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October 10, 2008
Committee to lobby against child murders
Putting an end to the senseless killing of children is the primary objective of lobby group Hear The Children Cry, who have proposed a system of emergency response as the major tool in their plan of action to curb these attacks.
The committee outlined a six point action plan in a recent release and vow to aggressively approach the issue with aims at working with all Jamaicans to figure out the way forward.
Betty Ann Blaine convened the committee and she expressed how devastating the recent upsurge of horrific child murders have been for her committee and the nation. In their call for a nationwide emergency response, the committee intends to lobby government and other agencies to investigate this high priority system that ought to be put in place when children are reported missing.
The committee pointed out, “We recognize that the first 12 to 24 hours are the most critical for action, regarding the chances of finding an abducted child alive.”
The proposed system would be similar to North America’s Amber Alert that was named after an abducted victim and has served the continent well in averting fatalities amongst missing children.
Ananda Alert, is what Hear The Children’s Cry propose as the name for the Jamaican emergency response system; after Jamaican missing child Ananda Dean who was reported missing since September 17.
How the system works is that all security enforcement and childcare agencies will be immediately mobilized to look out for the missing child. In addition to this, Blaine explained that a multi-pronged approach to a nationwide manhunt would not only encourage each citizen to look out for the child but would also include community networks, media and telecommunications.
The remaining action plan items are:
Lobbying the Government to amend the ruling requiring the police to wait 24 hours to initiate action following a missing person's report.
Lobbying Government to establish child patrol units in all transportation centres used by schoolchildren.
Lobbying Government to establish an effective school bus system for all Jamaica.
Pressing for a public education programme warning children about potential abductors.
Urging schools across the island to carry out a similar programme for their students as an urgent priority.
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