Gov’t must address crime wave – Opposition
Published:Monday | February 1, 2021 | 9:21 AM
The Opposition says it is extremely disappointed by the silence of Prime Minister Andrew Holness in the midst of the crime wave roiling the country for the last two weeks.
It describes as brutal yesterday’s murder of Andrea Lowe-Garwood while she attended church in Trelawny.
READ: Woman gunned down in church was receiving death threats from late husband’s relatives
It says this is the latest disturbing incident in a bloody two weeks which included:
• 24 persons murdered in one weekend
• 113 persons murdered so far in January 2021
• Four homeless persons savagely hacked to death, and two others severely injured, while a curfew was in force in the capital city. One of the injured men later succumbed.
• Virtually open warfare occurring in the streets of Kingston and Southern St Andrew over the last week as gunmen roam the streets unimpeded.
• A narcotics trafficking plane crash lands in Rocky Point, Clarendon and its pilots and cargo disappear without a trace.
Opposition Spokesperson on National Security Peter Bunting says Holness must state what lawful measures are being taken to address the current crime wave so that citizens can be reassured of some modicum of safety, even if they cannot sleep with their windows and doors open.
“The Prime Minister came to office on a promise to fix the crime problem and must therefore be held to account for the non-performance of his administration in this area,” said Bunting in a statement.
Despite the recent spate of violent crimes, January 2021 represents the same average number of murders as the typical month during the previous two years with States of Emergency in place, Bunting asserted.
He charged that this telling statistic, combined with the fact that Jamaica now has the highest homicide rate in the entire Latin America and the Caribbean region, provides evidence that the serial and routine use of SOEs as a crime fighting measure has been a failure - in addition to being unconstitutional.
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