Bartlett calls for prayers for Chang

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett is urging Jamaicans to pray for National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang as he continues to grapple with the country's high murder rate and an increase in antisocial behaviours.

Bartlett was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for The Vista Montego Bay complex, in St James, where Chang had also been scheduled to speak.

However, Chang had to miss the event due to pressing matters in the crime portfolio.

"He carries the difficult job, doing the things that is hard for us to even contemplate...but I want us to pray for Dr Chang in his work, because he has a difficult, difficult job of all of us as minister," Bartlett stated.

He noted that the confidence now being seen in business is being “deeply undermined by the antisocial behaviour of our people”.

“It's not an easy call for a tourism minister to market a destination with these issues. It's not an easy call for an investment minister to bring investment in with the issues,” he said.

Bartlett said the country cannot rely on an individual or government to fix the problems.

He urged all Jamaicans to do their part in stemming the levels of anti-social behaviours in the country.

"It is our responsibility brothers and sisters all to stem this tide of lawlessness and insecurity and crime and instability that is facing us," he added.

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