KINGSTON, Jamaica (AFP) — There is no need to declare a Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO) for any community in Jamaica, according to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness.

He made the bold declaration on Tuesday in the House of Representatives where he led the debate on several motions to extend the seven ZOSOs currently in place across several parishes for another six months.

Holness also declared that the security forces had criminals on the run.

“I come before this honourable House not merely to seek the extension of the Zones of Special Operations but to affirm, unequivocally, that we are winning the war against gang violence in Jamaica,” he declared.

He also told the House that “The zones that have been implemented have worked so well that they have had an impact on other communities. There is no question that the Zones of Special Operations have worked so well to the point where we cannot now identify a community that requires a Zone of Special Operations”.

The prime minister said that over the past nine years, Jamaica has achieved historic socioeconomic and infrastructural progress coupled with decisive security reform, intelligence-led policing and an unrelenting focus on dismantling criminal gangs. He noted that public order held during and after the passage of Hurricane Melissa which caused widespread devastation in south-western parishes.

“The institutions of the state held, our security architecture held,” he stated, adding that “this resilience is the product of deliberate policy choices in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Melissa”.

Holness highlighted that the security forces reported no major breakdown of law and order outside of three isolated incidents of looting which were swiftly contained, stressing that “Jamaica did not descend into chaos”.

“That outcome stands as powerful evidence of a security apparatus that is now more robust, more coordinated and more trusted than at any point in recent history,” he boasted.

According to Holness, “the results speak with unmatched clarity”. He shared that as at December 8, Jamaica had recorded 632 murders; this is 463 fewer homicides than during the comparable period in 2024.

“That represents a 42.5 per cent reduction in killings with projections placing total murders to below 700 by year end,” he noted. With shootings also down 32 per cent, the prime said these are numbers Jamaica has not seen in over 30 years. He emphasised that it was the direct outcome of sustained anti-gang operations, legislative reform, intelligence coordination and the disciplined application of the clear, hold and build strategy within the ZOSOS.

Despite the gains, the prime minister warned that gangs strive where the state retreats. He said the ZOSOS, with their focus on security, infrastructure, social services, education, health and opportunity, represent the permanent return of the state.

“We’re returning the state into communities that were previously abandoned to criminal governance,” he said, while pointing out that the zones, apart from suppressing violence, “dismantle the ecosystem that allows gangs to recruit, extort, intimidate and control”.

“This is precisely why ZOSOS are more relevant now than ever. They harden communities against regression, they prevent shocks from becoming opportunities for gangs to reassert control, they protect the gains that Jamaicans have sacrificed to achieve,” he said. He told the House that the road ahead requires discipline, endurance, and national unity.

At the end of the debate, the House approved the extension of the ZOSOS for Denham Town, Greenwich Town and Parade Gardens in Kingston; August Town in St Andrew; Norwood and Mount Salem in St James and Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland.