Update | Chang: Back-to-back SOEs contradict good governance

Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang has indicated that the Holness administration would have reservations about announcing repeat 14-day states of emergency (SOEs), arguing that such a move would go against the tenets of good governance.

Chang responded to a query from The Gleaner on whether the Government would go the route of declaring consecutive SOEs if the parliamentary Opposition voted against an extension of the current measures.

Signalling that the Opposition was not inclined to vote in support of the SOEs when the Senate debates their extensions, Peter Bunting, the shadow minister of national security, charged that the declaration of the emergency measures was politically contrived.

Speaking at a Gleaner Editors' Forum on Wednesday, Chang said that there were no legislative or administrative constraints to announcing SOEs in close succession.

However, he cautioned that if SOEs are declared on a routine basis, it would not be in keeping with good governance.

“It is not a sleight of hand because it is legal and legitimate, but where we are now in our development as a country, it will not be the best thing to do even if we do it once or twice,” Chang said.

Bunting insisted Tuesday that the declaration of SOEs in Kingston and St Andrew did not meet the Constitution's requirement of a threat on so extensive a scale that it is likely to endanger public safety.

The opposition spokesman said that in Kingston and St Andrew so far this year, murders were down 17.5 per cent and shootings have declined 23.4 per cent.

Describing his Opposition counterpart's comments as a knee-jerk reaction, Chang suggested that Bunting's remarks were “a bit off”.

He said the Government had to intervene because a number of gangs had emerged and their actions were being influenced by overseas connections.

“A Government must have the right to act decisively in the interest of the country,” Chang said.

The senior Cabinet minister contended that when natural disasters occur, resulting in widespread damage, there is no dissent from the public when SOEs are imposed.

“In crime, there is a normalisation of homicide, which I don't think is right. I think the country needs emergency powers to deal with some of them, and the elected government should have a right to do that,” the security minister said.

He said that the crime wave in western Jamaica has been difficult for the entire year. According to Chang, the murder rate went up dramatically in St James in the first quarter.

Chang signalled that while the gang conflict in St James appears to have “migrated” to Florida, local gang conflict has not ended.

He said that the Jamaica Labour Party administration pushed hard for an amendment to the Constitution, which was the “rewriting of Chapter Three to put the restriction on how SOEs are done”.

Chang insisted that SOEs are valid tools that the security forces should use in fighting criminal violence and saving the lives of Jamaicans.

He said 25 pickups will be allocated to the 19 police divisions, and the police will get more motorcycles to operate in urban centres.

Editor's Note: The adjusted headline more clearly articulates Dr Horace Chang's views on the use of back-to-back SOEs.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com