Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter

Children deserve clean, safe environs in which to play and live. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

With the furore surrounding the arrest of former State Minister in the Ministry of Technology Energy and Commerce Kern Spencer in relation to the Cuban light bulb project, most did not seem to notice that there were no reported murders in the island last Monday.

According to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) there were no reported murders on Monday the 25th of February. This is the first time for the year that there have been no reported murders in a day, after at least one Jamaican was killed everyday in the month of January.

This is also the first time since the 6th of November 2007 that an entire day passed without a life taken. In total there were six days last year when no Jamaican was reported murdered. The other days were the 10th, 17th and 21st of January, the 17th of March, and the 28th of June.

According to police statistics 137 persons were killed in the 31 days in January this year. With two months already elapsed since the start of the year The Gleaner understands that over 210 persons have been killed.

The brief respite in murders on Monday lasted for another 22 and a half hours according to the CCN on Tuesday. It was however ended when Marlon Mosley, 28, of Wiltons district in St Elizabeth was shot dead at a bar by armed hoodlums at 10:30 p.m.

Message of hope

The day however was welcomed by Bishop Dr Delford Davis pastor of the Power of Faith in Portmore, St Catherine who was thankful to God.

"First of all, it is a good sign and step in the right direction. The fact that there are many concerned persons doing all they can to reduce crime, one day, given the history of Jamaica is significant," he told The Gleaner.

Dr Davis at the start of the year had prophesied that there would be an abatement in crime and murders.

"We are going to see a more peaceful society, we are going to see people become more tolerant of each other; neighbourliness is going to return to a greater dimension," he had said on January 2.

When contacted the Minister of National Security declined to give a comment.

Opposition Spokesman on National Security Peter Phillips also welcomed the break but added that sustenance of a downward trend was essential.

"It is important that the recent trend downwards be sustained and it is going to involve a whole series of measures." These he said include dthe bridging of the trust between the society and the police, additional legislation to fight crime, and social intervention programmes in violence prone communities.

President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Chris Zacca was however less enthusiastic about the revelation and was brief in his comments.

"It is a sad state of affairs when we have to report that there was no crime in one day, and crime remains the number one priority of the business community," he told The Gleaner.

"We are going to see a more peaceful society; we are going to see people become more tolerant of each other; neighbourliness is going to return to a greater dimension."

- Bishop Dr Delford Davis