KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition spokesman on national security, Peter Bunting, said today that more attention and resources must be invested in attacking the root causes of crime, through carefully designed crime prevention measures.

Bunting, who was making his contribution to the sectoral debate in the House of Representatives this afternoon, suggested more focus on two ongoing social-based programmes:

(1) The Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP III), which he noted has specific objectives to: (i) improve social cohesion and community governance; (ii) increase employability and employment of residents in target communities; and (iii) improve access to and efficiency of justice services at the community level; and,

(2) The Unite for Change initiative, started under his administration, which sought to foster a broad-based coalition of public agencies, private sector and NGOs, as well as churches to join in violence prevention initiatives.

“If we can find the additional billions promised last year (to finance national security) to pump into these parallel tracks of crime control and crime prevention, then we will return to the path of a safer and more secure Jamaica,” Bunting told the House.

Balford Henry