Holness prepared to declare state of emergency in Central Kingston

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says if advised, he is prepared to declare a state of public emergency in Central Kingston. 

Holness was reacting to news that several houses on Beeston Street were set on fire by heavily armed gunmen on Tuesday before dawn, displacing more than 30 people. 

READ: Dozens in limbo as gunmen torch homes

As they fired wildly at the occupants, some of whom were children, one man was shot in the shoulder. 

He remains hospitalised.

“This must not happen in Jamaica. No criminal must feel that they have power, that they can go and burn down people's houses. It must never happen and I have said to the [police] commissioner, no stone must be left unturned to find those who have done it. It hurt me to my heart,” Holness said this morning while addressing the opening of the Olympic Gardens Police Station in St Andrew.

Calls have been made in recent weeks by the People's National Party caretaker for the constituency, Imani Duncan-Price, protesters and victims of crime for the declaration of a Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO) in the area.

The division has experienced a surge of more than 30 per cent in shootings and killings in 2021.

Recalling the events of the Eventide Home fire in 1980, which claimed the lives of more than 150 elderly women who were sleeping when the fire broke out, Holness reasoned that the trend of criminal activity in Central Kingston could move in that direction. 

“Commissioner and Chief of Defence Staff, this is something that we need to look at closely because there must never be a time when criminals feel that they are above the law. They must shake when they see us,” he remarked. 

- Judana Murphy

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