Mark Titus, Enterprise Reporter

Police investigators carry a body bag after recovering the remains of Richard and Julia Lyn from the Martin's Hill dump in Manchester. - File

Stakeholders in Manchester are fine-tuning efforts to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance by year end. The move to bolster the capacity of the police with high-tech resources is in line with a historic bipartisan pact to help curb crime there.

The local police had, in an April 2007 memorandum of understanding signed with the Closed to Crime Initiative (CTCI), committed to specific service delivery standards, contingent on the group's pledge to boost resources.

Manchester, a mainly rural parish on Jamaica's south coast, is a melting pot of diverse topographies, ranging from the bustling streets of Mandeville proper to the winding hills of rustic Plowden. Best known for its cool climes, the parish has been scarred by violence, as the tentacles of a national crime wave continue to launch out from urban centres.

Tipping point

The tipping point was the abduction and murder of prominent husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Richard and Julia Lyn in December 2006.

The Lyns, operators of Bargain House furniture store in the parish capital, Mandeville, went missing from their Ingleside home on December 10. As prayerful optimism for a safe return waned, the nation's worst fears were realised. After wide-scale police investigations and sweeping searches, the remains of the elderly couple were found 19 days later at the Martin's Hill dump.

Spurred to action by the grisly slaying, custos of Manchester, Dr Gilbert Allen, organised a meeting with the business community and sections of civil society, which spawned the Closed To Crime Initiative. The mission of the collaborative thrust was to engineer systemic change aimed at managing crime.

The group, led by the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, identified the expansion of the District Intelligence Unit, the improvement of the Investigative Unit, the ramping up of police patrol capabilities and the installation of a CCTV network as critical to the success of the $10-million project.

With the Ministry of National Security, several civic bodies and corporate sponsors on-board, the group has so far delivered three of the four elements of the initiative.

"We are now hoping to have the CCTV up and running by the end of the year," director of the CTCI, Robert Cunningham, tells The Gleaner. "We have sought the advice of the police, as well as specialists from the United Kingdom and the United States, to where these cameras should be located."

Approval granted

Winston Lawson, president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. - Photo by Mark Titus

Cognisant of the Government's own plan for a national CCTV grid, Cunningham says the group sought the approval of the Ministry of National Security and the National Works Agency.

"The initial reaction was that CTCI must ensure that the software used will be able to cross-tie with the national grid," the CTCI director says. "The challenge to that is that the national grid might not happen any time soon, because it is a very costly venture, but I think we are very close to brokering a deal."

With the importation and installation of the cameras attracting a price tag of approximately $7 million, Cunningham says CTCI will be banking on the Government to waive import duty and other taxes that the exercise attracts.

"We will be pressing the Ministry of National Security to make representation on our behalf to remove the import duty and GCT (general consumption tax) on these cameras when they come in. That will take a substantial chunk of the cost right out," he explains.

In the meantime, Cunningham hopes the CTCI will become a template for other communities in Manchester which will eventually mushroom across the country.

Increase in value

"Models like CTCI are viable for communities throughout Jamaica," he states. "Shareholders inside these communities must understand that they can add so much value with even small donations.

"The Government of Jamaica is not currently in a position to do anything about this (the crime situation) in a large way," he argues, "Despite the substantial increase in budgetary allocation for security in the country, there is so much to be done."

Though some commercial interests have given the CTCI their support, Winston Lawson, president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, is urging big business to step up to the plate.

"We have got support from a couple of large businesses, a whole bunch of medium and small businesses, as well as a few individuals. I think the larger industries in this town need to get involved in this effort, as crime fighting should be everybody's business," Lawson urges.

Jamaica recorded 1,574 murders last year, just 100 fewer than the record 1,674 homicides in 2005. Despite a raft of crime plans and special squad deployments, murders shot up in the 1990s under the People's National Party administration which lost power in a national election in 2007. Eight months since taking the reins, the Jamaica Labour Party government has so far failed to tame the crime beast, with the murder rate keeping pace with last year's.

mark.titus@gleanerjm.com