Now that the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) have enjoyed their ‘cuss out’ over the states of public emergency (SOE), we welcome the return to serious discussion about an effective crime plan.

Prime Minister Mr Andrew Holness on Tuesday announced that the Government was close to completing the new Enhanced Security Measure Act (ESMA) “which will enable law enforcers to act pre-emptively to remove critical violence producers from the society”.

As an aside, we don’t like the term “violence producers” because that is too decent a term to describe the heinous crimes and the monsters who commit them. They are murderers and will remain so, no matter how fancy the term being adopted.

Mr Holness, promising better legislation to control criminal elements, informs us that the new ESMA will incorporate some of the powers under the SOE, with a focus on people considered to be violence producers. He estimated that about 300 to 350 killers account for a significant number of murders in the country.

We wish we could share the prime minister’s optimism that: “When we go to Parliament to have the Act passed there should be no quarrel, there should be no issues, and Jamaicans should be able to breathe a sigh of relief.”

This, he explained, would be on the basis that the stakeholders would be heading towards a consensus “which means persons who are known violence producers, persons who are known to be operating criminal organisations and enterprises will be brought before the law through pre-emptive strategies such as the SOE, which helps the security forces separate criminals who we know are taking lives from the community”.

We have seen this script over and over. No matter what any new anti-crime programme is called, give it a minute before the two major political parties begin the usual quarrels and pointing out of flaws that eventually render it of no more value than the paper it is written on.

Let’s not forget the last consensus, named the Vale Royal Talks, which was spearheaded by the private sector and civil society. The only weakness in it, we suspect, was that the politicians did not feel they would have enough control and too many organisations would be looking over their shoulders.

In the alternative, there have been calls that the two parties should meet behind closed doors to come up with their own joint initiative to lead the country in a non-partisan fight against crime and violence. We wait to hear their response.

As of right now, we are in full support of the prime minister’s indication that the Government is contemplating declaring a new SOE under new circumstances and with new advice.

It is a waste of time to be quarrelling about the Opposition not supporting the SOE. The people of Jamaica are not fools and they will render their verdict on the PNP when ‘time come’. The job of the Government is to keep this country safe by doing what needs to be done.

The Government says it hopes to use the SOE to create an atmosphere of safety and peace of mind during the Christmas season when there would be a great demand on the police for public order issues.

Please get on with the job, Mr Prime Minister.