KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister of National Security Robert Montague confirmed yesterday that the Government is on track to introduce a new anti-crime initiative which will focus on unattached youths in volatile areas.

Montague said that the new programme -Learning, Earning, Giving, Saving (LEGS) – will be launched shortly by Prime Minister Andrew Holness as part of the Government’s efforts to engage the unattached youths, especially males, and will be run by the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).

The minister, who was speaking with OBSERVER ONLINE after yesterday’s swearing-in of Major General Rocky Meade as the new chief of defence staff of the JDF, noted that the programme will be combined with the current Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) to ensure a high level of social intervention financed by the government in its efforts to reduce crime and violence in the society.

He was responding to the announcement by Major General Meade that the JDF will soon be boosting recruitment, to increase its complement to meet the challenges of crime and violence, especially in western Jamaica.

Meade told the press after his swearing-in at King’s House that the recruitment could involve as many as 1,000 new soldiers, and would allow the JDF to increase its complement from a split to a full battalion permanently based  in western Jamaica, where there has been a remarkable increase in violence in recent years.

“Our job will be to support the police fully, and the problem area right now is primarily western Jamaica, a bit of West Kingston and Clarendon,” Meade said.

“We have already deployed additional troops and one of the things we will be doing is getting a full battalion out in the west. We had to split a battalion to do several duties, and so we are a bit underserved. So we are embarking on a recruiting campaign now. We will be recruiting continuously maybe 250 per quarter over the next year, so looking to have another 1,000 or more servicemen so I can put a full battalion in the west to fully support the police,” he said.

Balford Henry