Gov't celebrates work to get murders below 700

 

State Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator Abka Fitz-Henley says deliberate policymaking and effective partnership between the government and the security forces have put Jamaica on track to record the lowest murder rate in a calendar year in over 30 years. 

 

Jamaica is on track to record below 700 murders this year. 

 

Up to December 13, the country recorded 638 murders, compared to 1,118 during the similar period last year. 

 

Senator Fitz-Henley says while the number of murders for the size of the population is too high, huge strides have been made by the Andrew Holness led administration in suppressing murders. 

 

"I think we can all agree that over 600 murders in a country as small as Jamaica, population wise, is too many. However, we have to note where we are coming from. When the Holness administration came to office in 2016, rightfully there was an outcry about violent crime. Dr. Holness got to work, tabled Plan Secure Jamaica in the Parliament in 2017-2018 budget, and there's no coincidence that we are now seeing a massive reduction in murders," he touted.

 

He said strategies such as the improvement in the intelligence capabilities of the security forces and unprecedented investment in border protection and technology at Jamaica Customs are bearing fruit. 

 

"Genuine and sustained investment in the Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Defence Force, along with the suite of legislation passed, have all played a major part in the decline in murders, and I am of the view that the decline is not only evidence of good policymaking, but of a transformed Jamaica Constabulary Force. And of course we have to congratulate the men and women of the JCF and the JDF, even as we commit to working hard to ensure that there is continuity," he declared.