NEWPORT, Manchester — Manchester Central Member of Parliament Rhoda Crawford is urging political aspirants and representatives to be mindful of making comments which might suggest support for wrongdoing.

“What I am saying [is that] when you are [a] political leader you have a responsibility to be responsible; you have to be careful what you put out from your mouth because your supporters will interpret it any sort of way,” she said on Sunday at Jamaica Labour Party’s Manchester Southern constituency conference.

She blasted Mandeville Mayor Donovan Mitchell for recent comments he made at Manchester Municipal Corporation while minority leader Omar Miller was raising concerns about lottery scamming in the parish.

Miller told Mitchell that lottery scammers are among the top supporters of parties in Manchester.“You have many persons who invested heavily [in] planning their parties. This is a concern that I have as well but we have to be careful, because police business is not an easy business,” Miller said.“Let us seek dialogue outside of the media and see how we can have some of these issues sorted out… Some of the same parties, they look heavily to see the same scammers and everybody who a mash up this country come in come support. They are talking about money business. We know if you visit and pass you can see some of the activities, washing all them boot with Hennessey and all of those things,” he added.Mayor Mitchell chimed in and compared Miller’s statement to an ongoing debate about unexplained wealth.

“Nothing is not wrong with that, because there is nothing wrong with unexplained wealth. Sit down,” Mitchell said, evoking laughter among some councillors.

Mitchell, in a statement, said the comment was “a sarcastic jab aimed at the JLP’s current behaviour”.

However, Crawford believes Mitchell shouldn’t have uttered the words in the first place.

“When him a guh get up and talk about him nuh si nutten wrong with unexplained wealth, and when dem a guh make some utterances weh look like seh dem a support scammers and scamming, and dem aguh guh pon platform and big up certain elements, then we see the crime and criminality and then we a guh wonder a wah a gwaan a Manchester as political representatives. People vying for high office need to be responsible,” she said.

She also chided Mitchell for comments he made questioning the police’s rationale for imposing curfews, resulting in economic loss.

“You cannot do those things, because if we really want to get rid of the crime monsters as political leaders in the parish we have to stand up strong and let the criminals realise that we are united in the fight against criminality,” she said.

She reiterated her support for the police in imposing the security measures.

“The police are trained. They are acting on intelligence. The police dem a nuh mad people, so if they sit down and look at their numbers, and get credible information, do their investigation, and say: ‘We have to put in curfews in certain communities [citizens should not complain],’ because the number one priority is to save life,” she said.

Official figures from the police show 43 murders in Manchester up to October 26 — an almost 16 per cent increase over the 37 recorded for the same period last year. The parish has also recorded 37 shootings, 12 per cent above last year.

Crawford has also called on residents to support the necessary security measures to curtail violence in the south-central parish.

“Labourites and people of Manchester, make us bear a little bit more inconvenience so that we can bring the criminality and the murders down, so that we can free up… Sometimes you sit back and you hear that somebody got killed and you seh, ‘No sah, that nah reach me.’ Well I heard a report. I saw it on Observer Online. I heard the man speaking — I didn’t see a face — and he was saying he never knew this could reach at his doorstep,” she said.

“Manchester had a reputation for peace, tranquility and safety. The police are equipped. Dr [Horace] Chang is ejecting more resources and putting more manpower on the ground. Let us stand up and support the police. Let us support them, because, like I have said before, it is better we lose a little business and make up back for it than to bury a loved one who we will never see again,” she added.