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Patterson and SeagaAS PRIME Minister P.J. Patterson
and JLP leader Edward Seaga head into their second crime summit today, Jamaicans are continuing to see crime and violence as the country's number one
problem.
Also, they do not think the Government is doing enough to deal with crime and violence and want this two-headed monster to be the main issue in the upcoming general election.
These are the findings of a Don Anderson poll conducted on behalf of The Gleaner from January 10 to 21. A total of 1,105 persons were interviewed for the poll which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 per cent.
Roughly 43 per cent of all persons interviewed listed crime and violence as their primary concern and the biggest problem facing Jamaica, followed by 20.5 per cent who felt the major problem was unemployment and 8.4 per cent who viewed corruption as the main problem. Housing shortage was at the bottom of the list, with only 1.0 per cent of respondents seeing it as the major problem.
Persons were responding to the question: "What in your opinion is the biggest problem facing Jamaica at this time?"
According to Anderson, the data show a lack of uniformity in the views across the island. All persons, with the exception of those in the more affluent sections of the society, appeared to view crime as the number one problem. Those in the upper income group viewed unemployment, often linked directly to the level of crime and violence, as the more pressing of the two issues.
In the parishes of Trelawny, St. Elizabeth and St. Thomas, unemployment was also seen as the major problem.
At the same time, 62.8 per cent of those polled felt that Government was not doing enough to fight crime and violence. This was followed by 21.5 per cent of respondents who felt the Government was doing enough and 12.1 per cent who said they did not know.
The poll also shows that 60 per cent of persons interviewed felt that dealing with the problem of crime and violence should be the priority among the parties contesting the next general election. Roughly 34 per cent of respondents felt the major election issue should be unemployment while 14.4 per cent said it should be education.
The question asked was: "What should be the major issues on the agenda for the political parties during the election campaign?"
Making crime the number one election issue found agreement among all segments of the population and demonstrates the extent to which there is a national consensus on the need to seriously tackle the issue, Anderson said.
Crime statistics show that 2001, with 1,139 murders, was one of the bloodiest years the country has ever experienced. So far this year, more than 70 people have been killed. It is in the light of this continuing trend that the two leaders agreed to another crime summit to map strategies to tackle this problem. The first summit was held in August last year and resulted in a bipartisan crime plan which is still being studied by the two leaders.
