Montague meets with PNP local gov’t reps
KINGSTON, Jamaica — National Security Minister, Robert Montague on Saturday met with local government representatives of the People’s National Party (PNP) at the Hotel Versalles in May Pen, Clarendon.
The move follows a meeting held with PNP General Secretary, Julian Robinson and then Chairman, Robert Pickersgill last year.
According to a release from the ministry, Saturday’s meeting was hosted to discuss with the councillors and caretakers measures undertaken to counteract crime.
The ministry said a similar meeting was held with councillors and caretakers of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) last year, and plans are being made to have a meeting with the councillors and caretakers from both parties to continue the dialogue about crime.
Speaking at the meeting, Montague said: “The local government network of both political parties is one of the most effective tools we can use to combat crime. The network is islandwide and if we are going to treat with crime, we must come together at the community level.”
Montague took the opportunity to outline the five pillars of the crime strategy and elements of JamaicaEye, the National CCTV System to be rolled out soon.
He also spoke of other initiatives including E-policing technology being used as a force multiplier to create effective policing; Jampolstats, which uses historic crime data to map and identify crime trends and the E-Diary project, which will see information from station diaries being transferred to a digital database.
The minister said these initiatives are being carried out by a team of young Jamaicans from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Jamaica Defence Force, and the University of Technology developing solutions, specifically designed for the Jamaican landscape.
The meeting fostered spirited discussion between the minister and the local government representatives.
The councillors and caretakers agreed that the forum provided the opportunity for them to give feedback on the initiatives and make recommendations concerning the national security portfolio.
Montague expressed thanks to the Secretariat of the PNP in helping to organise the meeting.
The move forms part of Montague’s efforts to take a bipartisan approach to tackling crime.
