THE LONG delay by Parliament to debate and pass the six anti-crime bills now before the House of Representatives has irritated the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).

The group has called on parliamentarians to immediately approve and implement strong legislative measures to rein in the worsening crime problem in Jamaica.

Nine months after the bills were tabled in Gordon House, the seat of Parliament, the PSOJ says it views with "absolute dismay" the failure of the country's legislators to pass the "much-awaited" crime bills.

In a news release yesterday, president of the PSOJ, Christopher Zacca, said: "It is unacceptable that a matter as critical as the nation's worsening crime situation has not received the priority attention it deserves from our political leaders."

At Tuesday's sitting of the House of Representatives, no mention was made of the six crime bills, despite the tabling of a report in December 2008, from a joint select committee which completed its deliberation.

To maintain law

The private-sector group reiterated the urgency for the country's political leaders to enact legislation that would assist the Jamaica Constabulary Force in restoring and maintaining law and order in the country. More than 624 Jamaicans have been murdered since the beginning of the year.

On Tuesday, The Gleaner reported that the anti-crime bills now languishing before Parliament had stalled.

Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives, Andrew Holness, told The Gleaner in a recent interview that the anti-crime bills were not ready for debate as they were still "under negotiation".