Above: Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller (Photo: OPM)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaica’s government is committed to making the country safer, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said during the 2012/2013 Budget Debate in Parliament Tuesday.

The administration will be expanding its efforts on that front, she said, with a major strategy aiming to “take the profit out of crime.”

“We will continue the work to strengthen the capacity of our security forces to confront the criminal and violent forces in our society, while being mindful and respectful of the rights of all our citizens,” Simpson Miller said. “We will also improve our social intervention programmes.”

Simpson Miller said that National Security Minister Peter Bunting would expand on the measures his upcoming contribution to the debate.

According to the PM, Jamaica’s new National Security Policy will be completed this year, which she said would “provide us with a framework to guide the national security apparatus and the administration of the criminal justice system.”

Bunting has made tackling crime and criminal funding a priority since the government took over in December.