PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC):

Jamaica's Prime Minister Bruce Golding says he favours a "serious study" of the causes of crime in his country as well as Trinidad and Tobago, the two Caribbean Community (CARI-COM) states with the highest number of murders in the region.

"What I think we really ought to do, I think Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, perhaps, need to get together and do a serious study of the causes of crime because I am not sure the causes are the same in both countries," Golding told reporters.

The Jamaica prime minister, who along with his CARICOM colleagues ended a two-day special summit agreeing on a series of measures aimed at stemming crime in the region, said he would be holding talks with his Trinidadian counterpart, Patrick Manning, on the issue.

Last year, more than 1,600 Jamaicans were murdered. Nearly 400 homicides were recorded in Trinidad and Tobago in 2007.

"We need to determine what are the similarities, what are the differences and even where there are differences what are the commonalities and the approach, therefore, to take and it is something I intend to speak with Prime Minister Manning about."

Agrees with amnesty

Golding said he agreed with a report by the London-based human rights group Amnesty International that criticised the Jamaica Government for what it said was the administration's failure to protect inner-city residents trapped by the violence between armed criminal gangs and police.

The prime minister also expressed dissatisfaction with the "significant levels of corruption within the police force, which undermines the effectiveness of the police (and) hampers its ability to enlist the cooperation of the public and get information from the public".