Stronger and More Robust Measures to Curb Violence – PM

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Government is instituting a stronger and more robust system to treat with violence in Jamaica.

He noted that legislative measures are being put in place, which will provide greater protection for persons, who are vulnerable to violence and early intervention for individuals with violent tendencies.

These include changes to the Firearms Act, a New Bail Act, reviews of the Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO), and provisions under the Offences Against the Person Act, the Domestic Violence Act, and the Childcare and Protection Act.

The Prime Minister was addressing the funeral service for Kemesha Wright and her four children at Clarendon College on Sunday (July 31), where he decried the brutal act of violence, which took the lives of the mother and her children.

A cousin of the family has confessed to the crime, which occurred at their home in Cocoa Piece in Clarendon on June 21.

Prime Minister Holness in pledging that the Government “will be decisive” in putting measures in place to curb violence, said that the State “has to be far more active than it is now in ensuring that we give support to the victims of crime and abuse”.

“We [must] have a system of early detection and early intervention. We will have to develop a new way of identifying violence perpetrators in our society and get them into programmes much earlier,” he pointed out.

He noted that work to revise the Domestic Violence Act is “well advanced,” which will “give greater protection to vulnerable persons in our society.”

He said that the reform of the law will deal with sexual crimes and new trends in the abuse of persons, including cyber offences.

The Prime Minister further pointed to the need for persons to resolve conflict more peacefully.