Patricia Watson, Senior Staff Reporter
TWO months before the January 2002 rescue mission for inner-city youth is set to be launched, everything is in place, so says the Ministry of National Security. The Citizen's Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) is aimed at rescuing young people who are at risk in inner-city communities. Such risks arise from crime, violence, the lack of education and the breakdown of family structures and support.
A whopping US$20.6 million loan to finance the project has been negotiated between the Jamaican Government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including the Disputes Resolution Foundation (DRF), PALS, Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU), Kingston Restoration Corporation (KRC) SISTREN Theatre, and Alcoholism Anonymous have been drafted into the rescue mission.
The project will take into account homework programmes, mentoring, family life education, conflict resolution and formalising crews through competitions, for example.
The money will be channelled through six NGOs under an initiative, dubbed the Citizen's Security and Justice Programme and is set to be launched in February 2002.
Programme manager for the CSJP, Simeon Robinson, explained that the rationale for such an intervention is the "continuing unacceptable high level of violence in the country" and "the perception that the justice system does not provide equal access to all." Mr. Robinson noted that as a result of this, it was felt that "a long-term sustainable approach (to security and justice issues) was required."
The main objectives of the programme are to prevent and reduce violence, strengthen crime management capabilities and improve the delivery of judicial services. Nine communities - Drewsland, Denham Town, Hannah Town, Waterhouse, Trench Town, Grants Pen, Tower Hill, Fletcher's Land and August Town -- are to be involved in the first phase
Community Action Co-ordinator, Orville Simmons, told The Sunday Gleaner that research for the implementation of the CSJP took two years and was conducted by the Planning Institute of Jamaica.
"Communities were consulted under various approaches ... to determine whether or not the particular community should be involved," Mr. Simmons said.
He explained that each community was chosen based on five factors, crime profile (25 per cent), indicators of absorptive capacity (30 per cent), socio-political factors (25 per cent), socio-economic factors (10 per cent) and population profile (10 per cent).
For instance, the communities of Drewsland and Waterhouse received 85 per cent and 80 per cent respectively.
"In all, the communities were anxious for change and for the crime situation to be addressed," Mr. Simmons explained.
