KINGSTON, Jamaica— The Crime Consensus Monitoring and Oversight Committee’s (CMOC) Canon Garth Minott  says there is a greater need for improved coordination and collaboration with government agencies, social groups and the wider civil society for smoother completion of social programmes. 

He said this is needed despite the satisfactory framework in place to define relationships, prescribe roles and responsibilities for the several Government agencies collaborating towards social, community and cultural transformation. 

Minott was speaking at the CMOC’s virtual End-of-Year press briefing held on Friday, December 17, when he made the comments. 

“In terms of social programmes, there are a number of programmes being rolled out in communities. Our major concern is that for the Community Renewal Programme [and] Violence Prevention Commission, the secretariat and the ministry departments and agencies, what we need is greater synergy with these four areas,” Minott said. 

“The truth is that the synergy is not as much as we would like. If we don’t have this cooperation and coordination in these areas then community transformation would be lagging,” he added.

Saying that there are a number of programmes being implemented in communities across the island to help assist with community transformation, Minott added that the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) and HEART/NSTA Trust are among these programmes. 

However, he said, “Some of them are working [and] some of them are not, the CAPRI [Caribbean Policy Research Institute] report a study that was done, which indicated that millions of dollars are being spent in these communities but we are not necessarily getting the return on investment.”

Agreeing with Minott, Lieutenant Colonel Oral Khan was quick to point out that community transformation takes time, and the public should “manage our expectations.” 

“There will be a lag before we begin to see the necessary changes take place on the ground. What we want to ensure is that the programmes that are in fact funded and implemented from state resources and also from non-government organisations, are being directed in the areas that our data suggest will have the greatest impact,” Khan explained. 

“Remember we are attempting to work on some of the most difficult communities and they are not necessarily the quickest ones to turn around. Now, experience teaches that you can get quicker results in other areas but we have to pay attention to the areas that have the gravest problems,” he continued, as he stressed that the committee should ensure that those communities that are not flagged as the most vulnerable are also receiving attention and we are not leaving them behind.

Candice Haughton