HORNE

Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

People's National Party (PNP) caretaker/candidate for South East St. Elizabeth, Norman Horne, is recommending that the Government borrow more money to address the country's crime problem and has suggested the floating of security bond to implement strategies to fight crime.

The former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) senator said that crime was the country's number one problem.

Addressing the PNP Resource Group Seven biennial conference at the Jamaica Pegasus yesterday, Horne argued that finding the resources to implement the solutions to the crime problem was the major challenge facing the Government.

He, however, recommended that the Government should borrow to finance it.

"From what I gather, the truth is if we had the resources, we could adequately deal with the crime and violence problem," he said. "In the same manner in which each year we borrow to finance the Budget, we must borrow the resources to finance crime and violence."

He said in comparison to the United States, Jamaica's debt per capita was nowhere near.

"The fact is that we have not started borrowing as yet and we will have to borrow and develop our country," he insisted.

Horne, who controversially replaced Member of Parliament Lenworth Blake as the PNP's candidate, said the floating of a security bond could be used to finance the crime solutions.

"If we were to seriously appeal to the social consciences of the Jamaican people both here in Jamaica and the diaspora and issue a crime (security) bond of, maybe a nominal interest of two to five per cent (this would help)," he said.

Horne said that there should be stiffer penalties for repeat offenders through the implementation of the 'Three Strikes' legislation, where any person committing a crime on the third offence would be sentenced to life imprisonment.