Three bodies being removed from a crime scene on Felicity Crescent, popularly known as Blood Lane, in February this year. - MONIQUE HEPBURN/STAFF REPORTER
CRIME AND VIOLENCE continues to be the most pressing problem facing Jamaicans while many say they need more jobs.
A Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll, conducted on May 13 and 14, found that 72 per cent of Jamaicans see crime and violence as the most pressing problem facing the country at this time. That figure is comparable to a March survey that also found that 72 per cent of Jamaicans felt crime and violence was the most pressing issue.
A total of 1,008 Jamaicans were interviewed by Johnson and his team of researchers in 84 communities across the island's 14 parishes. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.
NO REAL SURPRISE
University of the West Indies Professor in sociology and anthropology, Barry Chevannes, said the findings "should not come as any real surprise to anyone".
"The figures for crime and violence must be taken very seriously. Seventy-two per cent means people feel very, very strongly about the issue," Professor Chevannes noted. "I believe that when people say crime and violence they mean criminal violence and 72 per cent of them seeing it as a major tells the story. Criminal violence not only drains resources, it creates fear among people...that is why we see people putting burglar bars on their homes."
While crime and violence stands out as the most pressing issue facing Jamaicans, the survey stated that jobs are the country's greatest need. Fifty-seven per cent of respondents considered jobs to be the greatest need at this time in the area in which they live, and 26 per cent saw a lack of jobs as the most pressing problem. In March, 54 per cent of Jamaicans had viewed jobs as the greatest need in their area and 28 per cent saw lack of jobs as the country's most pressing problem.
DEFINITE LINK
Stating that there is a definite link between lack of jobs and crime, Professor Chevannes said "unemployment stimulates disorder". He, however, said "It does not mean that being unemployed means that you are a potential criminal."
Meanwhile, according to the survey, there is no great need for road, water and community centres. Nineteen per cent of Jamaicans viewed roads as a major need in May, down from 22 per cent in March.
Similarly, the need for water and community centres inched downwards. In March, 14 per cent of respondents viewed water as a great need but last month, the figure dipped by one per cent to 13. Similarly, only four per cent of Jamaicans now have a great need for community centres, down from five per cent in March.
Financial problems (five per cent), poverty and help for the poor ( six per cent), and corruption in Government (two per cent) were the least pressing issues, according to The Gleaner-Bill Johnson poll.
