Opposition Senator K. D. Knight says politics is to be blamed for the current state of crime in Jamaica.

He was responding to questions posed by Government Senator Don Wehby, during the debate on the Zones of Special Operations.

Mr Wehby, in his contribution, said crime is crippling the economy and questioned how the country got to this point.

In response, Senator Knight said it was his view that the violence affecting the country started in the 1960’s.

He says the ‘dog heartedness’ started in Jamaica at that time with the spread of guns.

He says politicians have something to answer and have a role to play in reversing the trend of crime.

Senator Knight says too many politicians believe that they need the support of gunmen to win a seat in an election, when in fact they don’t.

He is advising young politicians not to get involved with these practices.

Meanwhile, Senator Knight is calling on the government to revive social intervention programmes, such as neighbourhood watch, which he says worked to prevent criminal activities in communities.

He says the Zones of Special Operations bill alone cannot solve the nation’s crime problems; it also requires sustained social intervention programmes.

He says programmes, such as the Neighbourhood Watch, allow citizens to develop policies that will secure their own communities.

And, up to news time the debate on the Zones of Special Operations bill was continuing in the Senate.

Government and Opposition Senators have been making their contribution to the bill since this morning’s sitting began.

Several Government Senators say the bill will go a far way in stemming the crime problem facing the country.

Senator Don Wehby says crime is affecting productivity and is ultimately crippling the economy.

Meanwhile, Opposition Senators say there are weaknesses in the bill which must be addressed.

For his part, Opposition Senator Mark Golding says there are several recommendations in the minority report which was not adopted by the government.

He says the bill does not provide any procedure for persons to get back critical documents which may be seized by the security forces during these operations.

This he says is among the major weaknesses in the bill.

Meanwhile, Senator Golding has also taken issue with Section 20 of the bill which speaks to registration of weapons and ammunition used in the zone of special operations.

The bill states that weapons must be registered with the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine prior to the conducting of operations, unless the Chief of Defence Staff or the Commissioner of Police determines otherwise.

Senator Golding questioned the need to give such privilege to one or two persons.