Jamaica – PRIME Minister Bruce Golding last night called Tuesday’s failure to extend the State of PUBLIC Emergency a setback in the fight against crime but sounded a rallying cry that the battle “can be won, must be won, and will be won”.
Golding, in a address to the nation — just 24 hours after the extension failed to make it through the House of Representative — said that crime-fighting measures that were being worked on to continue the “intensive” drive to rout criminality will now have to be fast-tracked for implementation tomorrow.
“Earlier today [yesterday] I met with the High Command of the police and the military. I had previously directed them to prepare a strategic plan to enable the current intensive operations to be continued after the State of Emergency would have ended,” said Golding.
“In light of what transpired in Parliament yesterday [Tuesday], we discussed the fast-tracking of that plan which must now be put into effect on Friday,” added Golding.
Aspects of the plan will be made public today by the commissioner of police and the chief of defence staff, the prime minister said.
Meanwhile, Golding lauded the efforts of the security forces over the last two months, which he said “have had a game-changing effect”, while highlighting that much could be accomplished “when there is the will and unity of purpose”.
Said the prime minister: “We have shown that the monster of crime can be confronted and defeated,” Golding said. “The non-extension of the State of Emergency is a setback but the battle can be won, must be won and will be won.”
Efforts by the Government on Tuesday to extend the emergency measure for another month died in Gordon House after Opposition members of Parliament abstained from voting, saying that valid reasons were not presented for the extension.
The State of Emergency, limited to Kingston and St Andrew, was first called on Sunday, May 23 in response to marauding gunmen who lit fire to the Hanna Town and Darling Street police stations in their murderous bid to prevent the arrest and extradition of former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke. The State of Emergency was last month extended and expanded to St Catherine with the blessing of the People’s National Party (PNP).
But on Tuesday the PNP accused the Government of using the measure as a crime-fighting tool, saying that there was no real plan outside the State of Emergency to fighting crime, a criticism also levied by human rights groups and others opposed to the measure. The Opposition has also said that the conditions to justify an extension, as set out in the Constitution, do not exist.
Last night, as he had done previously, Golding denied the charges. He reiterated that for the first time criminal elements have been “shaken” and put on the run. Golding said the measure was an important tool in assisting with the gathering of witness statements for trial against some of those who have been detained under the State of Emergency and that their release could derail the process.
Still, Golding said that additional measures to protect witnesses and to better enable the police to lay charges and secure convictions are being implemented. “We have secured the co-operation of the courts and the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] in fast-tracking the trial of cases involving serious crimes and high-profile offenders,” he said.
He reiterated, too, that the murder rate has fallen from five killings per day to two, noting that a further extension of the State of Emergency would have disrupted the criminal network and put more criminals behind bars.
“Many of the vicious gunmen who will take your life without batting an eye are in hiding; they are not yet behind bars. Most of the guns have been hidden; they have not yet been taken away,” added Golding.
The prime minister said that additional equipment was being procured for the security forces and that the Government was working with the private sector to secure “additional vehicles within the shortest possible time”.
He added: “We must continue the battle. We cannot allow the gains that have been made over the past two months to be lost. Too much is at stake. There is a sense of relief and growing confidence that many people throughout Jamaica have felt in recent times. No matter what obstacles are placed in our way, we cannot return to a situation where people were constantly fearful and frightened.”
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