GENERAL Shaw Clifton, the international head of the Salvation Army, arrived in the island yesterday for a three-day visit during which he will attend a series of meetings and church services with members of the organisation’s local chapters to offer encouragement and to discuss ways to tackle gang-violence, human trafficking and other issues affecting Jamaica.

His visit is the first to the island and will be followed by a stop in Haiti tomorrow on his way back to England.

“The purpose of my visit to Jamaica is to find out for myself what the Army is doing here. I have heard about it, I have read about it, but I am here mainly for my own education,” Clifton said at a press briefing at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston yesterday.

“One specific issue, a worldwide issue, is human trafficking and I am very interested to find out how this impacts your beautiful island of Jamaica,” he said.

“The Salvation Army is deeply concerned about the level of human trafficking for sexual proposes over the world and we are committed to doing everything in our power to combat it,” he added.