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PM: Help Us Keep Out Guns
PM: Help Us Keep Out Guns
Published: Tuesday | September 28, 20108 Comments and 0 Reactions
Bruce Golding
PRIME MINISTER Bruce Golding has appealed to the United Nations to help stop the flow of guns into the island.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, Golding said Latin America and the Caribbean are faced with "the twin menace of the illicit trade in narcotic drugs and small arms".
"The open borders in the Caribbean make us an easy conduit for trans-shipment between the major sources and destinations of illicit drugs," Golding said. "The attendant crime and violence constitute a major threat to national development because they create instability and force us to divert scarce resources to tackle this scourge."
He argued that the transnational nature of organised crime requires cross-border collaboration at the bilateral, regional and international levels to combat the illegal trade and tackle with equal vigour the supply, transit and demand sides of the international drug trade.
Reinforcement
"The recent high-level meeting on transnational organised crime and the Fourth Review Conference on Small Arms and Light Weapons were instrumental in reinforcing the need for the implementation of measures to curtail the growing threat," the prime minister said.
He added: "These efforts would be strengthened by the conclusion of a legally binding instrument to curtail the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons and ammunition and we urge the United Nations to approach this troubling issue with the urgency that it deserves."
In April, Golding told Parliament that the United States was not doing enough to stem the flow of guns into Jamaica.
"The overwhelming majority of guns coming into Jamaica are of United States manufacture," Golding told Parliament at the time.
"The inflow of guns into Jamaica is what facilitates most of the murders that are committed. The security forces recover, on average, 600 guns each year. We suspect that a greater number enter the island each year, creating an ever-increasing arsenal of illegal weapons, snuffing out lives with callous brutality."
Published: Tuesday | September 28, 20108 Comments and 0 Reactions
Bruce Golding
PRIME MINISTER Bruce Golding has appealed to the United Nations to help stop the flow of guns into the island.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, Golding said Latin America and the Caribbean are faced with "the twin menace of the illicit trade in narcotic drugs and small arms".
"The open borders in the Caribbean make us an easy conduit for trans-shipment between the major sources and destinations of illicit drugs," Golding said. "The attendant crime and violence constitute a major threat to national development because they create instability and force us to divert scarce resources to tackle this scourge."
He argued that the transnational nature of organised crime requires cross-border collaboration at the bilateral, regional and international levels to combat the illegal trade and tackle with equal vigour the supply, transit and demand sides of the international drug trade.
Reinforcement
"The recent high-level meeting on transnational organised crime and the Fourth Review Conference on Small Arms and Light Weapons were instrumental in reinforcing the need for the implementation of measures to curtail the growing threat," the prime minister said.
He added: "These efforts would be strengthened by the conclusion of a legally binding instrument to curtail the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons and ammunition and we urge the United Nations to approach this troubling issue with the urgency that it deserves."
In April, Golding told Parliament that the United States was not doing enough to stem the flow of guns into Jamaica.
"The overwhelming majority of guns coming into Jamaica are of United States manufacture," Golding told Parliament at the time.
"The inflow of guns into Jamaica is what facilitates most of the murders that are committed. The security forces recover, on average, 600 guns each year. We suspect that a greater number enter the island each year, creating an ever-increasing arsenal of illegal weapons, snuffing out lives with callous brutality."
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