Crime and violence threatening growth and prosperity
National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang said prosperity and economic growth are under threat and could derail the ability of the Government in meeting its obligations to pay suitable wages or carry out infrastructure developments if crime and violence are not brought under control.
Chang was delivering the keynote address at Saturday’s launch of a national social services fair, aimed at rescuing at-risk youth, who are figured among gang-related activities that are responsible for the country’s high homicide figures.
“Unless we have a manageable level of criminal violence, unless there is good order and public safety, we will never have the level of growth that we wish to have as a country and provide our people with the kind of life that is required,” he said.
“We will not achieve the level of prosperity we are seeking; the kind of wealth creation required to pay our public servants well, to provide quality schools in all areas of the country, and to provide quality infrastructure everywhere,” the deputy prime minister said.
On Saturday, a 13-year-old girl was injured and three killed in a gun attack in which eight persons were shot on Warrica Drive in Norwood, St James, a community located in Chang’s St James North West constituency.
According to the St James police, the attack took place at about 10:15 a.m., when men armed with high-powered weapons entered the Norwood community and opened fire on several people who were walking on Warrica Drive.
Those killed are 26-year-old Delano Spence of Bottom Pen, Damion Minto, 22, and Lenroy Martin, 25, all of Warrica Drive.
The 13-year-old girl is among the four who were injured. It is reported that she was in her house when a stray bullet hit her.
Up to March 20 this year, according to police statistics, 320 cases of homicide have been recorded. However, when that figure is pitched against the 337 recorded in 2021 over the same period, there has been a five per cent decline, or 17 homicides.
In 2021, Jamaica was labelled as one of the most violent countries in the Caribbean with 49.4 homicides per 100,000, placing the island as having the highest homicide rate in Latin American and the Caribbean.
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