Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced States of Emergency (SOEs) for several parishes across the island due to worrying signs of an increase in criminal activities.
SOEs have been declared for the parishes of Clarendon, St Catherine and specified areas in Kingston and St Andrew as well as St James, Westmoreland and Hanover. The Prime Minister made the announcement during a media briefing at Jamaica House on Tuesday.
“The government after careful consideration on the advice of the security teams have decided to advise the Governor General that it was necessary and indeed appropriate to declare States of Public Emergency in these areas. We have seen an increase in criminal activities in these areas and indeed a threat to property and in some instances public disorder,” he said.
Holness says he hopes the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) will throw their support behind the SOEs as several members of the Parliament, including members of the Opposition have appealed for assistance in dealing with the crime situation.
“It is important to note that we are also approaching the Christmas season and this will require the deployment of even greater resources, sometimes resources, that our security forces do not have, and therefore the government has to act in a pre-emptive way, the government has to act in such a way as to maximise the resources that we have to save lives and property from the threats that exists,” he said.
The SOEs be in effect for two weeks initially.
