Milton Samuda ... I am calling on our leaders to act now.

Jamaica's political leaders have been urged to get cracking with the implemen-tation of several anti-crime measures announced by Prime Minister Bruce Golding last year.

Milton Samuda, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, suggested that the constant delays could sap the confidence of civic society in Government's ability to rein in galloping crime. He called on parliamentarians from both the ruling Jamaica Labour Party and the Opposition People's National Party to find consensus fast.

"If something is a priority, it doesn't take six months," Samuda told The Gleaner. "Even if everybody is not absolutely agreed, let us get the show on the road!"

The urgency in Samuda's declaration hints at the multi-year murder wave which has swept Jamaica, with 2008 marking the second bloodiest recorded in the nation's history. More than 1,611 persons were murdered last year. Golding's proposed measures, announced last June, include longer detentions - before recourse to bail - for persons arrested for murder.

Scathing attack

Samuda's call echoes that of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), which last week launched a scathing attack on the nation's political leaders over the foot- dragging.

Christopher Zacca, president of the PSOJ, said a failure to arrest the crime problem would undercut any effort to keep the struggling economy, which has been hit hard by job losses and a depreciating dollar, buoyant.

"The nation is in the midst of a global economic crisis and all efforts to keep the economy afloat will come to naught if we as a country do not seriously and urgently address the levels of crime and violence in our society. I am calling on our leaders to act now," said Zacca in a media release.

The release further stated that Zacca's call to action was against the background of "the shocking and terrible start of the new year, which has already seen a significant number of reported cases of murder and other violent crimes in Jamaica".

The PSOJ statement also said parliamentarians had failed to discern the urgency of the times and called for definitive action from both political parties.

"The PSOJ is alarmed at the lack of real progress in enacting the required legislation in the more than six months since the prime minister's announcement in Parliament."