Jamaica's State of Public Emergency extended

The state of public emergency in the western Jamaica parish of St. James has been extended for another three months.

Until May 2

On Tuesday, the lower house voted to extend the special security measure until May 2.

Of the 63 members of the House of Representatives, 51 voted in favor of the extension, while eleven members were absent.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in proposing the resolution for the extension of the State of Public Emergency said other significant operations will be pursued.

Must dismantle organized crime

He said the operations are targeting the facilitators of the importation of guns and the operators of illegal lottery scamming.

“We must take back control of our country. We must dismantle organized crime,” he said.

With the extension, the security forces will continue joint operations in the western parish aimed at rooting out criminality.

To date, 10 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition have been found and an illegal petroleum trade smashed.

On January 18, Holness announced Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, had declared the State of Emergency for St James, initially for two weeks.

Supported by PNP

Meanwhile, the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is  supporting the proposal to extend the State of Public Emergency.

”While we still support this, we urge that all necessary measures be taken to ensure that the situation is brought under control,” said Opposition Leader Dr. Peter Phillips. “We still would want to see more of what we call the ‘kingfish’ be brought to book.”