Outgoing UK diplomat disappointed
Ahmad leaving with regret that Jamaica’s homicide rate was not sharply reduced during his four-year stint
OUTGOING British High Commissioner to Jamaica Asif Ahmad has labelled his failure to help Jamaica significantly reduce its murder figures as one of the most disappointing aspects of his four years in the post.
In an exit interview with the Jamaica Observer on Thursday, Ahmad labelled the crime problem as “unfinished work”.
“There was a time, about midway my time here, when we sat down with my counterparts in the US (United States) Embassy, the Canadian High Commissioner and the EU (European Union), and we looked at the millions [of dollars] that we have spent on this issue and the matrix have not really moved very much,” said Ahmad.
“But we have made some progress… if you look at the institutions that we have been supporting from the Integrity Commission, to MOCA (Major Organised Crime and
Anti-corruption Agency ), to the FID (Financial Investigations Division), and the work we have been doing with the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) as well as the courts.
“These institutions are stronger and I think we are seeing more instances where people are being investigated, the returns of all public officials are being checked more thoroughly… there have been some high-level ministerial casualties and prosecutions taking place,” added Ahmad.
He declared that the number of murders being recorded in Jamaica — which stood at 764 on Thursday, a six per cent increase over the 723 recorded for the same period last year — remains too high.
“I think we need to do a lot more, and I think a lot of the focus has to be the mix between the hard-edge security response from the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) and the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force), complementing that with social intervention.
“The conversations I have had with Minister of National Security [Dr Horace] Chang indicate that we are in agreement that we need to look at communities and individuals as if they were cases and how all the elements of government agencies come together to address those needs,” Ahmad said.
The high commissioner, whose tour of duty ends next month, told the Sunday Observer that some of the necessary interventions to fight crime are lacking at the moment and he is convinced that the Government, and politicians from both sides, need to do more collaborative work to tackle crime.
“There needs to be a greater consensus. Some of that was achieved but more needs to be done,” stated Ahmad.
“I draw the example of how you came together as a country to get out of the IMF programme and the way in which the matter was taken right down to the community level and everybody bought into it. I think there needs to be a similar process on crime,” added Ahmad as he warned that the true potential of Jamaica is being hindered by the level of homicides.
Ahmad noted that the British
Government has gone through a process of reviewing its aid programme global with a temporary reduction from £14 billion to £10 billion in its assistance programmes and this has led to some adjustments in the level of aid to countries including Jamaica.
“The element that is still fully undecided, in terms of what we are going to do, is our new intervention on violence prevention in Jamaica. Even as we speak today (Thursday) our Foreign Secretary [Dominic Raab] held a meeting in London… to talk specifically about this whole spate of violence and crime in Jamaica, among a couple of other countries.
“So the interest is there, it is a question of how we can complement what is being done here in Jamaica,” added Ahmad.
He noted that there are other interventions from the British in tackling crime in Jamaica including those of the Prince of Wales inspired, The Prince’s Foundation, to do community level programmes locally.
“So the appetite is there but we need to work with a stronger political architecture and a greater inter-agency at the ministerial level that really bears down on this problem on a national basis,” said Ahmad.