OCHO RIOS, St Ann The army and the police are insisting that an extension of the State of Emergency would have strengthened the efforts of the security forces in their push to flush out criminals islandwide.

Defending his organisation's call for an extension of the State of Emergency, Colonel General Staff at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), Rocky Meade, on Friday likened the country's crime problem to a serious illness and said the just-lifted State of Emergency was the antidote

"I assure you that if you don't allow us to complete the dosage, it's going to be worse next time, so we need your support and the emergency powers would have allowed us to efficiently deal with this problem," Colonel Meade told business leaders Friday during a Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) president's forum at Sunset Jamaica Grande in St Ann.

In a similar vein, Police Commissioner Owen Ellington said: "The work which we started on the 23rd of May is not over. It could not have been completed in the short space of time, between then and now. We were anticipating an extension of those limited powers so we could have completed the job," he said.

Meade noted that the high rates of murder and other crimes in the country were symptoms of an underlying illness which could be effectively treated by an extension of the State of Emergency.

"The high murder rate, as bad as is it, is simply a symptom of the problem we have and you all were not convinced of what the illness was before the 23rd of May," Meade said.

"You've all got to realise what the illness is, but the illness is not yet cured," Meade said. "The operation must be sustained and that continued emergency powers would have further strengthened the security forces' efforts."

The Colonel said the events of May 23, in which organised criminal gangs launched an attack on the security forces, demonstrated that criminal elements were willing and had some ability to challenge the State.

Ellington added that organised crime was one of the most credible threats to the country's national security system.

He, however, said the security forces were committed in the fight against criminals and expressed optimism that the crime fighting strategies now being crafted would be successful.

Between May 23 when the operation started, and last Friday, the security forces said they had seized 113 illegal weapons, including 57 high-powered shotguns and rifles, and more than 15,000 rounds of ammunition in West Kingston.

An additional 29 illegal weapons and more than 1,200 rounds of ammunition have also been seized in the last two months.

For his part, PSOJ President Joseph Matalon again expressed disappointment with the events in parliament on Tuesday which led to the discontinuation of the State of Emergency.

With the Governing Jamaica Labour Party short six of its MPs, the People's National Party (PNP) members abstained en bloc, effectively defeating the Government's motion to extend the limited State of Emergency by a month.

The motion needed at least 31 votes to pass, but though it received all 25 from the JLP, it was not enough against the 18 abstentions by the PNP.