is good about the country."
Anderson said that while a number of other factors were mentioned, such as our rivers, the general beauty of the island and the education system, "these two beacons - our sporting persons and our music stand out as strong and positive pegs on which brand Jamaica can be effectively marketed to the world".
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