Costly crime
Published:Wednesday | April 13, 2011 | 12:00 AM
World Development Report 2011 shows Jamaica paying dearly
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
The criminal violence which has affected Jamaica for decades has again been identified as the primary development challenge facing the country.
The World Bank now estimates that crime and violence costs Jamaica more than US$400 million (J$34 billion) each year.
In the 2011 World Development Report, dubbed 'Conflict, Security and Development', the bank includes Jamaica among the countries where growth is being stymied by crime.
According to the report, while wars between states are less now than in the past and civil wars fewer, insecurity has become the primary development challenge of our time.
"One and a half billion people live in areas affected by fragility, conflict, or large-scale, organised criminal violence, and no low-income fragile or conflict-affected country has yet to achieve a single United Nations Millennium Development Goal (UN MDG)," the report claimed.
"New threats - organised crime and trafficking, civil unrest due to global economic shocks, terrorism - have supplemented continued preoccupation with conventional war between and within countries," the report added.
indirect costs
It argued that the indirect cost associated with crime and violence, stress and trauma, time off from work because of violent incidents, and lower productivity from injury or mental illness far overshadows direct costs.
According to the World Bank, the direct medical cost of all interpersonal violence in Jamaica is estimated at US$29.5 million, while the indirect medical cost is US$385 million.
"When other indirect costs are added, such as those for policing, health care, private security, and reduced investment, the figures are even more staggering," the report added.
"Estimates suggest that if Haiti and Jamaica reduced their crime levels to those of Costa Rica, they could increase annual GDP growth by 5.4 percentage points," stated the report.
It is estimated that Cost Rica recorded 11 murders per 100,000 residents in 2009, while Jamaica had 60 murders for each 100,000 residents.
"Insecurity takes a significant toll on the private sector, in direct costs of criminal acts (theft, arson, or other victimisation) and in investments in security systems."
The World Bank report also noted that Jamaica's inner cities have been at the centre of the country's crime and violence problem which, coupled with growing poverty, has further exacerbated social fragmentation and the weakness of civic organising in inner-city communities.
commendation for gov't
It commended the Jamaican Government for the programmes implemented to provide inner-city community infrastructure and services for the poor, including measures to promote short-term conflict mitigation and resolution, as well as medium-term social prevention and capacity enhancement interventions.
In its recommendations, the World Bank argued that to break cycles of insecurity and reduce the risk of their recurrence, countries around the world need to build legitimate institutions that can provide a sustained level of citizen security, justice and jobs.
In a general prescription which seems specially tailored for a very ill Jamaica, the World Bank argued that there is a need to break down what is referred to locally as "garrison" communities and put an end to corruption to get broad-based support for change.
"Persuading stakeholders to work collaboratively requires signals of a real break with the past - for example, ending the political or economic exclusion of marginalised groups, corruption, or human-rights abuses - as well as mechanisms to 'lock in' these changes and show that they will not be reversed."