ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) – Minister of National Security, Peter Bunting, has been revving up the Unite for Change campaign, particularly in the rural parishes,  in which he has been calling for a more united effort in the fight against crime.

He emphasised that the approach has to be frontal and steadfast, where the criminals will realise that there is no safe haven from which to operate.

At a recent handing over ceremony for the Ocho Rios closed circuit television surveillance system, Bunting noted that even with the most effective of strategies, the security forces cannot work in isolation.

“It will take a united effort from the citizens of this country…from communities across the island, to help in the fight against crime,” he explained.

“This will take a whole society approach. We welcome the support from the community leaders, from the families, from the church. This is something we must all tackle together as a nation. This is what Unite for Change is all about,” the minister said.

Taking the message into the western parishes over the past months, particularly St James, Trelawny, Hanover and Westmoreland, Bunting has been telling community leaders that they have to take the fight to the criminals, listing the lottery scam as the leading ill facing the region.

Launched on December 5, 2013, by the Ministry of National Security, the Unite for Change Initiative is a national movement and public awareness campaign, aimed at “empowering each citizen to take back Jamaica from the clutches of criminal elements.”

According to Bunting, it is also designed to “rekindle hope among Jamaicans and convince law-abiding citizens that they are not helpless, but can overcome the fear that has immobilised them, by working together as a united front against crime.”