‘Together we can make Jamaica safe, secure and healthy’ – PM

Prime Minister Andrew Holness New Year’s Message

We happily welcome the clear vision of 2020, embracing this New Year for all; the potential and promise it holds and we give God thanks for sparing our lives to see yet another decade. We remember those who left us last year, like our former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, and many other of our loved ones, heroes and benefactors.

We give God thanks for their lives and stand on their contribution to overcome the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities of the New Year.

It pains my heart that many of our brothers and sisters, and our children were deprived of seeing 2020 due to violence. This is a social epidemic and requires national consensus around the use of emergency powers to bring the disease under control.

My Government is committed to bringing the murder rate down. The target set in the Social Partnership approximates the regional average of 16 murders per hundred thousand of population within the near term.

Unfortunately, there are those among us that appear to accept the high level of crime and violence as normal. Political disunity and gamesmanship over crime fighting and national security policy have real effects on our lives. Lack of support from the Opposition resulted in a break in the states of public emergency (SOEs) for the first four months of 2019, and an unusual spike in homicides in November, meant that we ended 2019 approximately 3.4 per cent higher in homicides than 2018 when we saw a record decline of 22 per cent.

While the SOEs have been very effective when and where we have been able to use them, we have used the space they create to build the capacity of our national security apparatus to respond to the current level of crime and violence in the society.

This fiscal year will see the largest allocation of JA$5.28 billion to equip the police force with cutting-edge technology to enhance their ability to detect, record, respond and prevent crimes in the society. This year, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will receive the first set of purpose-built police cars fitted with tracking devices and onboard computers.

The JCF’s radio and communication system is being improved, the long talked about electronic station diary will start implementation, and police stations right across Jamaica are being refurbished, or built a new.

SEEING THE IMPACT

Several administrative and operational improvements are being undertaken internally, greater emphasis and resources are being targeted at the investigative and intelligence capacity of the Force.

While these transformational actions are not yet mature, already we are seeing the impact on the number and quality of cases being brought before the court to secure convictions.

The police have over 13 major gang cases in various stages to come before the courts. Using the space created by the SOEs, the JCF and Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) continue the long, hard and tedious work of intelligence gathering and investigations as they build cases and make arrests using regular police powers and conventional methods.

Your Government recognises the importance of social intervention in breaking the cycle of violence and crime, particularly at the community level, and we intend to spend significantly on intervening in some of the social conditions underpinning crime and violence.

After more than 20 years of experience with social intervention programmes, the lesson learnt is that such interventions have to occur in parallel and coordinated with security intervention. The Zones of Special Operations were designed to provide a security environment within which social intervention could be maximised.

The Mount Salem and Denham Town pilot zones have been a success and this year we will have resources in place to declare other areas as Zones of Special Operations. Ultimately, we will take back Jamaica from the criminals, community by community.

Jamaica’s high homicide rate did not happen overnight. In the decade of the 80s, 4,870 murders were committed in Jamaica. By the decade of the 90s, this increased to 7,621 murders; and by the decade of the 2000s, even with the formation of various special squads and units, murders skyrocketed to 13,418. This past decade, 2010 to 2019 has seen a reduction in murders to 12,698.

CRIME OUT OF CONTROL

The level of crime we are now experiencing is over and above the capacity of our existing security apparatus to manage. While the crime and murder numbers have grown over the past four decades:

* Successive governments have not increased the national security budget apace.

* Or kept abreast with technology.

*Or increased the number of investigators and other critical capabilities commensurately.

* Or effectively controlled corrupt activity in the force.

It is only in this last decade that any serious policy and legislative reforms have been undertaken and certainly within this term that serious budgetary, manpower and technological upgrades have been made.

All Jamaicans should take hope that with sound policy, programmes and plans we can reduce murders, but it will take a long-term, concerted and united commitment to stick with the plan.

I am confident in our plan to secure Jamaica. For the first time Jamaica is engaged in building a national security architecture fit for the times, that will not only deal with domestic threats, but will also deal effectively with our air and maritime space and borders, in addition to securing our cyber domain, which is becoming more important as the world becomes digital.

All of this cannot be done overnight or even in two years. It takes a year and a half to procure equipment, at least two years in some cases to draft and pass legislation, several years to train up a seasoned investigator and other skilled law enforcement operators. Much of this is now being done behind the scenes, and we will be intensifying our efforts to bring these reforms and investments more quickly to fruition to save more lives.

DISORDER A NATIONAL CONCERN

The disorder on our roads and in public spaces is now a national concern. Billions have been invested in improving our road infrastructure, which will improve connectivity, efficiency and comfort, but some among us are determined to breach all the rules of the road, disregard other road users and purvey carnage and chaos on our streets.

Aside from a general socio-emotional improvement in our respect for law and order which comes from our education system and how we bring up our children, increasing the detection of violations, increasing enforcement, and securing swift convictions through the courts must be the area of focus for government policy.

The JCF has already established the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch which is still in its infancy but has been impactful. To complement their work, the government has decided to invest heavily in traffic management and traffic violation detection technology, and this year the traffic ticketing system and the enabling regulations for the new Road Traffic Act should be complete. Many more traffic offenders will be caught and ticketed and there will be no more amnesty for the foreseeable future!

Ultimately, however, enforcement and technology have limits; whether in crime fighting or traffic enforcement. Our lasting peace and abiding order depend on how responsibly we act individually and as a people. We will never be able to have cameras and traffic police on every road to arrest every driver who decides to overtake a line of traffic in rush hour or speed dangerously on local road.

However, if you decide to slow down and drive according to the rules of the road and wear your helmet, we can bring down the crashes for 2020. The life you save could be your own!

We will never know where all the illegal guns are hidden, but someone knows and is afraid to speak. One day those guns could turn on you or your loved ones. Every Jamaican has a personal responsibility to obey the law, behave in an orderly manner and share information about the guns and criminals with the appropriate authorities or call Crime Stop. This can help to bring down the homicide rate. Again, the life you save could be your own.

INVESTMENT IN HEALTH

Like our security infrastructure, there have been many decades of under investment in our health infrastructure. I have toured some of our hospitals and clinics and seen first-hand the discomfort of patients and the strain on staff, particularly when there is an upsurge in illnesses, as is the case with dengue.

The government is now steadily increasing investments in our health infrastructure to better serve patients with over $10 billion of investments planned for health facilities and over $3 billion dedicated to rebuilding the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

We have spent approximately $2 billion on dengue control through environmental clean-up programmes in communities, and various public health interventions, including purchasing 40 new pickups which will be deployed island-wide to conduct more regular fogging.

However, like security, our health requires our personal responsibility and action.

Dengue is transmitted by a mosquito that breeds in our domestic surroundings. While the government has increased the collection of bulky waste that breeds the mosquito, only you can check the flowers vase to see if it has mosquito larvae in it. Only you can bore holes in the containers you discard around your house; the government cannot come inside you house everyday to see to it that water you store is covered.

We can give you the information, but you have to act and take responsibility.

In 2020, I encourage all Jamaicans to take personal responsibility for your health and security and fulfil your role as good citizens by cooperating with the authorities to eradicate the pests that threaten your lives.

Let us know if you have breeding site near your home, allow the public health workers to fog your community; don’t stone them.

Likewise, tell us where the guns are, tell us what you know about the criminals and together we will make Jamaica safe, secure and healthy.

MANY GREAT THINGS

Many great things happened in 2019, which gives me great hope for 2020. Let me see how many I can cover:

FINANCE

* Lowest unemployment rate in the history of Jamaica (7.8 per cent)

* Longest period of consecutive growth in our history (19 quarters)

* Record fall in our debt to GDP ratio (93 per cent)

* Record low inflation

* Introduced special procurement incentives for medium and small enterprises

* Removed the minimum business tax

* Reduced transfer tax from five to two per cent

* $1.5 million tax break for all workers

* Successfully completed IMF programme

HEALTH

* Better cancer care through new radiation facilities

* Reduction in waiting times at Drug Serv pharmacies

SECURITY

* New helicopters

* New maritime patrol aircraft for the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF)

* New radar system

* Doubling of the national security budget

* You can now renew your passport online

* New motor cycles for the police

* Major investments in forensics and DNA

TOURISM

* Record tourism arrivals (approximately 4.5 million)

* Record US$3.8 billion in tourism earnings

* Launch of the Tourism Workers Pension Fund

TRANSPORT

* Launched the Drive Safe app

* Commissioning of two new air traffic control towers

* Implemented WiFi on buses

* Completed the pilot of LNG buses

INFRASTRUCTURE

* A record over 400 roads resurfaced and rehabilitated

* Mandela Highway, Marcus Garvey Drive, Ferris to MackField, Barbican, Hagley Park, Constant Spring Road and Three Miles roads – all almost completed

* Junction Road; South Camp Road being repaired

* South Coast Highway Improvement from Harbour View to Port Antonio and extension of the East West Highway from May Pen to Williamsfield

* Over 12 major bridges repaired or currently under construction

* Morant Bay Town Centre underway

WATER

* Over 50 water facilities rehabilitated island wide

* Major upgrades and replacements of water and sewer mains within the corporate area

* Reduced National Water Commission NWC water losses from over 60 per cent to about 40 per cent in the Corporate Area

* A record $800 million investment in rural water which

* Brought water to thousands of Jamaicans who never had it in parishes, including Clarendon, St Elizabeth and St. Mary

HOUSING

* A record over 27,000 new housing starts between the National Housing Trust (NHT) and the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

* 16 new fire units

* 43 new garbage trucks

* Successfully completed the tyre removal pilot project from Riverton City and will shortly roll out the full project

* Paid off the $9 billion streetlights debt to Jamaica Public Service (JPS)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

* Free WiFi hotspots across major towns

* Wigton IPO – over 30,000 Jamaicans participated

* Commissioned the largest solar plant in the Caribbean

* New 194-mega watt JPS LNG plant in Old Harbour now commissioned

ENVIRONMENT

* Banned single use plastic bags

* We have started planting three million trees

* This month, we will be banning the use of styrofoam

* Jamaica is a leader in the global fight against climate change

* Seven per cent of Jamaica to be protected as part of the Cockpit Country

EDUCATION

* Improved school feeding from three to five days

* Comprehensively increased the suite of benefits under PATH Increased Maintenance Grant for secondary level schools

* 269 school canteens upgraded

* Successful launch of Primary Exit Profile (PEP)

* Certified over 100 early childhood institutions

LABOUR AND SOCIAL SECURITY

* Increased minimum wage

* Increased NIS benefits to pensioners

* Significant increase in overseas employment figures

CULTURE, GENDER AND ENTERTAINMENT

* Three shelters being prepared for abused women

* Sexual Harassment Bill tabled

* First Entertainment Zone being renovated

* Reggae Inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List

* Blue and John Crow Mountains now world heritage sites

PORT

* Expansion of the Port of Kingston

* New cruise shipping terminal at Port Royal

* Redevelopment of Port Royal has begun

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

* Merger of HEART Trust, JFLL, NYS and the Apprenticeship Board to create a comprehensive and effective human capital development agency, the HEART Trust National Service and Training Agency.

* Over 25,000 young people trained through HOPE

* Over 3,000 trained through Jamaica National Service Corps under the JDF

And you get the picture...

 

So much done and so much more to do in 2020.

Jamaicans at home and abroad, a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!

 

- Andrew Holness is the Prime Minister of Jamaica and Member of Parliament for West Central St Andrew. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com