The Police Service Commission has announced the appointment of Major General Antony Anderson as Commissioner of Police for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), with effect from the 19th of March, 2017.
Major General Anderson currently serves as the National Security Advisor, a post he has filled since being appointed in December 2016. The first person to serve in this capacity in Jamaica, he is the principal advisor to the Prime Minister and Cabinet on internal and external security, intelligence and defense matters. He is responsible for coordinating security activities across government and liaison with overseas security and intelligence entities.
According to the Police Services Commission, Major General Anderson has developed a keen understanding of the critical nature of the JCF in securing Jamaica.
Major General Anderson has had a distinguished military career in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) spanning 34 years, culminating in his six-year tenure as Chief of Defence Staff. During his command, he was responsible for implementing integrated technologies to enhance command and control situational awareness within the JDF, allowing for more agile responses to evolving security risks. He was instrumental in modernizing physical infrastructure, acquiring major equipment and developing personnel to create a more flexible capability-driven Force.
During his career, Major General Anderson has been educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, at the Canadian Forces Staff School and the Canadian Land Forces Staff College, at the International Officer Studies Division of the United States Army Command and General Staff College and at the Harvard Kennedy School of Management, Cambridge, USA.
The Commission further states that Major General Anderson has the demonstrated ability to lead the JCF at an important point of transformation, strengthening relationships with the other bodies that make up the island’s security architecture. He will be responsible for enhancing the public security services in the country, improving public order, reducing corruption and improving management and accountability within the Force.
Major General Anderson succeeds George Quallo as Commissioner of Police.
This composite shows the “A.E. ‘Ted’ Dexter Building” prominently displayed after its unveiling on the Montego Cooperative Credit Union Building (top photo) in Sam Sharpe Square on July 21, 2011, while bottom photo shows the name replaced by the Gateway Cooperative Credit Union (2017) Limited signage.
Family members of the late Arlington Dexter are hopping mad, and with good reason. The family has expressed its strong disapproval of the actions of the management of Gateway Cooperative Credit Union in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.
The ill feeling developed after it was discovered that the sign indicating that the credit union building, which was formally named the “A.E. ‘Ted’ Dexter Building” on July 21, 2011, in honour of Mr. Dexter, had been removed and replaced without a courteous word to the family.
“Nobody contacted us,” said Mr. Dexter’s widow, Christine Dexter.
At the time of the renaming, it was the Montego Cooperative Credit Union which subsequently merged with the Hanover Credit Cooperative Credit Union to form Gateway. The metallic letters spelling out “A.E. ‘Ted’ Dexter Building”, which were embedded into the front of the building, have been replaced by a Gateway Cooperative Credit Union (2017) Limited sign.
Mrs. Dexter said it came to her attention when “people keep on saying to me, ‘a pass and a don’t see your husband name on the building anymore. What happen?”
Her brother-in-law, noted musician Noel Dexter, also visited Montego Bay and having noticed the change, enquired why. “People have been saying, nearly every week there’s somebody asking what happen,” said Mr. Dexter.
She said when she tried to get the manager “at one stage I was on the phone holding on for eternity and nobody comes to the phone.”
She admitted that the family was peeved. “We’re upset about it; it’s not the credit union that was named, it’s the building, so even if they change the name of the credit union, it has nothing to do with the building,” she postulated.
Mrs. Dexter recalled that her husband was “very instrumental in acquiring those buildings for the credit union.” He served the credit union over many years, firstly as a director and treasurer and later as general manager.
The buildings she referred to included one on Church Street in 1978, two in Sam Sharpe Square in 1979 and 1988, an apartment in Albion Court in 1981 and land for housing development in Salt Spring in 1988 at a total cost of less than $2.5 million. The Albion Court apartment and Salt Spring property were subsequently sold.
President of Gateway Credit Union, Lambert Johnson has intervened and instructed that the “A.E. ‘Ted’ Dexter Building” name be restored on the Sam Sharpe Square building.
“It was first brought to my attention about two weeks ago. Absolutely no such instructions were given,” said Mr. Johnson.
He said the name was removed for work to be done on the front of the building and it should have been restored “and I have given instructions for it to be retained.”
His word to the Dexter family is that “as the president, I am going to ensure that it is replaced.”
The parish of St. James recorded its second murder since the State of Public Emergency was declared on January 18, when gunmen pounced in the community of Cool Water, Spring Mount, snuffing out the life of 37-year-old Detroy Johnson, otherwise called ‘Ritchie’.
Information gleaned by the Western Mirror indicates that about 1:30 a.m., Johnson was at home when he was awakened by a knock on the door.
He answered and two men dressed in blue denim and armed with firearms entered the house and went to his room, where they shot him several times.
The police were summoned and, on their arrival, they found Johnson’s bullet-riddled body in his room.
He was later transported to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Johnson’s death takes the murder tally in the parish since the start of the year to 14.
Meanwhile, a blazing gun battle between the police and a man along Great George Street in Westmoreland on Saturday has left the man dead.
Dead is 28-year-old Errol Cunningham, otherwise called ‘McCries’ of New Market Oval in the parish.
One 9mm Taurus Pro Pistol containing six 9mm rounds of ammunition was seized during the incident. The matter was reported to the Independent Commission of Investigation and the Inspectorate of the Constabulary.
And, the police were again kept busy on Sunday when they were called to a murder scene at Strathbogie in the parish.
The victim has been identified as 22-year-old Romaine Edwards of a Strathbogie address.
Reports are that about 9:15 p.m., Edwards was riding his motorcycle in the community when he came under heavy gunfire from unknown assailants.
Residents who heard the gunfire summoned the police, who upon their arrival, saw Edwards lying in a pool of blood with multiple gunshot wounds.
He was subsequently taken to the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Edwards’ death sees the spike in murders in Westmoreland moving to 23 since the start of the year.
Sections of the damaged Accident and Emergency Department
Heightened security measures will be implemented at the Falmouth Hospital in Trelawny, following a stone-and-bottle throwing incident on Sunday.
In that incident, glass door to the Accident and Emergency Department was shattered, and three staff members, including a nurse, were injured. The attack on the facility stemmed from accusations by relatives and friends of 34-year-old Dwayne Faulkner who died at the hospital while undergoing treatment for injuries he sustained in a motor vehicle crash, that if medical personnel had acted faster he would not have died.
Police reports indicate that Faulkner of Florence Hall, Trelawny, was killed when the motorcar he was driving crashed into a tree in Martha Brae in the parish on Sunday, February 25.
The ill-fated car in which Faulkner was traveling.
The Falmouth Police say investigations have revealed that about 5:40 a.m., Faulkner was driving a Nissan AD wagon motorcar along the North Coast Highway. He was allegedly exiting the Highway in the vicinity of Martha Brae, when he lost control of the motor vehicle, which then crashed into a palm tree.
Faulkner, along with four other persons who were in the motorcar; sustained multiple injuries and were assisted to hospital, where Faulkner died. The others were admitted.
Dwayne Faulkner
Persons who knew Mr. Faulkner related that his new daughter was not even three days old when he lost his life. It was also related that he was a businessman who operated a rent-a-car operation in the town of Falmouth.
Meanwhile, Kenneth Grant, Chairman of the board of management of the Falmouth Hospital, has condemned the stone-throwing incident, describing it as unfortunate. Mr. Grant declared that while he sympathizes with their loss, it does not justify persons attacking the facility. He lamented the current state of the society, citing that people are prone to resort to violence instead of trying to talk to resolve their problems.
He insisted that persons should instead thank persons employed to hospitals for their hard work that they do day in and day out, for the people of Jamaica, giving special commendation to the staff at the Falmouth Hospital at the time of the incident, whom, he said remained resolute despite the challenges.
Mr. Grant also indicated that new security measures would be implemented and the damaged areas would be repaired soon.
The yelps of dogs fighting over a bloodied brassiere led a search party to the gruesome discovery of the decomposing body of 20-year-old Petrice Porteous on Sunday. She had gone missing some two weeks earlier.
Porteous, affectionately called Little One’, of Mount Peace district in Hanover, went missing on February 13. Following days of searching by the police, family members and residents, her body was found in a shallow grave in the neighbouring community of Kew Top.
Reports indicate that Miss Porteous, who was the mother of a three-year-old daughter and who worked at a call centre in Sandy Bay, was last seen after leaving home for work on February 13. Her twin sister Patrice said she last spoke to her sister that day.
“She called me and asked if I had reached home and I told her ‘no’, and she mentioned that she was at work. I told her that it did not sound like she was at work, but like she was in a car and she hissed her teeth and hung up the phone,” Patrice explained.
Patrice said when she got home, she made several calls to her sister but got no reply. She regarded this as strange, as Petrice always wanted to speak with her daughter. However, the twin sister said she later received a call from her cousin indicating that Petrice was at her house.
“My cousin told me she came to the house and later she received a call saying her driver had come so she (Petrice) would speak to her and she left. We did not see her nor hear from her since that time,” she said.
Having failed to make contact with Petrice up to late Friday night, a search party was arranged by relatives on Saturday but after hours of searching, she was not found.
It was the yelps of dogs on Sunday which alerted residents to the discovery of Petrice’s body. The dogs were fighting over a bloodied brassiere.
NOT A GOOD SIGHT
“The police called us to identify her shoes, which were also on the scene and when we saw the body, she was wearing the same clothes she went missing in. It was not a good sight,” Patrice said.
The woman’ father, Adolphus Porteous, questioned why someone would do this to his daughter.
“She and her twin sister are my last children; they are wonderful girls. Petrice was a loving daughter; I don’t know of her doing anything bad to anybody. Whosoever do this to her is so wicked. Why dem have to do this to make me feel this way right now?” he lamented.
The crime scene drew scores of persons, many of whom cried openly. They described Petrice as a quiet, hardworking woman, who loved her young child endlessly.
One woman told the Western Mirror, “A wickedness this; the girl don’t even talk loud, she only goes from work to home. God not sleeping, no sin goes unpunished.”
A police source said it would appear that Petrice was killed elsewhere and her body buried at the location. Also, a black substance resembling engine oil was believed to have been thrown on the body by her killer(s), presumably to keep down the scent.
A mother and son have since been taken into custody as the Hanover police seek to unravel the mystery surrounding the death. The son is said to have been the deceased’s boyfriend.
A marked lull in murders in St. James since the introduction of the State of Public Emergency on January 18, has failed to stem the flood of victims accessing the services of the Victim Support Division in the parish.
Debbian Dalley, Manager, Victim Support Division in St. James, says on average, between 70 to 80 persons visit the office monthly and the stream of persons visiting continues unabated.
“The lull in murders has not caused a decline in the number of persons requiring targeted assistance to manage the emotional trauma associated with and caused by crime. What we are seeing is that many of those persons who were affected directly by murders or violent crimes are just now coming forward for assistance.”
Last year, St. James recorded 335 murders and Mrs. Dalley says some of the victims are just now coming forward for assistance, as they realize that they would need help to deal with all the emotional issues affecting them following such traumatic events.
She said of the monthly figures, the majority or 50, are generally new cases, while another 30 are follow up cases.
“What we are finding, however, is that the numbers are dominated by women and girls as in any given month, there are no more than six males coming forward to learn coping mechanisms, how to deal with anger and so we are seeing more aggression and retaliation, as people seek violent means to avenge the death of their loved ones,” she explained.
Mrs. Dalley said very rarely do fathers come for counselling and therapy sessions, which could be due in part to the upbringing where boys and men are taught not to show emotions, so they internalize the hurt, which is manifested in other ways, most times in violent episodes.
“The men sometimes think they have another way of dealing with the issues affecting them; in some instances, they internalize the hurt and this is manifested in other ways, for example aggression. So sometimes when you talk to these men, you realize that the anger and aggression is fueled by the way their sons or brother was murdered, but because they did not go through a healthy healing process, they lash out at society,” Dalley explained.
She said it would be good to see some of the fathers, sons and brothers coming forward for counselling and learning how to let go of the hurt and the pain.
Forty-two-year-old, Valesha Vidal’s worst nightmare came to life early Saturday morning, when news broke that the life of her only daughter, 14-year-old Tianna Clarke, an eighth grade student of St. James High, was gruesomely snuffed out.
Miss Vidal, of Cunningham Drive, Granville in St. James, fainted on hearing the news and was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, for treatment.
“I am stressed out. I am at a loss; my one daughter gone. I have not eaten since Saturday; I have not slept since Saturday. It would be better if him rape her and leave her and run away. I could deal with that, but this?! Oh God man, mi caan manage this,”she said as she burst into tears while speaking to the Western Mirror.
The Granville Police report that about 8:30 a.m., Saturday, a passerby saw the body and summoned them. On their arrival, Tianna’s body was seen on the ground with wounds to the face. The scene was processed and the body removed to the morgue. A man known only as ‘Zoo Bug’ of Brown Lane, Granville, is now in police custody in connection with the crime.
MOTHER’S ACCOUNT
Miss Vidal related that on Friday at about 8 p.m., she was in her room when Tianna came and said she wanted ten dollars to add to the money she had to buy a cup soup. “I was lying on the bed and I fell asleep. It was the coughing of one of her brothers that woke me up and I came to the room and asked ‘where is Tianna?’ and they said she was not there. I started cursing them and said ‘your sister don’t come in and it so late and you don’t tell me?’”.
Miss Vidal said because it was after eleven o’clock in the night, she was afraid to go out on the road, so she resorted to calling Tianna’s paternal grandmother to make queries about her whereabouts. She then called her father but got no response. She also wondered whether Tianna had gone to stay with a friend who visited her earlier on Friday.
“I could not sleep so I got up about 5:30 Saturday morning, and her father came to see me about 6 o’clock. He asked me for her and I told him she was not here and said I thought she was with him.”
She walked through the community making queries for her daughter but to no avail; no one could tell where she was. She subsequently received a call from the police station telling her to come there because Tianna’s father had reported her missing.
Miss Vidal went to the station but was sent home to get a picture of her daughter. On her way home, her cousin called her to tell her that the police had found the body of a little girl beside an unfinished building and they thought it could be Tianna.
When Ms. Vidal arrived on the scene, the police were there already and the body was already placed in a bag and they refused to let her see it. There was blood on the ground and on the wall of the unfinished house.
“My cousin told me that she was wearing a black and white sweat suit top, but she was naked from her waist down, and she had a hit in the head and looked like a torn scandal bag was on her head. She was asthmatic, so I don’t know if it’s the head lick or asthma attack that knocked her out. She had left the house in the black and white sweat suit top.”
NO MONEY TO BURY HER
“I don’t know how I am going to manage. I don’t have the first cent to bury my daughter. I was working but since January, I have not worked. I have three boys: one 20, one 17 and another one who is 5. They are not taking it well. The bigger ones have left the area; they cannot take it.”
Meanwhile, a sombre mood still prevailed at the St. James High School, where Vice Principal Yvonne Panther, fighting back tears, related that Tianna was a focused child, and diligent with her school work, a claim her mother echoed.
“Tianna was the type of student who, if a teacher did not turn up for class, she would come to the office and ask me about what work should be done for that session. She was a very promising student who was active in school life and well-loved,” Vice Principal Panther disclosed.
“We had to console the form teacher because to see that empty seat was traumatic for her her. The classmates are not taking it well at all. So, we have to give them a little time to come to grips with this tragedy, even though the trauma team from the Ministry of Education met with them yesterday and counselled and consoled them.”
Mrs. Panther said the justice system is too lax on those persons who rape and kill, and must be amended to include stiffer penalties, suggesting that the cat-o-nine tails was one used and could be reintroduced.
COMMISSIONING: All are pleased as Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College Board of Governors Chairman, Norman Reid (2nd left) and Acting Principal, Lorna Gow-Morrison (3rd left) jointly cut the blue ribbon to officially commission into service, a $6 million 60Kv generator to serve the college. They are supported by Vice Principal, Administration and Development, Marcia Thomas (left) and Vice Principal Academic, Robert Edwards (right). The unit was commissioned on campus Monday morning, February 19, 2018.
The Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College in Granville, St James, has made a significant step towards reducing dependence on the public electricity supply company and be able to function during power outages.
On Monday morning, February 19, 2018, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Norman Reid and Acting Principal, Lorna Gow-Morrison, were joined by other faculty members, administrative and support staff and students as they commissioned a 60Kv electricity generator erected on the campus at a cost OF $6 million. The cost-efficient generator uses low sulphur diesel and has the capacity to run for nine consecutive hours as it powersa block of classrooms and the college’s administrative building.
Should the need arise, with a significant reduction in the use of air-conditioning units, electricity may be supplied to a third building.
Mr Reid spoke to the significance of the generator, stating, “I think it is a great achievement, the fact that we have been able to put in this standby generator. It is not driving the entire campus initially, but this is the first step and it is our intention that with further upgrade, we will be able to go all the way to the dorms and other areas not presently served.”
Mr Reid said this was one of many infrastructural improvements taking place on the campus, among them refurbishing of the playfield and construction of a diagnostic centre which will receive its first set of students at the start of the next semester in September. The college has also approached the Universal Service Fund for funding to facilitate internet support for both the campus and access by the wider community.
Mrs. Gow-Morrison presented the generator “as a means through which we will be empowered to impact, and a means through which we will be impacted as we strive to serve you in ways that show that we care and ways that ensure that you are experiencing growth with us as we transform your lives to become better agents of transformation.”
The addition to the college’s infrastructure was also welcomed by President of the Students Guild, Roxroy Roache, who said it was long overdue, but all were now glad that it was in place to assist. He implored all to ensure it remained safe.
The commissioning was chaired by Vice Principal Academic, Robert Edwards and blessed by College Chaplain, Rev. Godfrey Francis. Also, in attendance were Vice Principal Administration and Development, Marcia Thomas and Officer for Placement and Promotions, Tania Barnes-Brown.
Shamir Brown
Trelawny Correspondent
While expressing gratitude for the proposed plans by the National Works Agency (NWA) to address some of the roadways affected by recent heavy rains and flooding, Member of Parliament (MP) for Northern Trelawny, Victor Wright, wants more to be done to deal with the road issues in the parish.
The first time MP, speaking on the backdrop that a number of roadways in Trelawny have been in poor conditions for extended periods of time, even before the rains, highlighted that coming out of planned expenditure, Trelawny is set to benefit from work totaling 35 million dollars, which he deems a drop in the bucket. “Our highest impact road, the Wakefield to Springvale alone, requires about 700 million dollars, but we have only gotten 15 million to patch,” he pointed out.
He explained that while he understands about natural disasters and their effects, he wants the government to respond in more fulsome ways and for the NWA to lobby more on behalf of the roads in the parish. “While we have been having unusual rainfall since October, the problem predates October and I’m just calling for the necessary attention to address the problem,” he lamented. He also pointed out that Trelawny is one of the worst-affected following the adverse weather conditions, and that he would want the government to look at the parish in a non-partisan way and put in the requisite resources to get the problems fixed.
At this point, the tendering process is now completed and they are in the selection aspect of the planned programme, which he expects to start pretty soon. In addition to the previously mentioned work, the overall scope of work will see 10 million dollars being used to deal with the roadway from Wakefield to Hampden, 4.6 million dollars from Salt Marsh to Kent, and a pre-existing 6 million dollars that will be spent on the Granville to Wakefield road.
This initiative is part of a wider scope of work which is expected to cover 15 corridors in seven parishes that have been significantly impacted by flood rains, since last year April. According to information coming out of the NWA, contracts valued at over 220 million dollars were approved recently for the works to be undertaken. The NWA is currently going through the procurement process for several other projects that will be implemented under a revised Capital A programme, valued at a total of $1.3 billion.
While expressing gratitude for the proposed plans by the National Works Agency (NWA) to address some of the roadways affected by recent heavy rains and flooding, Member of Parliament (MP) for Northern Trelawny, Victor Wright, wants more to be done to deal with the road issues in the parish.
The first time MP, speaking on the backdrop that a number of roadways in Trelawny have been in poor conditions for extended periods of time, even before the rains, highlighted that coming out of planned expenditure, Trelawny is set to benefit from work totaling 35 million dollars, which he deems a drop in the bucket. “Our highest impact road, the Wakefield to Springvale alone, requires about 700 million dollars, but we have only gotten 15 million to patch,” he pointed out.
He explained that while he understands about natural disasters and their effects, he wants the government to respond in more fulsome ways and for the NWA to lobby more on behalf of the roads in the parish. “While we have been having unusual rainfall since October, the problem predates October and I’m just calling for the necessary attention to address the problem,” he lamented. He also pointed out that Trelawny is one of the worst-affected following the adverse weather conditions, and that he would want the government to look at the parish in a non-partisan way and put in the requisite resources to get the problems fixed.
At this point, the tendering process is now completed and they are in the selection aspect of the planned programme, which he expects to start pretty soon. In addition to the previously mentioned work, the overall scope of work will see 10 million dollars being used to deal with the roadway from Wakefield to Hampden, 4.6 million dollars from Salt Marsh to Kent, and a pre-existing 6 million dollars that will be spent on the Granville to Wakefield road.
This initiative is part of a wider scope of work which is expected to cover 15 corridors in seven parishes that have been significantly impacted by flood rains, since last year April. According to information coming out of the NWA, contracts valued at over 220 million dollars were approved recently for the works to be undertaken. The NWA is currently going through the procurement process for several other projects that will be implemented under a revised Capital A programme, valued at a total of $1.3 billion.
The Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) is the power company in Jamaica that controls the distribution and consumption of the precious commodity. The company has grown leaps and bounds from the days of blackouts and load-shedding, however, despite the improvement in efficiency, the company has been plagued by allegations of poor customer service, especially in the area of billing and distribution.
In Hanover, the only office of the JPS in the parish is based in Lucea, which is a central point for some residents, but a far stretch for others, especially those on the eastern side in places such as Ramble, Content, Haddington and Miles Town etc.
The services provided by the office in Lucea are significant, especially for the elderly and that is why I was very perplexed when I got information that there were plans to relocate the light and power company’s office from within the parish.
At first, I thought it was a joke, but on further investigation, I was reliably informed that the company had sent out an Internal Memo to members of staff and had held a meeting with them last week Wednesday to discuss the issue. It is my understanding that coming out of the meeting, the staff was informed that the company was still negotiating with unions and government entities and consultations are being held with stakeholders in the parish, and so another meeting will be reconvened with them in two weeks’ time.
I strongly suspect that this meeting will be held in two weeks, but it will be to inform the staff, and later on the public, that the company was indeed closing its doors in Hanover. If this is true, then something must be wrong with doing business in Hanover. Why would the JPS want to close its Lucea offices? If the office is closed, where would pensioners and other persons from the parish go when they need to make enquiries about their bills? What benefits would people in the parish get if the JPS office is relocated? These are serious questions that need to be answered.
IS HANOVER CLOSED FOR BUSINESS?
With this latest development, I am wondering if Hanover is closed for business.Why do I say this?A few years ago, Scotia Bank Lucea was closed for business. The bank, in their opinion, was just not making money, so they shutter their doors and told us that we should use the ATMs that are at the locations. But can ATMs talk to customers? Can ATMS give loans to customers? Then to add insult to injury, National Commercial Bank downgraded its branch, removing Full Branch Status. What is happening why major institutions feel that they don’t need to have any business offices in Hanover? Where are our leaders? Why are they so quiet? Are any of them even aware that these changes are being contemplated by JPS?
Apart from Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels, who I have heard voicing his disapproval, it’s like our leaders are clueless as to what is happening around them and the implications for the wider Hanover. If JPS should close its doors it will be a sad day for Hanoverians who will have to travel to Montego Bay and Westmoreland to have their concerns, such as billings issues, heard. It is unfair and we need to take a stand that this doesn’t happen. I want the JPS to publicly comment on this issue. Will they be closing the Lucea offices? Have they been consulting with residents and businesses in the parish? If so, by what medium?
Hanover right now appears to be rock bottom in everything. It’s about time someone takes the interest of the parish and fight for it. The residents, including the old and vulnerable, would appreciate this, if it’s even for once.
