Omar Anderson, Gleaner WriterFORMER OPPOSITION Leader Edward Seaga says the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) must merge to help fight crime, but Prime Minister P.J. Patterson rejected the idea last week.
Mr. Seaga made the suggestion during a banquet the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) held in his honour at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston last Friday.
Present during the call were senior JLP officials, diplomats, and senior Government officials, including Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sports, Portia Simpson Miller, Transport and Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill, Information Minister, Burchell Whiteman, Finance Minister. Dr. Omar Davies, and Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke.
"Merge the police and the army . You don't need 3,000 Jamaica Defence Force part-time security," he said. "You need to add to the 7,000 full-time security people in the police force."
According to Mr. Seaga, he had made this proposal back in 1994 during his contribution to the Budget Debate.
In a reply filled with satire which had guests in stitches, Mr. Seaga said the Finance Minister's policy would impinge heavily on his proposed merger.
'FIX THE EXCHANGE RATE'
"So where is money to come from?" Mr. Seaga asked. "We go back to where you go for money, back to Omar," he said, to raucous laughter.
"All he has to do is just fix the exchange rate and interest rates will fall so quickly you would have to give the bankers a set of parachutes."
Last week, Prime Minister Patterson reiterated that the JDF's role is expected to be expanded beyond merely protecting the island's sovereignty.
He was responding to Gleaner queries following his statement to the newspaper more than a month ago, that the role of the JDF was being reviewed by a joint advisory team from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
In February this year, William 'Bill' Clarke, managing director of Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), called for the scrapping of the JDF and the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
"There are no plans to merge the JDF and the JCF," Mr. Patterson told The Sunday Gleaner. "This remains the consistent position of the administration, but we will continue to examine additional areas in which the JDF can render maximum support to the JCF in the fight against crime and violence."
Despite this, the Prime Minister explained that in the fight against crime and violence, the national security strategy has to be improved to ensure that the security forces were fully equipped to lead efforts to rid the nation of what he called "this deadly scourge".
GREATER ROLE FOR JDF
Almost 700 persons have been killed since January.
"It is envisioned that the army will have to play a greater role in this national effort, and in this regard, a comprehensive strategic review of the JDF has been commissioned," said Mr. Patterson.
According to the Prime Minister, the report into the JDF's role has not been completed.
"I anticipate the review will set out short and long-term plans for the JDF that will improve its capacity," Mr. Patterson told The Sunday Gleaner.
Only on Wednesday this week, the Private Sector Association of Jamaica (PSOJ) led a three-hour shutdown of business to protest against the rampant crime and lawlessness in the country.
Earlier this year, the BNS managing director Mr. Clarke, urged the Government to establish a new multi-disciplinary force, of no less than 30,000 members, relevant to the current needs and future of Jamaica.
Mr. Clarke said then that the current crime wave "was a very real internal threat" that could cause the country to descend into "chaos and mayhem".
"This (JDF) is an elitist military that is no longer relevant in the context of the realities in Jamaica today and is therefore unaffordable and is not the best use of the most highly-trained security personnel we have," the BNS managing director had said.
