KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition spokesman on national security, Derrick Smith, says he is gravely disappointed that amid the spike in murders, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller did not address in any meaningful way, the nation’s crime problem when she addressed the People’s National Party’s (PNP) annual conference last Sunday.

Smith said instead of addressing the “unrelenting spike in murders” in a real way, Simpson Miller disrespected the nation by merely glossing over the subject. He said what she opted to do instead was to subject the nation to “hostile rants and rhetoric laced with falsehoods and half-truths”.

“With 895 murders committed since the start of the year, representing a 24 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year, the prime minister missed a glorious opportunity to speak to communicate her Government’s policies and strategies to combat the crime monster,” he said.

He continued: “Both the Prime Minister and the national security minister have been silent … It is full time the prime minister recognises that the buck stops with her and that she has a duty to lead from the front in this most important area.”

Smith insisted nothing short of a comprehensive outline of the Government’s crime-fighting policies and plans is required at this time.  The prime minister must, as a matter of urgency, present strategies from which citizens can draw some amount of confidence and be reasonably assured that the crime situation is being managed.  

In the meantime, he said the Opposition recently concluded discussions on crime management that will form a substantial part of the Jamaica Labour Party’s manifesto for the upcoming general election, and have presented concrete suggestions that would help combat the nation’s crime problem.