New alliances established between Kingston and New York

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

KINGSTON, Jamaica: New alliances in the areas of health, crime fighting and intelligence sharing have been forged between the City of Kingston and New York.

Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg who visited Jamaica on Sunday to meet with government officials, told journalists at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, that discussions were under way on the sharing of information on intelligence and crime fighting. He said the discussions were critical as the "world is becoming nationalized not just in commerce but in crime as well." 

"The security issues are important in this day and age, we live in a dangerous world where terrorists go around and we need to have good dialogue," Mayor Bloomberg pointed out in answer to questions posed about the reasons for the focus on crime. He also noted that it was important that terrorists were not allowed to access the island or use it as a point of entrance to get to New York nor vice versa. "You want to make sure you don't allow them to transition through your country whether they come here to Jamaica through New York or coming to New York through Jamaica," he stressed. 

Continuing, he stated that, "Drugs and other kinds of crimes," including guns, "are issues that transcend borders that both countries are concerned about." 

He noted that the alliance was necessary as New York City and Kingston, both being big cities, share the common problem associated with size - that of having excess guns and drugs in the streets. He divulged that similar alliances would be made with other big cities.

On another matter, Mayor Bloomberg mentioned that public health, such as HIV/AIDS, cancer and asthma and other kinds of "big city diseases" were a common experience of most countries that could be dealt with through cooperation in which information on how the diseases were handled by different cities was shared.

He said the call to establish relationships in which there was effective information sharing and an understanding of the cities would come in handy in the event of future difficulties. "It is going to benefit everybody," Mayor Bloomberg stated. 

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