KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) General Secretary, Dr Horace Chang, has accused the People’s National Party (PNP) of trying to sabotage the success of the Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO) legislation.

The Opposition is “…clearly seeking to hinder the success of the Zones of Special Operations by its actions and statements although they have no solutions to offer the people of Jamaica,” Chang said in a statement from the JLP this afternoon.

He suggested that the hotline set up by the PNP to facilitate reports from residents on abuse by the joint forces, is in a bid “to compete with the hotline set up by the police and the army.

“I have to wonder if the PNP is deliberately attempting to undermine the efforts of the security forces. It seems the PNP will sacrifice Jamaica for politics.”

According to Chang, who is also Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, “These political moves are careless and irresponsible. The PNP must realise that their hotline could confuse persons who wish to call the police with intelligence on the criminal activities that they are aware of. The PNP Hotline is not associated with the operations of the security forces but as it bears a 4-digit acronym identical to the one used by the police. It is dangerous.”

“ZOSO is a sensitive and strategic Government response to crime and was established for the preservation of the rule of law, public order, citizen security and public safety and must not be subject to political interference. The Government has gone to great lengths to include the media and a wide cross section of society to ensure transparency. Irresponsible actions by the PNP may very well compromise the effectiveness of the Zone in Mount Salem,” the minister further explained.

He also recalled that: “When we became Government, we realised that the police were short of vehicles, bulletproof vests were expired and police stations were in a deplorable state — just to highlight a few failures of the PNP. The PNP, under Minister (Peter) Bunting, did not do enough to assist the police in their work. Bunting has no credibility now as he did not have the solutions then; asking for divine intervention rather than exercising decisive leadership. There was an increase in murders of close to 20 per cent in his last year in office. We inherited an upward trend but we are taking necessary action here and now with ZOSO”.

The JLP general secretary expressed hope that the leader of the Opposition — “who, under his watch as national security minister, saw Jamaica becoming the murder capital of the world with 1674 murders” — would appreciate the importance of supporting the Government in its fight against crime.

“We are asking the PNP to… stop politicising the fight against crime. If they can’t join in the fight against crime, they should at least get out of the way and allow the government and the security forces to do what is in the best interest of the country,” said Chang.