Crime consensus under threat?

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has not attended any of the six meetings held this year by the Crime Monitoring Oversight Committee (CMOC), which has been mandated to set goals aimed at mitigating crime and report to the public on the progress.

The independent committee – which comprises non-partisan stakeholders from the private sector, church, civil society, academia, and the political directorate – was established in 2020 amid a worrying level of crime, especially murders, to help transform the country into a safe, secure, investment-friendly and just society by addressing crime, violence and corruption.

Attendance records obtained by The Sunday Gleaner have shown that while Chang has missed all meetings since January, his opposition counterpart, Peter Bunting, has attended two of the six sessions.

Asked by The Sunday Gleaner about his no-show, Chang said his absence was deliberate.

“CMOC was put together pre-election 2020,” he said, referencing the September general election of that year. “It was designed to avoid any divisiveness on policy going into the campaign and it did that, including an agreement that we could use [the] state of public emergency if violence … exceeded 32 per 100,000 and that was just one of the issues. The primary issue was to prevent any serious division going into an election campaign between the political parties and that happened. Now, we have to look at where we go from here,” Chang explained.

Jamaica is among the three most murderous countries in the Americas, ranging annually between 40 and 60 killings per 100,000 population.

Up to July 16 this year, 805 people had been reported murdered – a two per cent year-on-year increase or 19 more homicides than seen in the corresponding period in 2021.

NO VALUE

Asked if his non-attendance was a Cabinet decision, Chang said: “No. We had gone beyond what it was set for. The meetings are being held by CMOC … [but] there was no value for me to go there at this point.”

The national security minister said, however, that Prime Minister Andrew Holness was aware of his decision.

Chang told The Sunday Gleaner that last month, he spoke with CMOC Chairman Lloyd Distant and a meeting was proposed between them. A date has not yet been scheduled for the meeting, which Chang indicated would also include members of the ministry’s leadership team.

“CMOC, as it is now, has done its job,” the national security minister said. “It has a role. It has people on it and we have a structure [that we] can work with, but we have not discussed the way forward at all. So, it is not a rejection of the concept or anything. ... Their original concept was settled and that was achieved. What we do [now], I think, has to be discussed. They’ve adopted their own policy. We have to discuss whether we can work with that,” Chang reiterated.

Distant told The Sunday Gleaner that CMOC’s terms of reference was broader than just achieving unity going into the 2020 general election.

“It was to have a credible programme of initiatives and buy-in from all stakeholders, not as narrow as just being for the election. That was just one benefit. Certainly, that was not the purpose,” said the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce president.

“The view was always that we would have a sustainable programme. There was no time limit. Some of the deliverables in the agreement go into 2024,” he continued.

CMOC’s terms of reference shows deliverables with completion dates of up to the fourth quarter of 2022 and notes that the “the term of the CMOC member entities is four years renewable for further three-year terms”.

Members also committed to “actively participate in … the delivery of several key legislative reform”, according to the national consensus on crime.

A new Jamaica Constabulary Force Act and the strengthening of the Proceeds of Crime Act are among deliverables for late 2022.

UNAWARE OF REASON

Distant said he was unaware of the reason behind Chang’s absence at CMOC meetings.

“He never communicated that policy position. I asked about his attendance and he said let’s have that meeting. I thought that meeting would have taken place before the last monthly meeting in July. It has not happened as yet, [but] he agreed with the urgency and importance of having the meeting,” said Distant.

The national consensus on crime was signed by Holness, then Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips and representatives of 12 other stakeholder groups on August 3, 2020 – a month before the election.

“CMOC was intended to be there for the long haul,” Distant insisted.

“The view is that we are not going to solve Jamaica’s crime problem in two or three years … . There are fundamental things that will need time to be implemented,” added the chairman, who pointed out that CMOC and the stakeholders have agreed to have another look at the deliverables.

CMOC has had 20 meetings since it was established. Between August 2020 and December 2021, Chang attended seven of 14 meetings, while Bunting, who was appointed to the committee after its first four meetings, attended six out of a possible 10 over the period.

“While we have not seen the consistent attendance or participation from Minister Chang, the opposition spokesperson has been consistently engaged. He has reached out to us to follow up on matters,” Distant said.

The Sunday Gleaner was unable to reach Bunting for a comment. However, Nekeisha Burchell, director of marketing communications in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, said, “There are meetings where his participation was not required by the chairman, so looking at his attendance is not a fair measure of the value he brings to the committee.”

“This snapshot without the context and workings of the committee is not a true or fair measure. Additionally, the Opposition has a second appointee on CMOC. Both work to ensure that there is quality representation from the Opposition,” said Burchell, who is also the deputy general secretary of the opposition People’s National Party.

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com