KINGSTON, Jamaica— Chairman of the Crime Monitoring and Oversight Committee (CMOC), Lloyd Distant, says that although the committee is pleased that five of the targets within the National Crime Consensus Agreement, scheduled to be delivered by June 2021, had been achieved, it is disappointed that four had not progressed satisfactorily.

 The targets that have not progressed are:

· The approval and gazetting of the regulations for the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act (PBMA);

· The establishment of a universal and fully integrated island-wide radio and data communication network,

· Approval of the additional Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) regulations, and

· The amendments to the Firearm Act.

Speaking at CMOC’s bi-monthly press briefing yesterday, Distant noted that the lack of progress on the development of regulations for the PBMA was the area of most concern for the committee as no updates had been provided. 

He noted that following the previous press briefing, the committee took the decision to engage the minister with direct responsibility for the passage of this Act, Dr Nigel Clarke, and were awaiting a meeting.

“We have agreed to further engage the Minister of Finance and Public Service and are expecting to meet him with the aim of getting an update as to why there has been no progress for almost 12 months, as well as an update as to when the Act will be advanced and approved by the Lower and Upper House,” he said. 

Distant added that, notwithstanding several upgrades being made aimed at establishing a universal and fully integrated island-wide radio and data communication network, there was still much to be done to achieving the stated objective. 

He added that the revised date for the completion of the task was an area of real concern for the committee. 

“Dependent on budgetary allocations, the JCF [Jamaica Constabulary Force] is of the view that they will not be able to complete this task until 2023. This is a major area of concern, as there are gaps in the current communication network and the committee believes this chasm is unacceptable and will be pushing for this date to be brought forward,” he said.

One of the other critical areas, which has not seen substantial progress was related to legislative reform, specifically the amendments to the Firearm Act.

 According to Distant, the Act, as it is currently written, has gaps that limit the steps and the extent to which the JCF can interdict people for some firearm related offences.

He said that the committee is disappointed that the timeline for the amendments has been pushed back from June to November, calling the change a “significant hit”.

 Distant noted that CMOC was satisfied with progress being made to advancing some key amendments to the anti-gang (criminal suppression) legislation, improvement plans being undertaken by the Department of Correctional Services, as well as the training and development system now in place at the JCF.