Meadows: We need the enhanced security measures legislation now

WESTERN BUREAU:

IN THE aftermath of Monday night’s brutal gun slaying of four people in Duanvale, Trelawny, People’s National Party [PNP] caretaker for the Trelawny Northern constituency, Dennis Meadows, is appealing to the Government for definite enhanced security measures to put a check on crime and violence in Jamaica.

Meadows made the call on Tuesday while visiting residents of Duanvale, who hours earlier awoke to news that 51-year-old Cordel Graham and his 43-year-old common-law wife, Nicole White, both of Duanvale, as well as Graham’s 27-year-old cousin, Akeem Robinson, and his 21-year-old girlfriend, Amelia Livingston, both of Kinloss addresses, had been gunned down the previous night.

“This is another demonstration, in my view, of the pervasive murders that have plagued this country without any apparent solution in sight, and it’s not just the killings, it’s the serious and heinous nature of these killings. This speaks to the issue of the much-promised enhanced security measures, in terms of legislation, that was promised by the Government and is yet to be realised,” said Meadows.

He was referencing the proposed Enhanced Security Measures Act, which Governor General Sir Patrick Allen had said in his 2019 Throne Speech would be developed and tabled during the 2019-2020 financial year. Last year, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the act would soon be tabled in Parliament, though a timeline was not given.

“Only recently, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce’s Crime Management Committee raised the concern of the tardiness on the part of the Government to implement and legislate these much-promised enhanced security measures, because to treat with these kinds [of crimes] needs special security measures, and it is not through states of emergency. It needs legislative measures that send a signal to those who are so minded to kill with impunity, to take a second guess,” Meadows stressed.

“Our policies must be moved more towards preventing these heinous acts of murder, and you can only achieve that through legislative measures. I think that full time has come now for the Government to act in this regard and put flesh to their own promises and words, in terms of the enhanced security measures,” he added.

In recent years, the Government has been criticised for using states of emergency as a means of policing crime hotspots across Jamaica, instead of bringing forward a tangible and structured crime plan to respond to criminal activities, including violent crimes such as murder.

Up to September 30 this year, the St James Police Division has recorded the highest number of murders with 162 killings, followed by Westmoreland with 119, and St Catherine North with 117.

Meanwhile, Trelawny Northern Member of Parliament Tova Hamilton voiced frustration at the level of violence that is enveloping her constituency.

“I am particularly frustrated that Trelawny Northern is being affected by the violence that is plaguing us as a country. We cannot keep losing our people to senseless violence, [and] I am tired of it. We also cannot continue to simply play the blame-game with crime,” she said.

“We are always very strident in advocating for our rights and freedoms, but for some reason we ignore the part where we take responsibility for our actions. Guns by themselves don’t kill people; people kill people,” Hamilton added. “I know there are still those among us who don’t think we are at crisis levels. But I believe we are on a precipice, and if we continue on this trajectory of escalating violence, we risk spiralling into a place from which recovery may be impossible.”