PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
UNCARING PNP PLAYING POLITICS WITH PEOPLE’S LIVES – G2K
Kingston, Jamaica: Generation 2000 (G2K), the young professional affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), is lambasting the Opposition PNP for playing politics with people’s lives by blocking the extension of the States of Emergency in St. James, St. Catherine and sections of Kingston & St. Andrew.
Since the States of Emergency (SOE) were declared there has been a twenty two percent (22%) decline in murders nationally. In the Kingston Metropolitan Region under the SOE shootings are down by 88% and murders down by 93%. The parishes of St. James and St. Catherine recorded a seventy percent (70%) and a fifty-five (55%) decline in murders respectively. The Minister of National Security also disclosed in Parliament the results of a poll that showed 88% of the people in St. James support the state of emergency.
We have seen how the measures that were implemented by security forces have transformed volatile communities to places where persons can go about their legal business in peace. It is mind-blowing that the PNP ignored the fact that the JCF called for an extension of the States of Emergency to continue their fight against the criminals. On the eve of the Christmas Holidays, the PNP’s actions have essentially resurrected the feelings of fear and terror that the residents of these communities thought were a thing of the past. Their actions are obstructive and uncaring at best” said G2K President, Mr. Stephen Edwards.
A two-thirds majority vote in Parliament is needed to extend the duration of the States of Emergency, which would require the support of members of the opposition. However, not one single member of the Opposition PNP voted in support the extension of the States of Emergency, which has essentially blocked the security from using the crime fighting tool.
It was revealed in the parliamentary debate that the security forces and residents support the states of emergency. So, one has to wonder who the PNP Members of Parliament were representing when they voted against the extension. Were their misguided actions rooted in a predetermined, self-serving, political agenda? The PNP may have won the vote against the extension of the states of emergency in parliament, but it was done at the risk of the lives of Jamaicans. The PNP must immediately stop playing politics with people’s lives,” said G2K Vice President and resident of St. James, Ms. Daniella Allen
Edwards further stated “We understand that a state of emergency is a temporary measure. However, it would best serve the people of Jamaica if their duration were not solely based on timelines but were instead based on measurable milestones. Given the fact that murders and other crimes were still trending downwards, it is evident that the states of emergency were working but the mission was not yet complete. There can be no good justification for the PNP to bring the states of emergency to a premature end.
Generation 2000 is calling on all well-thinking Jamaicans to publicly reject the Opposition’s obstructive and uncaring stance on the States of Emergencies. The organization is suggesting that an unscheduled sitting of Parliament be held in the public’s interest, where the extensions of the states of emergency can be voted on again.
