‘Jamaica is bleeding’
Phillips urges national thrust to craft solutions to crime
WITH CRIME soaring to “intolerable and unacceptably high levels”, Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips has urged the Government to lead a national effort in developing an effective plan to stop the bloodletting in Jamaica.
Addressing journalists at a press conference yesterday, Phillips said the Opposition was not seeking a conversation between the People’s National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party alone to tackle the spiralling murder rate.
National Security Minister Robert Montague had invited his opposition counterpart, Peter Bunting, to have dialogue with him on crime.
However, Phillips contended that what was needed is the input of other critical stakeholders such as security experts from local universities, trade unions, Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, Peace Management Initiative, and other nongovernmental organisations.
SERIOUS DIRECTION NEEDED
He said the country was bleeding and Jamaicans could not endure this crisis any longer without some serious direction given as to the way forward.
“It is not enough to say that this is a matter of criminals killing criminals. Too much grief is being caused among Jamaican families, too much insecurity is being spread among people in communities and this level of violence threatens the reputation of the country internationally, breeds a general sense of lawlessness, and deters investment and imperils critical sectors like tourism,” Phillips declared.