A more sustained crime plan needed

WHILE I support every measure to curtail criminal activitiy in this country, including instituting states of public emergency (SOEs), I totally agree with Dr Peter Phillips when he argued that the Government needs long-term anticrime measures. The fact that after one year of SOEs, there is still a serious problem and an upsurge in crime in those very areas means that the SOE, in itself, is only a temporary fix and that we therefore need a more sustained crime plan going forward.

The declaration of a state of emergency in the three contiguous parishes of St James, Westmoreland and Hanover shows a country that is in a desperate situation to contain this monstrous crime. As citizens, we all are desperate to have it under control and must support this temporary measure at this time.

The criminal enclaves in this country need to be identified, maimed, disintegrated and uprooted. My concern, though, is, do the powers that be really want to disturb this? Because politics really thrives on the conditions that these criminal networks sometimes create. Sometimes I don’t get the feeling that there is a will to change or address crime in a meaningful way.

Temporary measures address the problem now, but what is the way forward? How do we make our efforts more sustainable and meaningful?

We can’t always rely on SOEs to do the job, so what next?

Government, get to work!

‘The criminal enclaves in this country need to be identified, maimed, disintegrated and uprooted.’