A high-ranking European Union (EU) official has said Jamaica's No. 1 problem is its massive debt stock, not soaring crime.

Marco Mazzocchi Alemanni, head of delegation of the European Commission to Jamaica, said Government's inability to invest heavily in social capital had hamstrung efforts to put the brakes on crime.

"A country that cannot invest has no future," he said. "It's a country that doesn't have full sovereignty."

The ambassador said more concentrated efforts at debt reduction would put a chokehold on crime and violence. Gangs and other criminal enterprises recruit mainly undereducated, unemployable young males in shantytowns.

Alemanni was speaking to The Gleaner during an interview at the European Union's headquarters in St Andrew last Wednesday. The European Commission is the executive arm of the EU.

The ambassador said Jamaica's debt, which is almost 20 per cent higher than the country's gross domestic product, had wide-ranging implications for the provision of basic services.

"Because of the very high debt ratio, this country cannot invest in health, jobs, education. It cannot invest in anything, and this has been going on practically for the last 12 to 14 years now.

"If you had a lot more jobs, a lot more social facilities, surely there would be less crime," he said.

Debt statistics

Jamaica owes the United Kingdom more than £14 million (J$1.6 billion), £5 million (J$703 million) of which was written off in April.

At the end of March, Jamaica's overall debt stock hit the $1 trillion mark for the first time, up 8.4 per cent year on year. For the financial year 2007/2008, Jamaica's debt service was 56 per cent, which meant the country was using more than half its earnings to clear funds owed.

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com