Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter

Mi Amor! Sir Kenneth Hall, Jamaica's governor general, shows Mia Mottley, leader of the Barbados Labour Party, some amor (incidentally her middle name) at the PALS fund-raising dinner at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Saturday night. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

MIA MOTTLEY, Barbados' opposition leader, has called for transnational dialogue to be part of the Caribbean's strategy to fight crime and violence.

"There must be a conversation that has to take place throughout the region and the conversation must take place community by community, group by group," she said.

Mottley was the guest speaker at a fund-raising dinner for the cash-strapped anti-violence lobby PALS, which was held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Saturday night.

Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall, Lady Hall and Senator Arthur Williams, the state minister in the Ministry of National Security, were in attendance and seemed captivated as the Barbados Labour Party leader spoke.

Dialogue for development

While applauding the move by Caribbean leaders to have a special security summit, which ended on Saturday in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, Mottley said that dialogue was as critical to regional development as an aggressive law enforcement policy.

"We have to go and not talk to, but talk with, people so that we understand what are those few things that matter to us at the end of the day," Mottley said.

"That conversation must lead to a definable commitment. A commitment to what we as a people are prepared to work together to reflect as values and to do as a programme," she added.

Mottley underscored that the process of transforming societies could not be achieved overnight, nor was it the exclusive remit of political administrations. She said that the Church, families, community groups, the private sector and other civic groupings should play a more meaningful role in determining the future of the region.

She also conceded the issues were even more acute in Jamaica, because violence was marring what she described as "one of the most beautiful countries in the world".

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com