The Westmoreland Police are investigating the seizure of a Chrome and Black
9mm Pistol along with a magazine containing four rounds of ammunition seized on the Frome
main road in Westmoreland on Saturday, January 29.

Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson has given a commitment that measures will be implemented to curtail the country's high murder rate.

Last week the Parliamentary opposition gave General Anderson an ultimatum to get crime under control in the next 60 days or resign.

General Anderson says the crime rate has been trending down, however he concedes that murders have been posing a challenge.

He says strategies are being employed to address that problem.

“So we are dong everything we can and we are building a force with more capacity, we are doing some other things right now to become more agile. We are recovering the guns, our intelligence is working - we are getting all major crimes down and we will get murders down also.” 

The Commissioner also said that the the Jamaica Constabulary Force, JCF, continues to be hampered by a lack of adequate resources and these are further interrupted by the pandemic.

He added that there is also a need for greater focus on funding for the JCF. 

‘There has been low investment in the JCF for decades. A building doesn’t run down to ruins in a day. What would be good, is a combined focus on the gunmen and a combined agreement on how to fund the force, to become that force that we want,” the Commissioner said. 

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has ruled that no charges should be laid against former Agriculture Minister Floyd Green for alleged breaches of the Disaster Risk Management Act in September last year.

She has also ruled that no charges should be laid against the other partygoers including his advisor, Gabrielle Hylton; Councillor Andrew Bellamy and Dave Powell, an employee of the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

The ruling was handed down on Friday following months of deliberations by the country's Chief Prosecutor, Paula Llewellyn.

Head of Crime, Deputy Commissioner Fitz Bailey said that the DPP ruled that based on the evidence gathered in the investigation, there is no legal basis to lay charges against Mr Green and the other persons.

CTOC had written to the Director late last year for a legal opinion on whether Mr Green violated the Disaster Risk Management Act by attending a party at a New Kingston based hotel on a no movement day last year.

Mr Green resigned his post following public uproar over a video which showed persons at the party mocking the no movement day, introduced by the government to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.

Mr Green, who has apologised for his actions, was recently reappointed to the Cabinet by Prime Minister Andrew Holness as Minister Without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister.

“The level of crime in Jamaica is intolerable and abnormal”, was the
sentiment shared by head of the Crime and Security Portfolio, Deputy Commissioner of Police
(DCP) Fitz Bailey, speaking at a press briefing on wanted persons at his Kingston office today.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says rising jet fuel prices are likely to cause airfares to increase this year based on current trends, as airlines grapple with higher operating costs