By Chris Patterson
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, has announced a $25-million fund for information leading to the arrest and charge of individuals involved in the brutal gun attack in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon, announced during a press conference, office of the prime minister on August 14.
During the press conference, a state of public emergency was also declared for the parish of Clarendon.
“This is a $25-million fund aimed at increasing the pace at which information is flowing in for the investigation. This fund will be under the administration of the Ministry of National Security, and the traditional methods of providing information can be used, but any method that you use to get the information in, once it is forwarded to the Ministry of National Security and the relevant details are available, the payments will be made securely,” the prime minister said.
Persons may provide information by calling Crime Stop at 311, Police Emergency at 119, National Investigation Bureau (NIB) tipline at 811, MOCA tipline at 876-676-MOCA (876-676-6622) and the JDF tipline at 876-837-8888.
The prime minister said one of the strategies to erode the gangs is to create an environment where citizens can provide information.
“It is the information that is going to destroy the network of the gangs and remove the space for gangs to operate in the community. So, another action that the government will take in support of promoting an information-rich environment is that we have now established a fund of $25 million. The fund is in the ministry of national security and it is focused primarily on this incident,” he said.
The prime minister reminded Jamaicans that the gangs that are in their communities “are not your protectors; they are not your friends.”
Of the $25-million fund, Holness said $6 million has been set aside for credible information and intelligence leading to the arrest and charge of any suspect involved in the killing, particularly those who were involved in pulling the trigger. “That is up to a maximum amount of $1 million per person,” he outlined; $5 million will be provided for information aiding in the investigation, arrest and charge of facilitators of the criminal act, adding that there is a maximum of $1.5 million per person.
“We are particularly interested in the facilitators and the organisers. The facilitators, those who provided the weapons or gave access to the weapons and ammunition, access to the motor vehicle, organised, made the telephone calls, made the connections, we are particularly interested in those persons,” Holness noted; a reward will be given for the provision of information and intelligence leading to the recovery of the firearms that were involved in the killing.
“We are particularly interested in that and any information on the networks involved in the supply of those firearms. We will provide $5 million for the supply of information and intelligence resulting in the securing of evidence against the gangs that were involved in this operation,” Holness said.
He added, too, that a fund of $5 million will be provided for the supply of information and intelligence leading to the arrest of those harbouring criminal gang members or their associates. “A maximum of $800,000 per person identified,” the prime minister said the administration is taking this act of terror very seriously, noting that a similar approach was used for an incident that took place in St James.
“It is the second time that I have had to use this term to describe an act of this nature. I remind the nation of the brutal killing which took place in St James, where a criminal used a high-powered weapon, opened fire on a public passenger transport vehicle killing three persons, including two schoolchildren,” he said.
“We used a similar strategy of mobilising the community, deployment of a state of public emergency, focused on targeted information and within weeks we were able to bring those responsible to justice. I am expecting that we will have similar if not better results, in fact, more impactful results as we respond to this. We cannot allow murders to become normalised in our country and, therefore, there must be a very strong response to these kinds of incidents.”
Eight persons were killed and nine injured in the gun attack that took place in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon, on August 11.
Meanwhile, Holness said the state of public emergency is not designed to be an inconvenience to the citizens, noting that the security forces will be using the additional power in a very targeted and strategic way.
“I want to assure the public that our security forces, in as much as we are focused on getting the criminals and those who are responsible, we are also focused on protecting the human rights of our citizens. The rights of the victims, clearly in my opinion, should take priority, but we also have a duty as a civilised country to show the criminals that we act within the law… and you would have seen this in the conduct of the police force in their operations, so far,” he added.
Holness said the declaration of the state of public emergency is as a result of the analysis of the intelligence available and the very high probability of attempts of reprisals and retaliations.
Meanwhile, deputy commissioner of Police, Fitz Bailey, said five persons have been arrested since Sunday’s attack and one firearm seized.
