WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — People’s National Party (PNP) Member of Parliament, Dr Wykeham McNeill, is demanding that the government bring more resources to Westmoreland to stem the present crime wave in the parish.

The Western Westmoreland MP noted that a number of murders have been committed in the parish since the start of the year, some in broad daylight, but he said the attacks remain unresolved despite the installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras at strategic locations in his constituency.

McNeill argued that the CCTV technology is not being utilised neither for the prevention of crime nor the capture of criminals.

“The presence of the CCTV cameras does not represent a deterrent in their current application.

“There is definitely a need for a stronger security presence in the parish and more emphasis placed on intelligence gathering,” he expressed in a media statement this afternoon.

The MP highlighted the following questions that he said require urgent responses from the Ministry of National Security:

– What is the status of the CCTV cameras?

– If the system is in place, how long has this been so?

– Are these cameras linked to a manned control room with trained personnel and appropriate equipped with storage capacity?

– And if it is being monitored, is the intelligence gathered from the cameras being made available to the security forces?

“I am pleading with the Government to put the necessary concentrated resources in place in the parish to fight the scourge of crime and possibly save lives because what is taking place in the parish is untenable,” said McNeill.