The garden parish of St Ann, where the resort town of Ocho Rios is located, is the newest parish added under a fresh round of State of Emergency (SOE).
The security measure – now seen as the Government’s main crime fighting tool – was announced by Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Tuesday morning.
In addition to St Ann, Clarendon, St Catherine and specified areas of Kingston and St Andrew are under SOEs.
So, too, are St James, Westmoreland and Hanover.
According to Holness, “Since the end of the last state of emergency, we have seen, unfortunately, an increase in criminal activities in these areas and indeed a threat to property and in some instances, public disorder.”
The last SOE imposed from November 15 to November 28, has been credited for significant reduction in murders nationally.
However, the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) senators did not vote to extend the measure to January 14, 2023 – an action that led Holness to warn that a fresh round of SOEs could be called.
Now it has been done so, despite the Opposition maintaining that the SOEs – as a crime fighting tool – are unconstitutional.
Like he did in early November, Holness on Tuesday said there was a need to protect life and property as the Christmas season approaches.
“It is important to note that we are also approaching the Christmas season.
“This will be the first Christmas since the ending of the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA). And already, we’re seeing and projecting an increase in activities including entertainment activities, including increased commercial activities and we are already seeing a demand, a stretch on the resources that we have to guarantee the citizens that they will be able to go about their business in a safe and secure manner,” he stated.
Holness said he has been closely following the debate surrounding the SOEs in the Parliament and on social media.
“The question of whether the SOEs work to achieve the purpose for which they are intended, which is to protect and save lives, has very clearly and definitively been settled. The data could not be more conclusive,” the prime minister declared.
Speaking to that effect, Police Commissioner, Major General Antony Anderson, reported that in the areas where the SOEs were declared, 52 murders occurred in the two weeks before the declaration.
However, only 14 murders were recorded in the two weeks of the SOEs, while 20 killings occurred in those parishes the weeks after the SOEs were lifted.
Responding, Holness said: “The people who complain about the SOEs are not the people who benefit from them; where they have to hide under their beds; hide their daughters; can’t go to church, and they see their sons and their boyfriends and husbands killed.
“That’s a reality,” stated the prime minister.
