Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE MONTEGO Bay business community has cited a need for additional police personnel as a crucial element in fighting crime in St. James.
President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Winston Dear, expressed shock at St. James' spiralling crime rate, for which he said that robberies and murders were on the increase.
At least 106 murders were committed in the parish last year, compared to 83 homicides in 2002, which was then said to be a record number.
"We are very disturbed that crime rate in Montego Bay has reached the level that it has this can't be good for the tourism environment," said Mr. Dear. "I'm afraid that the only way we can deal with it is to bring more officers to Montego Bay to try and get hold of the situation. It would appear that the local constabulary force is under-manned to be able to cope with the level of criminal activity that we have."
The Chamber's request for additional manpower could be met soon as Police Commissioner Francis Forbes announced in December that he has plans to deploy between 30 and 40 more policemen to the second city as part of an anti-crime initiative.
Mr. Dear explained that while he did not have the crime statistics readily available during the interview, the problem had to be fought in different areas, namely the drug trade, unemployment and education.
"In the long term we have got to deal with the whole drug trade and I believe it is the root of our problem," he asserted "The other one is unemployment and it is a proven fact that this is directly related to criminal activity. We have to get the young people trained to meet the 21st century, virtually if you can't operate a computer now you are illiterate."
THINGS SHOULD IMPROVE
Mr. Dear noted that with arrivals up and this winter tourist season projected to be "the best ever", things should improve in the parish.
"More people will get more employment and there will be more business opportunities for craft vendors and if that holds we can certainly see crime reducing," he contended.
He noted that a meeting would be convened with the hierarchy of the St. James Police Division in an effort to see how best the problems can be addressed.
"The first thing is to let Superintendent (Newton) Amos, Commanding Officer for St. James give us a handle on the situation and the help that is needed in terms of crime-fighting equipment," he concluded. "We are not promising that we are going to finance it but to see how best we can assist them."
Senior police personnel from the parish could not be reached for comment yesterday.
