KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Opposition spokesman on National Security, Peter Bunting, is calling on Prime Minister Andrew Holness to immediately convene a high-level stakeholders’ summit of policymakers, the security forces, the private sector, and civil society to craft an emergency response to address the plight of citizens in St James, and western Jamaica.

In a news release Friday, Bunting said citizens in St James and western Jamaica are trapped in a cycle of lethal violence and the goal would be to understand the complex issues contributing to the current wave of violence and develop short-, medium-, and longer-term responses.

He said adequate funding must be provided to the security forces to enable them to sustain saturation level patrols in all affected areas.

“The St James Police Division is this year responsible for 20 per cent of all murders in Jamaica and yet has less than five per cent of police resources allocated there,” he noted.

He further stated that with a murder rate fast approaching 140 per 100,000 this year, St James has a higher murder rate than any country in the world.

“The Unite for Change initiative recognised that violence behaves like an epidemic – sharing the same characteristics of clustering, spread and transmission. Those who are consistently exposed to violence, especially children, are more likely to engage in violence.What is manifesting currently in St James communities are distorted social norms where a permissive environment condones criminal behaviours, such as lottery scamming, and also encourages violent responses to minor disagreements,” he went on.

He said that having participated in a “Peace Day” event in Montego Bay organised by the Peace Management Initiative West earlier this week, he commented on the resignation and seeming acceptance of the status quo by the citizens, as evidenced by the modest support of the event even in the midst of a wave of murders and shootings.

“It is based on this growing sense of fear and paralysis of those affected, and relative indifference by others not directly affected, that I believe a paradigm shift in approach is required,” Bunting pointed out.

“The Government has ultimate responsibility for the safety and security of citizens. However, the Opposition is willing to participate in a process, along with other stakeholders, to determine an appropriate set of actions that will contain and reverse this threat primarily to the peace and safety of our citizens, and eventually to the viability of the economy of our tourism and BPO capita,” he said.