<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister of National Security, Dr. Horace Chang, says a coordinated multi-sectoral approach is needed for crime-prevention strategies to work effectively in St. James.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking at a Violence Prevention and Peace Building\nSymposium at the Montego Bay Community College in St. James, on September 26,\nDr. Chang said that while the social-intervention programmes employed by civil\nsociety have reaped some level of success, long-term solutions are needed to\ntackle the issue of criminality and social disorder in Montego Bay and other\nvolatile communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe churches, the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), the\nCitizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) and all the others have done a\nlot of good things, but have failed to effect transformation in Montego Bay,\nand unless we face that reality, we will not move on to make the required\nchanges,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this regard, he said the Government will continue to work\nto ensure that crime-prevention activities and social programmes are paired\nwith stringent security measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe crime-prevention department of the Government is\nworking with a number of international and local partners to seek to create a\nkind of umbrella group, and we have come up with a slogan in one case, the \u2018Liv\nGud\u2019 programme, which seeks to reawaken the sense of community and family\nidentity,\u201d Dr. Chang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Dr. Chang challenged stakeholders to work to\ncreate the impact and change needed to restore a sense of hope in volatile\ncommunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs we go through our programmes, we need to look at them\nrealistically. We need to look at how we can influence institutions (schools\nand others), and, therefore, restore that sense of hope and belonging in the\nwider community. If you are going to engage the community, we have to engage\neverybody. Part of the challenge which we face in our inner-city communities is\nlack of opportunity and access,\u201d he further noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He advised that the current State of Public Emergency in St.\nJames should be used as \u201ca window of opportunity to reach out and transform,\nand that is what I am hoping we can do\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The symposium was held under the theme, \u2018Interventions:\nMaking a difference through sharing and collaboration\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was hosted by the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), in\npartnership with the Ministry of National Security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Support was provided by a number of ministries, departments\nand agencies, including the Ministries of Health and Wellness, and Education,\nYouth and Information, the Jamaica Constabulary Force; the Inter-American\nDevelopment Bank (IDB) and the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Minister of National Security, Dr. Horace Chang, says a coordinated multi-sectoral approach is needed for crime-prevention strategies to work effectively in St. James. Speaking at a Violence Prevention and Peace Building Symposium at the Montego Bay Community College in St. James, on September 26, Dr. Chang said that while the social-intervention programmes employed by civil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[929,18,582,1580,1581],"class_list":["post-3088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-citizen-security-and-justice-programme","tag-crime","tag-dr-horace-chang","tag-pmi","tag-violence-prevention-and-peace-building"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3088"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3090,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3088\/revisions\/3090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}