Jamaica News, March 15, 2018 – St James Communities Provides Haven for Gang Members
St James, Jamaica (Mckoys News)- Colonel Daniel George Pryce, Jamaica Defence Force Colonel and Army Staff Operations Officer on Monday pointed out that unstructured nature of communities in St James provides a haven for gang members and is a breeding ground for crime. According to Colonel Pryce, an amount of close to 190,000 residents reside in the parish of St James and the city of Montego Bay is the second largest city in Jamaica. The areas he said are divided into Tourist, Commercial and Industrial sections and the primary source of Income is tourism.
The Colonel further stated that crime surpasses lottery scamming and gang feud and this is what creates the very high murder rate which has been affecting the parish. He further pointed out that St James has 19 squatter-communities (informal settlements) and most of the illegal activities and murders takes place from within these communities.
These communities are the major breeding ground for crime and it is a handicap for security personnel to operate freely through these areas. According to Colonel Pryce, these squatter-communities do not provide the proper identification of streets or the proper infrastructure which includes light and water. This he stated gives criminals within these areas the upper hand over the authorities to function effectively within these areas.
Mr Pryce was speaking at a Prayer Breakfast which was held at the Wexford Court Hotel in Montego Bay, St James on Monday March 12, 2018. The event was held in the wake of a two days Spiritual Convention which is to be staged for St James from Friday April 20 to Saturday April 21, 2018.
The event which is dubbed Supernatural Encounter Jamaica is being held by the Trumpet Call Ministries and the St James Ministers’ Fraternal and is aimed at reaching out to the crime offenders throughout the parish. The Prayer Breakfast was well attended by representatives from several ministries across Jamaica and overseas. Also in attendance were His Worship Homer Davis, Mayor of Montego Bay, Custos of St James, Conrad Pitkin and Reverend Al Miller.