KINGSTON, Jamaica — The youth affiliate of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Generation 2000 (G2K), says that “actions of the criminal elements involved in major crimes like lottery scamming and extortion are taking the lives of the best and brightest young people in Jamaica”.

G2K President Stephen Edwards made the remark while speaking at the funeral service for G2K member Anthony Ross, in Glengoffe, St Catherine on Saturday.

A release from the organisation this morning said that Ross, who was the vice chairman for G2K’s Hanover chapter, “became an innocent bystander whose life was snuffed out when gunmen opened fire on the taxi in which he was travelling home from work”.

Edwards encouraged youth to get involved in police youth groups, service groups and the church in an effort to “save Jamaica’s future from crime”.

“The good book says that you shouldn’t have faith without works. So, when I say that it is time for young people to get involved I don’t mean that you should just sign up as a member and go to meetings. Getting involved means that you have to organize and mobilize in such a way that you become a part of the solution,” he said.