Warning to extortionists
Holness dares gangsters to ‘try it and see’ what happens if they attempt to take charge of lands marked for development
Published:Thursday | April 17, 2025 | 12:14 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness is warning dons and gangsters who think they are entitled to ‘protection’ and control of developmental lands owned by the State, to “try it and see”.
Holness was speaking yesterday afternoon during the contract signing and groundbreaking of the Raintree Commercial Complex at Ferry Park in St Catherine.
“Play the fool and find out,” the prime minister declared on the backend of his keynote address.
Holness said he thought very carefully about driving home the point, which was a reiteration of comments he had made during a previous groundbreaking for the new wing at the Spanish Town Hospital.
“At that groundbreaking, I was quite clear that if it took the deployment of the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) to secure the site and to run the site as if it were a military barracks, then that is what I will do to ensure that no criminal, that no don, that no one who feels they have control over any area can come here and say they are securing the site or extorting,” Holness said.
He said the Government could not allow such actions to take hold at the beginning of the construction, as it would mean the administration had given up the sovereign control of the State over the development and set the basis on which crimes like extortion would reign.
“So for those criminals listening, for those dons listening, for those who feel that they have control over this area, try it and see. Yes mon, try it and see, play the fool, and find out,” Holness said, adding that he could not be any clearer in his position.
“I keep telling people, it took us nine years to get to this point,” the prime minister said, in speaking of the decline in crime, particularly murders. “There are those who believe that what is happening today started yesterday.
“It took us nine years to put in zones of special operations (ZOSOs), deployment of the states of public emergency. While that was happening we were investing in the JDF, maximising the equipment and capability and training. We have moved the JDF from a complement of about 4,000; they are about 8,000 now,” Holness said.
He also spoke on the changes to the police force providing additional resources.
“The JCF today is not the same as the JCF 10 years ago. Cases that would happen and go cold and [got] no results, within weeks you are seeing the results. So those criminals who think that they are operating in the same space are mistaken. And it is important that I warn them, because when they get what is coming to them, and there are those who would cry out in sympathy for them, the society will know that I went to great lengths publicly to warn them,” Holness said, adding that his words should be taken seriously.
The Raintree Commercial Complex is spearheaded by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and forms part of the Caymanas Estate Development Area (CEDA).
The CEDA is one of the UDC’s designated areas and covers approximately 4,332 hectares (10,704 acres) of land located primarily in southeast St Catherine and southwest St Andrew.
It is the largest remaining underdeveloped lands at the St Andrew and St Catherine parish boundary suitable for sustainable development to meet the demand for residential, mixed-use, light industrial and commercial activities, according to UDC Chairman Norman Brown.
Block One of the Raintree Commercial Complex will sit on 108 acres subdivided in parcels.
The development is expected to create 2,000 short-term and 5,000 long-term employment.
Brown said 35 per cent of the lots had been sold before yesterday’s ceremony.
The UDC anticipates more traction after the groundbreaking.
Further development of the remaining acreage (Blocks 2-7) will occur in subsequent phases.