Chang: Everything in MoBay has failed miserably - Security minister laments increasing violence despite social programmes
Published:Monday | September 30, 2019 | 12:00 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has acknowledged that numerous social intervention projects implemented in Montego Bay over the past two decades have failed to stem the violence plaguing St James. He warned that nothing would change until the relevant stakeholders acknowledge that failure.
“Every single social intervention medium that can be thought of, that has been done in Jamaica, has been done in Montego Bay. Every single one has been active, and the homicide rate moved from 12 per 100,000 to 182 per 100,000, so where is the success?” asked Chang, who was giving the keynote address at a peace-building symposium held by the national security ministry and the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA) at the Montego Bay Community College last Thursday.
Chang said that between 2007 and 2017, the murder rate in St James spiked from 12 homicides per 100,000 residents to 182 per 100,000, despite the work done by local social-intervention groups.
“In the years from 1997 to 2017, what’s happened consistently is that murders increased on a straight line upwards. The first time we had a significant fall that saved well over 200 Jamaican lives and stopped mayhem and slaughter on the streets of Montego Bay was the introduction of the state of emergency (SOE),” he continued.
According to Chang, who is the member of parliament for North West St James, several social-intervention initiatives have failed to stem the bloodletting across the parish.
“Everything in Montego Bay has failed and failed miserably. The churches, the Peace Management Initiative, the Citizen Security and Justice Programme and others have done a lot of good things, but have failed to effect transformation in Montego Bay, and unless we face that reality, we will not move on to make the required changes,” the national security minister said.
Last Thursday’s symposium, which was held under the theme ‘Interventions: Making a Difference Through Sharing and Collaboration’, was designed to share data and strategies that are currently being used to reduce the risk of violence through prevention strategies in St James.