KINGSTON, Jamaica – A call is being made for the Government to allocate funds for a massive public education campaign to get Jamaicans to observe the protocols that are in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 on the island.

The call has come from the Chairman of the National Health Fund (NHF) Howard Mitchell, who has acknowledged that it is impossible for the Jamaica Constabulary Force to effectively police every breach of the protocols under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA).

It has been observed that many people still appear in public spaces, including public transportation, without wearing a mask which is a breach of the DRMA. Additionally, persons still refuse to social distance or observe gathering limits and there are many illegal parties still taking place despite a ban on such activities as the country battles a deadly third wave of the coronavirus.

“I don’t think that we have the capacity to police and enforce that (breaches of the DRMA). What we have to try and do through a system of public education… the government needs to spend some money on changing the mindset of our people…you have to keep the message in front all the time,” Mitchell told Observer Online.

“I am not seeing enough messages and it’s apparently because the government doesn’t have the budget for it. So what’s the answer to that? Increase the budget,” Mitchell declared.

The NHF chairman pointed out that the Minister of Finance, Dr Nigel Clarke, is on record as saying the government collected $26 billion more in revenues than was expected.

“So let us spend some more money on public education. What changes people’s mind is constant repetition; that is what affects behavior, not just punishment,” said Mitchell.

A retired attorney-at-law, Mitchell argued that the country lacks the capacity or resources to effect punishment on a regular basis.

“We can’t lock up nuh more people, the police can’t manage it so let us try and get the message across to them then that they’re killing themselves, your own loved ones by not wearing a mask, by having these gatherings,” Mitchell said.

He told Observer Online that he is bothered whenever he goes through Half-Way Tree in St Andrew, including the transportation centre, and observes the dearth of messages about COVID-19 which would not only serve as a reminder, but enforce in people’s minds, the importance of observing the protocols.

In repeating that the police can’t do anymore, Mitchell emphasised that “we have to try and find other ways of changing people’s habits”.