He just lost his grandson, the victim of a kidnapping and murder.

Now, Camden City Council President Curtis Jenkins, Sr., wants opportunity for the residents of his long-crime-ravaged city.

Jenkins this afternoon appeared at the microphone on the heels of the mayor in front of the Governor’s Task Force examining the administration of NJ Economic Development Authority (NJEDA)tax incentives.

“If we don’t prepare our folks to take advantage of these opportunities, it’s going to be all for nothing,” Jenkins said.

There must, he said, be some kind of mechanism in the tax incentive program to prepare Camden residents for jobs in the city.

“The people of Camden are my main concern,” he added.

“Anyone receiving these tax incentives needs some kind of mechanism to train people for these jobs,” Jenkins said.

He retired from the Laborers’ International Union where, over the course of  30-plus-year career, he spent just a handful of months on projects in his home city, he lamented to the task force.