LESSONS FROM ZOSO MOUNT SALEM

Despite not catching many criminals and gang members, nor finding many guns, most persons would deem the incursion by the Joint Command and Joint Force into Mount Salem fairly successful. This is because crime in general and murders in particular were reduced in the area and law abiding persons in the community felt safer.

This demonstrates that crime can be reduced and so can the opportunity for crime be reduced by having strong security measures in place in communities. The government plans on rolling this out to 19 other hot spots throughout the country. Hopefully, similar success will be reaped in those communities. (Currently ZOSO is being implemented in Denham Town and an extension in Mount Salem has been announced).

The problem is, assuming that the security forces need to be in each zone for 3 months, it would take almost 5 years to hit 19 hot spots at least once. This also assumes that communities are zoned one at a time. Since the main benefit of the first ZOSO has been to reduce the opportunity for crime and not catch the criminals, obviously the criminals are still out there and will strike again when the pressure is off. Therefore, the effort will not have meaningful long term impact on reducing crime overall in Jamaica.

As I have said in previous articles, investors and tourists will not come to Jamaica until they feel safe and this will not happen until the rate of murders are reduced to very low levels.

A COMPREHENSIVE CRIME PLAN IS NECESSARY

This cannot be achieved with just the ZOSO, much more needs to be done. We still need a Comprehensive Crime Plan. Maybe, the initial limited success of ZOSO has shown people that the authorities can make plans that have a positive effect. We need to build on this success by producing a comprehensive plan.

For me, my biggest hope came from the success of the Economic Reform Plan. This was a major achievement in a country of "nine day" wonders, where successive governments fail to follow through on anything. The Economic Reform Plan started with the PNP administration and the JLP administration has kept the country on track. This is major! So, we can make critical plans that transcend politics.

BI-PARTISAN APPROACH

Prime Minister Holness needs to bring the PNP into the planning process. If it is bi-partisan it will be easier to get buy in from all the stake holders. It is also critical that the plan can be extended into the next administration, whoever that will be.

I also realise that while the implementation of plan itself will cost Billions of dollars, and this will be daunting to many, just the preparation of the plan itself will cost Millions. I am sure that this will be a sore point for many who will say that it is a waste of time and will resist the notion of funding the development of such a plan.

I have no idea what the plan will cost to prepare, but let us just throw out a number of say $50 Million. That’s just US$385,000, it maybe more. The government will have to find it through a combination of its own resources, along with funding from the international community and importantly the local business community.

LET’S MAKE A COMMITTMENT

I commit to contributing $2.5 Million towards the preparation of the plan! I call on other business leaders, companies and professional groups from all sectors to contribute. Perhaps some of this funding could be deducted from what they would spend on political contributions!