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Case studies / Comment

Jamaica

14/05/2007 By Angélica Durán Martínez

Violence and crime are on the rise in Jamaica and have a very negative impact on social integration and economic development.

According to the World Bank the direct cost of crime in the country represents 3.7 percent of GDP, including lost production, health expenses, and public and private spending on security.

The political violence that characterised Jamaica since its independence has evolved into drug-related violence. In some inner city communities, the incapacity of the state to protect and provide security is a huge problem, surpassing systematic corruption of the political system by criminal lords.

However, many public officials and civil society leaders allege that parliamentarians and community-level leaders of political parties receive drug proceeds and that national institutions may be deeply permeated by criminal interests (Transparency International, 2003).

In this context, four conditions increase the risk of criminal organisations penetrating the political system:

I. The continuous escalation of criminal activities;
II. The well entrenched nature of political parties, which has created problems of exclusion and lack of credibility;
III. The changing relation between the criminal activities of ‘Dons’ (Gang lords) and politics;
IV. The gap between relatively strong formal institutions and very weak law enforcement capacities, especially at the local level.

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Keywords

Corruption Crime Fragile state Jamaica Latin America & Caribbean

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Bio author: Angélica Durán Martínez