'I prefer to die' - 75-y-o man, wife, kids face eviction from family land after 41 years An elderly St Elizabeth man is appealing for the intervention of Justice Minister Delroy Chuck after a court ordered him to vacate land he has lived on for 41 years by Sunday, insisting that he is not a squatter.
Petrojam worker faces charges in alleged ammo-selling ring An employee of the state-owned oil refinery Petrojam has been arrested and charged by the police arising from allegations that he was part of a ring that illegally sold bullets and gun parts for high-calibre rifles, law- enforcement sources have disclosed. Vashel Witter, 52, a line engineer based at Petrojam’s Montego Bay terminal, was apprehended in the Freeport area on August 6 during a sting operation in which the police allegedly found more than 200 rounds of ammunition for AK-47 rifles inside his vehicle, sources told The Gleaner.
JCA says two tonnes of cocaine, plus ganja seized at KFTL The Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) said last week’s seizure of drugs at the Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL) was its largest drug seizure since the start of the year. More than two tonnes of cocaine and 256 pounds of ganja were intercepted in operations conducted between August 5 and 7. The seizures, carried out in collaboration with the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division and Specialised Operations Branch, involved approximately 1,813 parcels of cocaine in containers destined for Spain and Florida.
Golding wants inquiry into enforcement of land rights WESTERN BUREAU: Opposition Leader Mark Golding is calling for a national inquiry into how land rights are enforced against vulnerable Jamaicans, arguing that the demolition of homes at Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, highlights the need for stronger safeguards for longstanding communities. Golding made the call on Thursday as he toured the informal settlement, where several homes were demolished on Monday, leaving families displaced and others fearful that their houses could be next.
Use law to halt demolitions, Cousins urges Gov’t WESTERN BUREAU: Lothan Cousins, the opposition spokesman on land, is calling on the Government to invoke a decades-old law to halt any further demolition of homes at Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, arguing that the State has the legal power to protect the remaining residents. Cousins said Section 4 of the Local Communities Amenities Improvement Act provides a mechanism that could be used, pointing to what he described as a similar intervention by the Government at Red Hills in St. Andrew in 2016.
Bee farmers urged to rear queens to get over Melissa’s sting WESTERN BUREAU: Beekeepers who still have working equipment after Hurricane Melissa are being encouraged to focus specifically on rearing queen bees in order to fast-track the restoration of Jamaica’s apiculture sector. Hugh Smith, chief plant protection officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Mining’s Apiculture Unit, said the approach would help beekeepers multiply their stocks at a faster rate as the sector continues to recover from the hurricane’s impact.
CVC: Teach youth social media’s benefits, pitfalls Ivan Cruickshank, executive director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), is calling for a wide-ranging educational campaign on social media use targeting young people as the Government considers regulating these online platforms for minors. “We need to have broader campaigns around helping young people to understand the benefits, but also the pitfalls of social media,” he said.
Tremor terror - Jamaican recounts tale of escaping devastating Colombia earthquake A Jamaican man who found himself caught in the grip of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia says chaos erupted in the stairwell of the 17-storey hotel where he was staying, as panicked guests rushed to the exits amid “terrifying” tremors. Dave Creary said he arrived in Medellín on Saturday for a one-week vacation and was sleeping in his room when an earthquake alert on his cell phone went off early Monday morning. He said that seconds later, at approximately 7:30 a.m., his hotel room on the 12th floor began shaking violently, causing him to run for the exit.
‘Cold ground was my bed last night’ …. Cooper’s Pen demolition victim sings the blues Western Bureau: On Tuesday night, Shane ‘Biggs’ Ricketts, whose house was demolished in Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, earlier that day, could not help but reflect on Bob Marley’s hit song, Talkin Blues, in which the legendary singer declared “ cold ground was my bed last night”. Ricketts, who lost all his belongings in the actions of a demolition crew that flattened some 20 houses using bulldozers, tractors and sledgehammers in a pre-dawn operation that started at 3 a.m., was left with nowhere to sleep.
Chuck draws line on kids with guns - Justice minister scoffs at proposal to have children caught with firearms automatically sent to child diversion programme instead of facing charges in court A recommendation by an opposition lawmaker that children found in possession of a firearm or ammunition should be referred to the child diversion programme rather than placed before the court on gun charges was yesterday rejected by the chairman of the joint select committee reviewing the Child Diversion Act.