Police station for Mountain View
THE police high-command was, up to yesterday, still trying to find a suitable site to set up a command post in the troubled Mountain View area, where gun violence has claimed the lives of 11 people and dozens more have been injured in the last month. The temporary post will be the precursor to a police station that is to be erected in the volatile area.
“We have not yet set up the command post, the commissioner (of police, Francis Forbes) will be taking a decision soon as to where the post will be,” assistant commissioner of police in charge of operations, Linval Bailey, told the Observer yesterday afternoon.
The decision to establish the command post was taken on Wednesday, after National Security Minister Dr Peter Phillips met with Commissioner Forbes and chief of staff of the Jamaica Defence Force, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin. A press release from the security ministry had indicated that the post was to have been erected immediately.
Yesterday, Bailey said the security forces were anxious to have the temporary post established but he was unable to supply a date for when this would take place.
“They are trying to fast-track it, but I can’t say when it will be set up as yet,” he said.
When the Observer visited Mountain View Avenue yesterday, one resident blasted the security forces for their tardiness in setting up the proposed post.
“Them know what a gwaan ya, how much people gunman kill since last month,” the irate resident yelled. “Dem tek too f…… long to come protect the citizens, dem tek too long to decide what to do. This a gwaan too long now. De police dem must not leave the area at all; we want protection. It no look like dem organised, dem no know what dem a do.”
A number of heavily armed security forces personnel were seen on mobile and foot patrol in the area. A platoon of 13 soldiers, accompanied by an armoured car was seen at 63 Mountain View Avenue, the area where a command post was set up last year after a similar flare-up of gun violence. That spate of shootings, combined with about half-a-dozen fires, left scores of people homeless; but after about five months, the temporary command post was disbanded.
Determined to “re-establish and maintain law and order”, the security ministry said Wednesday, that the army will have a greater role to play in the violence-prone community.
“The JDF will take on a more pronounced role in relation to activities of terrorist-type groups,” the ministry said in a release. “The security forces will maintain a strong presence in the troubled area for as long as it is necessary.”
The JDF has also been given the task of identifying and demolishing all derelict buildings that are being used as cover by gunmen who launch attacks on the security forces.
Yesterday, Lieutenant Garth Anderson said his platoon had been assigned to the area and he had gravitated to 63 Mountain View Avenue, which was seen as a “wide open space” where he could assemble his soldiers.
“At the moment there is no command post here. It has been suggested for here but as you can see, we do not have a command post here,” Anderson said.
The area has been under curfew for the last 48 hours. The curfew will expire at 10 o’clock this morning.