PNP says Central Kingston needs crime plan

Member of Parliament for Kingston Central, Ronald Thwaites and the People’s National Party’s (PNP) candidate for the constituency, Imani Duncan-Price, are insisting that an atmosphere of peace and law and order will only be achieved through genuine collective community effort.

They contend that although the States of Emergency are being declared in many places, the sad reality is that the unrelenting murder rate confirms the urgent need for an effective national crime plan.

They are reacting to yesterday’s declaration of a state of emergency in the Kingston Western and Kingston Central Police divisions by Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

According to the Prime Minister, the current state of crime in the divisions can spiral to “chaotic ends”.

READ: State Of Emergency declared in Kingston Western and Central Police divisions

Without a crime plan, hard policing alone in Central Kingston, will not bring peace, Duncan-Price explained.

“As Dr Peter Phillips and the PNP have repeatedly said, we need a real crime-fighting plan that incorporates urban renewal, jobs, land reform, improved educational opportunities and long-lasting social interventions etc.”

In Photo: Member of Parliament for Kingston Central, Ronald Thwaites.

Thwaites and Duncan-Price are contending that there have been several other initiatives across the constituency to address crime and violence, and these have shown positive results.

She explained that she had organised with several local businesses and fundraised $1 million for the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) to do intense work on the ground with all relevant groups from December - January after the last spike in murders in November 2019.

“The effort saw a reduction in the number of murders in the area. But such efforts need consistent funding from the government, not to be defunded as is happening now with  PMI,” Duncan-Price said.

She said towards that, a multi-stakeholder meeting involving the police and PMI representatives, businesspersons, principals of schools in the constituency, chairpersons from Community Development Councils was held only last Thursday to address troubling concerns in some communities.

“In the meeting, the police indicated unequivocally that the current spike in murders was not political. We all agreed that all residents deserve real, sustained peace so the communities can thrive,” Duncan-Price said.

Meanwhile, Thwaites and Duncan Price also expressed condolences to the families who have lost loved ones in the ongoing violence in the communities and offered prayers, especially for the young children who will have to grow up fatherless or motherless.

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