MONTEGO BAY, St James — Reflecting on the five years that have passed since the establishment of the country’s first zone of special operations (ZOSO) in Mount Salem, St James, managing director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Omar Sweeney is confident that the social intervention strategy has “achieved most of the objectives that were set out”.

The ZOSO was introduced to Mount Salem on September 1, 2017 as the Government sought to eradicate the growing crime and violence in the mixed-use community by employing “softer” intervention measures.

Sweeney, in pointing to the tangible achievements in Mount Salem since the establishment of the ZOSO, said the community has undergone much-needed infrastructural development to promote “the concept of safer spaces”. This, he noted, was an important factor in taming the crime monster and further empowering citizens.

“We went in using a philosophy of crime prevention through environmental design, and that philosophy was basically surrounding the concept of safer spaces and creating better lines of sight. So, things like removal of zinc fences, clearing illegal dumpsites and derelict buildings — [so] you would have fewer hiding spaces and people could walk along the streets and engage in community life in a safer way — are things that were big for us,” Sweeney explained.

With the establishment of the ZOSO, Mount Salem has seen the construction of a new police station in the community as well as the upgrading of Mount Salem Primary and Infant School, among other developments.

The police station, which was built at a cost of $45 million with funding from the European Union, benefits some 9,050 residents in Mount Salem and surrounding communities.

On the softer side of this crime-fighting strategy, Sweeney told the Observer that he strongly believes the community has experienced a transformation as residents now have “a different experience than they did five years ago”.

“The reduction in the incidents of crime and shooting is significant. They do have a different experience today but we don’t want it to be short-lived so we try to ensure that the…leadership in the community is also strong. I know the Community Development Committee (CDC) continues to have their regular monthly meetings. They also continue to have outreach events, so the idea is really to continue [to] sustain them and also have them sustain themselves through community activities,” he said.

“Mount Salem is a unique community because it is right where the hospital is. There is also a lot of traffic and things happening in the area so the fact that the area has remained positive — meaning not many incidents of crime and people can just go about their business — I think there is a big transformation there.”

According to statistics provided by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) on Thursday, there have been nine murders in Mount Salem since the establishment of the ZOSO.

The police have also recorded 33 major crimes since 2017.

Though five years have passed since the implementation of ZOSO in Mount Salem, Sweeney noted that more work is needed to be carried out in the community.

“I think there is more that could be done to really add to the investments that have been made in the community so far. It has been five years, but we didn’t get there in five years so we are not going to solve the problem in five years. But certainly, for the time that has passed, I think a lot has been achieved,” Sweeney told the Observer.

For his part, Councillor Kerry Thomas (People’s National Party, Mount Salem Division) said more focus must be placed on changing the mindset of the residents.

“What you need from any form of social intervention, while you upgrade the environment, what is most important is that you have to be able to tap into people’s mindset for them to have that fundamental change. The whole concept of ZOSO is that when you are finished with all your interventions, socially and otherwise, the community should be able to govern itself,” reasoned the councillor.

“The key to it is the softer side. We may have fewer gun [incidents] taking place in the night but you haven’t changed the mindset of the people. I was hoping that we would have gotten to a place where we have a community that is fully policing itself,” Thomas expressed.

“I would have hoped to see more restorative justice sessions taking place because there are times when you are talking to people and they speak about a relative who was killed by someone from another street in the community. As [a first-term] councillor I can’t recall this incident so I check out the date and realise that it happened 15 years ago, but people speak about it like it happened last week,” he pointed out.