In a matter of hours Jamaicans will hear how the Government intends to tackle the country’s crippling crime problem.
The long-awaited crime plan will be unveiled Tuesday afternoon by Prime Minister Bruce Golding in an address to Parliament.
An announcement was expected last week but had to be postponed at the last minute as the Prime Minister said he needed more time to hold discussions with the Parliamentary Opposition and human rights groups.
With more than 800 persons murdered since January, Mr. Golding has warned that extraordinary measures are coming to deal with the crime scourge.
The Prime Minister is expected to, among other things, announce longer detention periods for criminal suspects.
Measures to monitor the movement of criminals are also expected.
Crime plan to dominate bi-partisan talks
Image Crime will be the focus of another round of Vale Royal talks scheduled for Tuesday morning with the country’s two political leaders.
Prime Minister Golding will use the meeting to present Opposition Leader Portia Simpson-Miller with the details of the completed crime plan.
Mrs. Simpson-Miller has stated that she will give full support to anti-crime measures on condition that the rights of law-abiding citizens are protected.
Spokesman for the Government team which will attend Tuesday morning’s meeting Karl Samuda said the talks are scheduled to begin at 8.30am.
During Vale Royal talks held last month, the issue of crime particularly the witness protection programme was discussed.
The Opposition gave its commitment to support measures necessary to strengthen the Police Force and agreed to discussions regarding implementation.
Crime plan concerns human rights groups
Meanwhile, human rights groups which have been given a sneak preview of the crime plan continue to complain about some of the measures to be announced Tuesday afternoon.
They claim aspects of the plan need revision as they are geared toward punishment rather than prevention.
Human rights activist Yvonne McCalla-Sobers on Monday voiced her objection in an open letter to the Prime Minister.
Speaking on RJR’s daily current affair discussion programme Beyond the Headlines on Monday evening, she said her main concern was a proposal for the extension of time for which suspects may be detained by the police.
Mrs. McCalla- Sobers contends that what is needed is the proper investigation of crimes.
“We need to focus not on taking away people’s liberties but on investigating so that we target offenders. I think it is well known that a deterrent to crime is the high likelihood that the offender will be caught and punished,” she said.
source: radiojamaica.com