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National Security Minister Peter Bunting has announced that curfews will be imposed in sections of St James following a spate of killings since Thursday when six persons were killed and another injured.
Bunting who on Friday toured Rose Heights and Norwood where double killings occurred, said he will be heading to the United States next week for talks concerning security.
“Myself and the Permanent Secretary in my Ministry will be going to Washington next week to hold talks with a number of State Department and law enforcement officials there with a view to increasing the levels of operation in the fight against lottery scamming, narcotics trafficking and also building the capabilities of the local security forces to counter any attempts at violent extremism, he said."
Bunting added that 75 per cent of the murders in western Jamaica occurred in St James, Westmoreland and Hanover, and most of the killings were linked to the lottery scam and gangs.
“We are redoubling our efforts to put additional resources in the St. James division as of next week. The area itself has established an anti-lottery scam unit,” he explained.
Hunt for criminals underway
Senior Superintendent Steve McGregor, head of the St James Police, vowed that his officers will continue to hunt down those behind the spate of murders.
He said the number of murders was not unusual as the parish has had a long history of violence, with more than 160 people killed last year.
The senior cop said the police were doing their best to target criminals, with more than 80 fugitives arrested and charged in recent months.
Those killed
A woman was among the six killed in the parish. Elizabeth Robinson,43, a craft vendor of Ocho Rios, St Ann was killed at the Harbour Street Craft Market while unloading her goods, when a gunman shot her in the head.
In Rose Heights, a taxi operator, who plied the Flanker to downtown Montego Bay route, and his nephew, were killed outside their home in the Matches Lane community on Thursday afternoon.
They are Phillip Campbell, 62 and Kevin Campbell, 42. The police report that at a bout 2:45, the men returned home when a gunman shot them.
Norwood was also the scene of a double murder.
Patrick Williams, 31, a security guard, and his uncle, David Dilbert, 42, a labourer of Hendon Norwood, were also killed Thursday night.
Also in Norwood, Shawn Hudson, 31, otherwise called ‘Thugs’, of Third Avenue, was shot and killed about 2:50 Thursday afternoon. A man and a woman were also shot and injured in Roehampton.
The number of murders in the parish since the start of the year has increased to more than 120.
National priority
In light o these latest incidents, a desperate call is coming from the business community for more intervention to tackle the crime problem in St James.
Gloria Henry, President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, is concerned about the impact on potential investors.
“We are looking to engage with the Minister of National Security, because we believe that a national priority needs to be extended in St. James... but Westmoreland and Hanover are catching up. We are saying to the Minister of National Security that this needs to be a national priority at this time,” she said.