PSOJ demands action on crime

The Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) is demanding effective action on the part of the government to stem the country's alarming murder rate, which has not abated so far in 2017.

Just twenty days into 2017, figures compiled by RJR News reveal that more than 80 murders have been recorded, most of them involving the use of guns.

Dennis Chung, CEO of the PSOJ, is taking issue with the country's political leaders for having not adequately addressing the problem before it escalated.

Mr. Chung, speaking with RJR News on Thursday night, characterised the figure as alarming, attributing it to deep societal problems, most of  which he declared were within the responsibility of elected politicians.

“I want answers from the people who were elected to government the country; those are the people with the responsibility, first and foremost, and it must be supported by Parliament,” he asserted.

The crime figures so far in 2017 were “very alarming” but “not unexpected” he said, hence the need for parliamentarians, “elected to represent the people” to present solutions to the problem.

Expecting the police to solve the underlying issues driving the phenomenon of crime was unrealistic, he argued, since, according to him, the role of the police is to intervene “at the back end of it, when we’ve actually created the people (who) commit the crime.”

Preventing the crime problem, in the first place, requires institutional strengthening and ensuring “proper societal discipline,” he said.

According to Chung, the widespread practice of citizens establishing informal settlements across the island is one of the clearest manifestations of the lack of societal discipline, which is now undermining efforts at maintaining good order in the country.