I DON'T WANT ASAFA DANCING - Athlete's parents not pleased

While thousands of fans worldwide cannot get enough of Asafa Powell's recent displays of the local 'Nuh Linga' and 'Gully Creepa' dance moves, his two biggest fans, his parents, are not pleased at all.


Recent indulgence

The Reverend William Powell and his wife, Cislyn, said they are "not happy" about their son's recent indulgence in dancehall moves and are praying, literally, that he stops doing them.

"I just don't like the dancing. Everything else makes me happy, is the dancing I don't love," said Cislyn Powell, Asafa's mother.

"It makes me sad because I have a congregation that I have to preach to, and I don't enjoy seeing him out there like that."


No 'nuh Linga'

She continued: "God gave him those feet to bring joy to the world, but not in that form of dancing. We don't want 'Nuh Linga', we just want Jesus." Cislyn said that she does not want her son to end up in the dancehall culture and has been encouraging him to dare to be Daniel, despite what everyone else might be doing. She notes he continues to be in her prayers.

The Reverend William Powell, father of the world's second-fastest man, echoed similar sentiments to those expressed by his wife. The Church of God pastor told The Star that they wanted their beloved son to stay true to the standards he grew up with and not stray from them. "We just want him to be the same Asafa that we know. He started out with Christ, and we want him to stay with Him," the Reverend Powell said.

"If Asafa don't dance, it won't kill him, so we just want him to remain the same."

Up to press time yesterday, attempts to get a comment from Asafa Powell were unsuccessful. However, the athlete's mother said she spoke with him after Saturday night's Olympic gala at the National Stadium and he promised not to dance anymore, since it made her unhappy.

Read More

Vybz Kartel finally divorced!

DJ Vybz Kartel a.k.a Addi the Teacha is now officially a single man, joining the ranks of eligible celebrity bachelors, as his divorce has been granted by the Supreme Court of Jamaica.
The decree absolute for the dissolution of marriage was granted on September 9, 2008. Attorney-at-law, Seymour Stewart, filed it.


XtraNews obtained official documents which stated that the marriage be “dissolved on the ground that it had broken down irretrievably and no cause having been shown to the court why the said decree should be made absolute.” Judge McIntosh granted the divorce.

A decree nisi for dissolution of marriage had been granted in February this year. It came to the public attention in February that Kartel had decided to end his two-year marriage to Stacy-Ann Alicia Elliott who resides in the United States.

In papers filed with the Jamaican Supreme Court, Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Azim Palmer, alleged that his 31-year-old bride had given birth to a son who was fathered by another man. He said he never lived with his wife since the January 9, 2006 private wedding, pictures of which are posted on the Internet. Kartel also provided for the court a copy of the child’s birth certificate. Kartel said also that his wife never visited him in Jamaica after the US revoked his visa to that country some time after the wedding.

The two met at a stage show in Brooklyn, New York and dated for four years prior to tying the knot in a private ceremony before a marriage officer at the Registrar General Department branch on Trevennion Park Road in Cross Roads, Kingston.

Read More

Motorised Patrol? Why? - MoBay business community upset at McGregor's transfer

HORACE HINES, Observer West reporter
Thursday, October 09, 2008



Superintendent Steve McGregor

MONTEGO BAY, St James

The Montego Bay business community is angry at the police high command's decision to transfer commander of the St James Police Division, Superintendent Steve McGregor from that post to head the Motorised Patrol division, come Monday.

"I think the whole situation has been very badly handled I thought there would have been some amount of consultation with us, the community at large before such a decision was taken. So we are very unhappy about it," president of Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) , Lloyd B Smith told the OBSERVER WEST.

Westmoreland divisional commander Superintendent Maurice Robinson, will replace Superintendent McGregor, while Superintendent Dezeita Taylor, who was transferred to the Area One headquarters from Superintendent Robinson's post just over a year ago, will return as Westmoreland's divisional commander.

Superintendent McGregor will take over from Superintendent Que Morgan at the motorised patrol who will head for the Services division which is headed by Senior Superintendent George Quallo. McGregor, who was transferred from St Thomas to St James 18 months ago, was one of 36 senior cops reassigned by then police commissioner Lucius Thomas as part of his strategy to bring crime under control, especially in St James where a lottery scam has been blamed for several murders.

During that period McGregor has been credited with devising strategies that have resulted in significantly weakening the notorious Stone Crusher gang, said to be responsible for carrying out several contract killings arising from fall-outs between players involved in the lottery racket.

However, the number of homicides in the St James police division has continued to spiral out of control, reaching a record high of 188 last year. That figure surpassed the previous year's figure by 10. Meanwhile, up to yesterday, 152 killings were recorded in the parish.

But despite the escalation of homicides during Superintendent McGregor's tenure in the parish, Smith lamented his exodus.

"The chamber is of the view that he has been doing a reasonably good job against the background of what had been happening in this parish. Notwithstanding the increasing homicides, one has to understand that he alone cannot deal with that particular problem. That problem needs social intervention. It is unfortunate that he is being asked to leave at this time because we believe he was beginning to get a good grasp of the situation."

Smith pointed to the good relationship which McGregor enjoyed with the business community and the very meaningful relationship he had begun to develop with some of the volatile communities.

"We feel that when a cop is transferred in this manner it sends a wrong impression to the society at large because it comes across as the cop is being punished, is being disciplined for not being able to carry out his task effectively," Smith argued.

But director of communication in the Jamaica Constabulary Force Karl Angell explained that the Motorised Division plays an integral role in the battle against crime.

"The Motorised Division is a big division for fighting crime especially in Kingston and St Andrew. It is the team that does most of the road patrols," Angell told the OBSERVER WEST.

"Tranfers within the Jamaica Constabulary Force are a natural part of policing and all policemen and women know that at some time or another they will be transferred. It is part of the normal movement within the constabulary force," he added.

McGregor came to St James at a time when there was much talk that the parish was tainted with corrupt cops.

Yesterday he told the Observer West he has sought to successfully dispel that notion and has subsequently won the confidence of St James residents.

"On taking command of the St James police division I found that the morale of the men was at rock bottom. The confidence that people had in the police was also at an all-time low. As the commanding officer I had to set about repairing that. I am satisfied that I have succeeded, because the morale of the men is at the highest it has ever been in St James.

"The confidence that the people had in the police has tripled or even quadrupled under my command.

"What is also significant is that the last top 10 wanted men list that we put out because of the network confidence we have with the people we have succeeded in catching six of them, two were fatally shot and two taken into custody, so it speaks volumes to the sort of confidence that the people have in the police. And the fear of crime is not as high as it used to be.
Because people are leaving things up to the police more than they used to," he said.

Read More

Gramps injured - Morgan Heritage cancels club tour of Europe

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Reggae group Morgan Heritage, which kicked off their world tour earlier this year, has cancelled their highly anticipated club tour of Europe.

The six-week sojourn, part of the promotion for the group's critically acclaimed album, Mission In Progress, was scheduled for the beginning of November to the middle of December.

"We were really looking forward to touring behind the new album in Europe," a spokesperson for the group said.
"It was gonna be our first club tour in Europe since 2005, so we were really looking forward to doing more intimate, more up-close-and-personal shows all over Europe," the Heritage representative explained.

Morgan Heritage says a medical injury which group member Gramps suffered last week has resulted in the cancellation of the tour. "Gramps needs time to heal before we hit the road for such an extended period," a member of the group stated.

Looking at it philosophically, the group member reflected, "All things in life have their purpose, because this cancellation gives us the chance to spend much-needed time with our families over the next two months."

Morgan Heritage, however, will not be totally grounded as they will be doing one-off shows in the Caribbean while Gramps heals. Among the islands where the group is scheduled to perform are Cayman, Nassau, the Bahamas and Dominica. They will also be doing a benefit concert on Saturday for the city of New Orleans, and a hurricane relief concert in Turks and Caicos for the damage caused by Gustav.

"Hopefully, Gramps will be fully recovered in time for our African tour starting in Sierra Leone in the middle of December. The tour is also scheduled to be going to Liberia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal and Gambia," Morgan Heritage stated.

And, for those who are wondering when the group will return to Europe, they will be doing a festival tour in May and June of 2009.

Read More

Soldier dies in road accident

KIMMO MATTHEWS, Observer staff reporter
Thursday, October 09, 2008



The mangled wreck of a Jamaica Defence Force jeep beside a Jamaica Urban Transit Company bus with which it collided along Washington Boulevard in St Andrew, yesterday. One soldier died and two others were injured in the accident. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood)

A Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldier yesterday died and two others injured when the jeep in which they were travelling slammed into the side of a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus along Washington Boulevard, St Andrew, in the vicinity of Six Miles.

Last night the JDF declined to give the names and ranks of the dead soldier and his injured colleagues pending notification of their families. However, Observer sources said the deceased was a captain.

According to the police, the vehicle was heading in an easterly direction on the boulevard when it apparently got out of control, "scaled the embankment and collided" with a #21 JUTC bus that was travelling on the opposite side of the road.

Last night, the JUTC said no one on the bus was injured but the accident left its driver "in shock".

Yesterday, a pool of blood near the mangled remains of the jeep told a sad tale. There were long skid marks from where the vehicle first got out of control to where it made angry contact with the bus.

As soldiers tried to help police on the scene to remove the wrecked jeep, it was obvious that the death of their colleague had hit home.

One soldier, who declined to give his name, said that it appeared the wet road surface from heavy afternoon showers had contributed to thedeadly accident.

The accident, which occurred minutes before 4:00 pm, severely slowed traffic on the normally busy boulevard. Police had to warn several motorists who tried to stop at the scene.

Last night, communication officer at the JDF, Major Charlene Steer, said the army was deeply saddened by the news. She also praised a medical doctor who she said had stopped to help the injured soldiers.

Read More

Shaw in health scare - Finance minister falls ill during meeting with PM, cabinet colleagues

BALFORD HENRY, Observer writer
Thursday, October 09, 2008



SHAW... fell ill and had to be admitted to the University Hospital of the West Indies

Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw gave loved ones and close associates a scare yesterday when he fell ill suddenly and had to be admitted to the University Hospital of the West Indies, Mona.

However, members of the Cabinet - who were with him up to last night - confirmed that he was conscious, was in no pain or discomfort and were optimistic that he would be back on the job soon.

Shaw reportedly complained of feeling ill during a meeting of Cabinet colleagues with Prime Minister Bruce Golding. Minister without portfolio at the finance ministry, Senator Dwight Nelson, said that Shaw had no history of ailment and that yesterday's incident came as a surprise.

Minister of Industry, Investments and Commerce Karl Samuda said that it was "out of an abundance of caution" that Shaw was referred to the Tony Thwaites Wing of the University Hospital.

"We were having a discussion when he fell ill. Dr Ken Baugh and Dr Horace Chang (two medical doctors) were both there and we felt that out of an abundance of caution, we should take him to the University Hospital where he could be properly observed," Samuda said last night.

Asked whether he felt that the illness was serious, Samuda said that he did not want to guess what would result from the tests being carried out by the medical team. He confirmed that Shaw was conscious throughout and was "not in any pain or discomfort".

Shaw's colleague minister, Senator Don Wehby felt that Shaw might still be able to attend this weekend's scheduled annual meeting of the board of governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Washington DC.

The finance minister was scheduled to leave today for that meeting which started October 6 and ends on Monday.

Senator Wehby will be leaving for the meeting this afternoon, accompanied by other officials including newly appointed Financial Secretary Sharon Crooks, who only took office yesterday.

"We will be engaging in meetings with the multilaterals, and we will also use the opportunity to update the rating agencies and our lead bankers," Senator Wehby said.

He said that the team was hopeful that Shaw would be able to join them over the weekend for crucial discussions with multilateral agencies, which also include the Inter-American Development Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank

Read More

Welcoming home our Olympians
published: Sunday | October 5, 2008



Gleaner photographers Norman Grindley and Peta-Gaye Clachar captured scenes from the motorcade which paraded Jamaican Olympians who participated in the recent Beijing Games through the streets of the Corporate Area on Friday, as well as from the sports gala held in their honour at the National Stadium yesterday. At that event, several athletes and sports administrators were conferred with national honours.

The events formed part of Government's 11-day homecoming celebrations for the Olympic heroes. The Jamaican contingent won 11 medals at the Games.

Awardees:


Order of Distinction
(Commander rank):

Howard Aris

Usain Bolt

Veronica Campbell-Brown

Glen Mills

Asafa Powell

Donald Quarrie

Order of Distinction
(Officer rank):

Shelly-Ann Fraser

Nesta Carter

Bridgette Foster-Hylton

Michael Frater

Danny McFarlane

Dwight Thomas

Melaine Walker
FROM LEFT:

(1) Prime Minister Bruce Golding (left) greets the fastest man on Earth, Usain Bolt, during Friday's welcome celebrations.

(2) Olympic 100 metres gold medallist, Shelly-Ann Fraser, is being conferred with the Order of Distinction, officer rank, by Governor General Professor Sir Kenneth Hall.

(3) Prime Minister Bruce Golding (left) greets Dwight Thomas, Olympic sprint relay gold medallist, while Minister of Information, Culture and Sports Olivia Grange looks on.

(4) Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie presents the key to the city and other gifts to Olympic 200-metres champion Veronica Campbell-Brown.

(5) Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, Usain Bolt (right), chats with Olympic sprint relay gold medallist, Asafa Powell, before the start of the gala national awards at the National Stadium, yesterday.

(6) These fans went to great lengths to get a view of the Olympians.

(7) Enthusiastic fans greet the Olympians along motorcade route.

Read More

Housing fallout - Jamaicans overseas lose homes amid US crisis, crash of local investment schemes

published: Tuesday | October 7, 2008

Shelly-Ann Thompson, Staff Reporter


A NUMBER of Jamaicans living in the United States (US) have lost their homes after mortgaging properties and investing the money in risky Jamaican alternative investment schemes, several of which have gone bust.

Some have since resorted to paying rent, while others have returned home.

Audrey Wilson, a Jamaican living in Florida, was sad yesterday as she told stories of her country folk who have lost their homes.

Compounded problems

Wilson, who is from Kingston, has been living in the US for 19 years. She owns a mortgage-brokerage business and is a licensed real-estate broker. She told The Gleaner that Jamaicans living there, who had invested in unregistered schemes which have failed, had their problems compounded because of the financial crisis now gripping the US.

"It is a shame. Many persons are embarrassed because they have lost their homes and investment. Oh God! It's just sad and unbelievable!" she said.

Great loss

A female friend of Wilson's lost her Pembroke Pines, Florida, home after mortgaging her property for US$120,000 (J$8.64 million) and investing the money in the once-popular Cash Plus, which is now bankrupt. She now lives in a rented home.

To make matters worse, the friend lost her accounting job shortly after the 10 per cent monthly returns on her Cash Plus investment dried up.

"So, she had mortgage plus payments and the US$12,000 (the monthly returns) stopped. She then realised that she could not meet her financial obligations, so she had to sell her home," said Wilson.

Another friend of Wilson's is currently facing foreclosure on his home. He met a similar fate, having taken out a mortgage on his property and investing the money in Cash Plus.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Les Green, head of the Major Investigations Task force which is spearheading the enquiry into the operation of the failed investment scheme, said foreigners with Jamaican ties ranked among the top investors of such entities.

Green could not state how many people were affected or the sum involved, but said a number of foreign-based Jamaicans had made complaints to the investigative team.

"It's a real tragedy for these people," said Green, adding "there are certainly people who have invested heavily, several who invested over US$1 million."

A study conducted by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) last November, showed that 21 per cent of 402 local investors in alternative schemes had borrowed from financial institutions to obtain their deposits.

Kim-Marie Spence, a consultant at CaPRI, said while conducting the study, anecdotal evidence showed that a number of US residents, with ties to Jamaica, had mortgaged their properties to invest in the schemes.

"The study was conducted locally, so we don't have figures pertaining to the number of foreign investments, but we did get anecdotal evidence of Jamaicans who had mortgaged homes to invest," said Spence.

The study also showed that of the hundreds of respondents, 13.6 per cent had sold assets and another 44.5 per cent had used their savings to invest in the unregulated schemes.

The financial crisis in the US is already affecting many Jamaicans, said Wilson.

For some Jamaicans working in the US, the situation has become worse as they are among the 750,000 people who have lost their jobs since the start of the year. Wilson said four of her friends who lost their jobs have since returned to Jamaica.

Read More

'Waite' is over - Arnett coach quits after string of poor DPL results

By Howard Walker Observer staff reporter
Tuesday, October 07, 2008


Jerome Waite became the first coaching casualty of the Digicel Premier League season when he was replaced by Fabian Davis as head coach at Arnett Gardens yesterday.

Waite, who was the saviour last season when he helped Arnett avoid relegation, was parting company with the club for a second time.

Waite coached the team to its most successful stint in recent years with back-to-back titles in the 2000-01, 2001-02 seasons and also coached the team when it lost the 2002-03 final, its third championship game in a row to Portmore United in extra-time.

Patrick Roberts, president of the club, told the Observer sounded diplomatic, when he said Waite wanted to "step back".

"As you know in every football club when a team is not doing good the first thing you look at is the coach... at the end of the day, four (games) straight without a point is unacceptable. We met and amicably, he (Waite) realised that the team is not doing good and (he) asked to step back," said Roberts.

"What we want is results and we are not getting results and we looked at everything and if he feels that he has to step back, then we respect that from Jerome Waite," he added.

Arnett Gardens have lost all their four games so far this season, including 0-1 losses to Boys' Town, Portmore United and Waterhouse.

On Sunday, they went down to 1-2 to Sporting Central Academy to be rooted at the bottom of the league without a point.

Efforts to contact Waite last night proved futile as calls went straight to his cellular phone's voicemail.

"In the meantime we appointed Fabian Davis as the interim coach. He has the respect and will have full control of the team," said Roberts.

Davis, 34, who represented Jamaica 72 times and scored six goals, will be the player/coach and said he is ready for the mammoth challenge.

"As you know the team has been doing badly so we are trying our best to do what is best for the club. It is for me to instil my experience of years of playing and have these players motivated to be on the same page on game day.

"I have a better understanding of how the players think, I hope I can get into their heads and have them think at a higher level," Davis told the Observer after meeting with his senior players before training started yesterday.

Davis, who is no stranger to success, was voted MVP after leading Arnett Gardens to the premier league title and again with Tivoli Gardens in their championship year.

Davis' first game in charge will be a fiery one against archrivals Tivoli Gardens on October 12.

Read More

723 kids missing - Over 1,000 people unaccounted-for since January

KARYL WALKER, Crime/Court co-ordinator
Monday, October 06, 2008



Jullene Edwards, 15, missing since September 9. (Photo: CCN)

More than 700 children have been reported missing since the start of the year, according to figures released by the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) last week. The figure represents 65 per cent of the 1,112 persons listed as missing between January 1 and September 23 this year.

Two of the 723 children reported missing have been found dead.

They are 11-year-old Aamir Scott, whose dissected remains were found in bushes at Sandside district in St Mary where he lived, and 15-year-old Baggio Easy, whose decomposing remains were found in water on the edge of the Riverton City landfill in early September this year.

An on-the-spot post-mortem revealed that Easy drowned, while a teenager has been charged with the gruesome murder of Aamir Scott after police said he confessed to killing the child.

Up to yesterday, police were still awaiting the results of a DNA test to determine the identity of a child's body found in Red Hills, St Andrew last week.

Relatives of 11-year-old Ananda Dean believe that it was her body that was found, arguing that a shoe and school tunic found at the scene belonged to the missing child.

Police reported that of the 1,112 persons who were listed as missing, 353 have been found or returned home.

However, the police were not able to say how many of the missing children have been found.

The police say the majority of youngsters who go missing are girls who often run away from home only to be found holed up with a male partner or who return home voluntarily.

"A lot of times the persons who reported the children missing are so overjoyed that they sometimes forget to report that the child was found," Deputy Superintendent Sonia James of the CCN told the Observer.

Since the start of the year, 58 children have been murdered.
Some of the persons reported missing are:

. Jullene Edwards, 15 - Left home in Harbour View to visit her mother in Gordon Town, St Andrew on September 23 and has not been seen or heard from since:

. Chivaughn Haughton, 14, of Olympic Gardens, St Andrew - Missing since September 19. Police say Chivaughn is of dark complexion, slim build and 157 centimetres tall. Chivaughn left home for an undisclosed location and has not been seen since. She was wearing a purple blouse, blue jeans pants and a pair of black slippers when she went missing;

. Dave Davis, 32, otherwise called 'Spangler' of Guava Road, St Andrew has been reported missing since Wednesday, August 27. He is of brown complexion, slim build and about 5 feet 8 inches tall;

. Javane Patterson of Tower Avenue, St Andrew. Police say on September 19 Javane left his home and has not been seen or heard from since;

. Nerryssa Hitulah, 15, otherwise called 'Paige' of Evans Avenue, St Johns Heights, St Catherine - Missing since Monday, August 25; and

. Seventy-two-year-old Gloria Scott of Spanish Town, St Catherine. Police say on August 24 the elderly woman walked out of her home and has not been seen since.

Read More

DPP office bungle - Boy charged with carnal abuse is 13, not 11 years old

BY PAUL HENRY Observer staff reporter
Tuesday, October 07, 2008



A charge of carnal abuse against a schoolboy was not withdrawn in the Home Circuit Court yesterday because the youth is not 11 years old as was earlier reported by the Observer on information from a prosecutor.

Paula Llewellyn, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told the court yesterday that her office had confirmed that the boy was in fact 13 years old and not an 11-year-old as was reported by the Daily Observer on September 26 and in an article published in this week's Sunday Observer.

As a result of the age mix-up, Llewellyn told the court that she will now be asking defence lawyers to furnish certified copies of the birth certificate of any accused whose case is being transferred from the Family Court.

In blasting the Sunday Observer story, Llewellyn suggested that the article seemed to be "calculated to undermine the
public's confidence" in the justice system.

However, Llewellyn made her accusation against the newspaper after being informed by this reporter that the incorrect information in the September 26 story was provided by her office.

The claim that the charge against the boy would have been withdrawn yesterday and which was reported in this week's Sunday Observer story, was made to the newspaper by a second prosecutor who also knocked the Office of the DPP for sloppy work on the case.

"No preparation was done by the Crown, and now everybody is left with eggs on their faces," said the prosecutor, who had requested anonymity.

The youth and three other boys, 13 years to 14 years old, were jointly charged with carnal abuse for sexually assaulting a schoolmate in January and February of this year.

Presiding judge, Justice Bertram Morrison said in court yesterday that he had verified the ages of the boys before he took their guilty pleas when the matter was first brought before him on Thursday, September 25 after being transferred from the Family Court.

The boys' mothers, who were present in court yesterday, also confirmed their ages.

The boys, who are currently on $50,000 bail, were also scheduled for sentencing yesterday but the sentence hearing was put off until October 24 because all the social inquiry reports were not ready. The boys' lawyer was also absent from court.

The Child Care and Protection Act, which replaced the Juvenile Act in 2004, prevents any child under age 12 from being charged or convicted for any offence, including murder.

Read More

Billions in arms - Police say lottery scam funding weapons purchase in St James

published: Friday | October 3, 2008

Nagra Plunkett, Assignment Coordinator


Assistant Commissioner of Police Denver Frater, officer in charge of the Area One Police Division. - Photo by Noel Thompson

WESTERN BUREAU:

DESPITE POLICE efforts to break the back of the lottery scam in St James, the scheme remains vibrant and is reportedly pumping billions of dollars into the criminal underworld.

"If you look in recent times at the calibre weapons that are recovered by the police, the amount of rounds, ammunition being expended and recovered at crime scenes and the motives, investigations point to the lotto scam," Assistant Commissioner of Police Denver Frater, officer in charge of the Area One Police Division, told The Gleaner during a visit to its Western Bureau offices in Montego Bay yesterday.

Frater, who has responsibility for the parishes of Trelawny, St James, Hanover and Westmoreland, described the scam as a "unique challenge to law enforcement".

"It is a clear indication that billions of dollars are in circulation coming from this scheme."

He further stated: "If you look at some communities, the sudden rise to fame in terms of assets (such as) houses and motor cars, these are not cheap. The lifestyles of some persons clearly demonstrate the volume of cash that is being circulated."

The lotto scam involves fleecing unsuspecting Americans of large sums of money. Local scam artists use illicitly obtained personal information on potential victims, particularly retirees, to con them into sending them money on the pretext that they have won a lottery and need to send a processing fee to claim their winnings.

Police information indicates that players, who also include schoolchildren, make US$4,000 (J$288,000) to US$10,000 (J$720,000) on average weekly.

The lotto scam has also been linked to several murders, kidnappings and robberies in St James, which accounts for 12 per cent of the country's crime rate.

Frater, who managed the Criminal Investigation Branch portfolio before his transfer to Area One last month, noted that despite some disappointment with the cooperation of potential complainants, investigators will be using the Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering Acts to counter lotto players.

"Investigation of this sort is not a one slam thing. It is going to take some time to get our case together. We have some success, we have had persons' properties forfeited, persons have gone to prison, and there are a number of other persons from St James in the waiting gallery to go to prison," the Frater said.

nagra.plunkett@gleanerjm.com

Read More

Lottery scammers go regional

Lottery scammers who operated out of St James have reportedly moved their operations to other Caribbean islands because of increased pressures from the authorities here.

Police intelligence has revealed that several suspected lottery scammers are travelling across the region to collect money transferred to them by unsuspecting victims.

Citizens and residents in the United States are the primary targets.

However, newly appointed commanding officer in charge of Area One, Assistant Commissioner Denver Frater, refused to say what countries form part of the police investigations.

He said a number of police personnel in Montego Bay have been placed under the radar of the Area One Police High Command for their alleged involvement in the ongoing lottery scam.

Read More

Jamaicans eating less of what they grow

PATRICK FOSTER, Observer writer
Friday, October 03, 2008



(L-R) Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture representative in Jamaica, Cynthia Currie; permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Donovan Stanberry; and Dr Dunstan Campbell, Food and Agriculture Organisation representative in Jamaica, field questions at Tuesday's launch of World Food Day at the ministry's Hope Road, Kingston headquarters. (Photo: Bryan Cummings) Only 39 per cent of the foodstuff that is consumed in the island is locally produced, pushing the country's food import bill over $662 million and threatening the success of government's "eat what you grow, grow what you eat" drive.

"Sixty-one per cent of products in the food basket are import-based," Donovan Stanberry, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture said Tuesday, adding that Jamaica's food bill was rising at an alarming rate, standing at $479 million in 2002 and climbing to $662m in November 2007.

"This is a major statement on our level of dependency, hence our vulnerability to external shocks," said Stanberry.
He was speaking at the launch of World Food Day at the agriculture ministry on Hope Road in Kingston.

World Food Day will be observed October 16 under the theme 'World Food Security: The Challenge of Climate Change and Bioenergy'.

"Given the prospects of continuing increases in prices, we (Jamaica) must attempt to reduce dependence on imports for consumption," Stanberry warned.

According to Stanberry, the "frightening" situation has led the agriculture ministry, through the Rural Agriculture Development Authority (RADA), to implement several strategies to stimulate local production.

He said that greenhouse clusters are being established to significantly increase production of fruits and vegetables that will consistently produce "what the market requires".

Focus is also being placed on the production of tubers, Stanberry said, and meetings have been held with yam farmers and the Irish potato growers' association.

An increase in the numbers, and improved training for agriculture extension officers was also critical, said Stanberry, who added that overseas training of additional officers was being conducted.

He added that a revitalisation of the dairy industry, through the disbursement of loans to dairy farmers was under way.
"We are providing loans to increase pasture and improve our breed and undertake rapid multiplication," Stanberry said. "People are taking up the loans," he added.

Stanberry, however, charged that food security was more than simply producing food.

"We have to build infrastructure, increase the number of extension officers and improve the marketing and distribution network," said Stanberry. "That's why we have been improving RADA."

He added that the ministry would also be promoting the food security programme in schools, and plans to have 900 school gardens in three years to "lay the foundation for a sustainable programme".

The permanent secretary declared that while many people frowned on government's backyard garden kits as a gimmick, empirical evidence proved that planting the items in the kit could save as much as $12,000 per year in food bills.

Read More

Back a yard! - Jamaican Olympians return for week of celebration

Howard Walker, Observer staff reporter
Friday, October 03, 2008



Jamaica's Olympians strike a pose in the VIP Lounge at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday after arriving for the 10-day Olympic Homecoming Celebrations. From left are Dwight Thomas, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Maurice Smith, Kerron Stewart and Richard Phillips. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

TWO-TIME Olympic 200 metres champion, Veronica Campbell-Brown, says it doesn't matter where Jamaicans train; they are destined to run fast. She also says she has no intention of training locally any time soon.

Campbell-Brown arrived in the island yesterday, along with a number of other athletes, for the 10-day Olympic Homecoming Week to mark their outstanding achievements at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The diminutive star, along with double medallist Kerron Stewart, decathalon and team captain Maurice Smith, Dwight Thomas and Richard Phillips, touched down on Air Jamaica at 5:55 pm.

They were greeted by Sports Minister Olivia Grange; Jamaica Athletic Amateur Association (JAAA) president Howard Aris; the legendary Olympian Donald Quarrie; Insports executives Ian Andrews, and Bruce McFarlane, and family members in the VIP Lounge.

"It doesn't matter who you train with, as long as you are talented you're going to run fast," Campbell-Brown told the Observer yesterday.


Double Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown (right) walks with Sports Minister Olivia 'Babsy' Grange while waving to well-wishers on arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

"I have been through the high school system and have gained a lot from it. I have been away from Jamaica since 2001 at Barton County, Arkansas and recently moved to Florida and I have been working with my training programme and it seems to work for me, so I have no interest in changing it; all I can do is improve on it,"
she reiterated.

"Jamaica is known for its rich tradition in sprinting. I am proud for my teammates," she added.

Campbell-Brown, who defended her 200 metres title in August, said she was more than happy with her performance.
"I am satisfied. I could not have asked for anything better. I have to be thankful, it was a great Olympic Games. It feels good to be home," she beamed.

Meanwhile, Stewart, who won silver in the 100 metres and bronze in the 200 metres, was also delighted to be home.
Said Stewart: "I am feeling great. I didn't expect this welcome. I am happy and proud. I am just happy to be home."

Stewart, who started as favourite in the 100 metres, said she couldn't complain after capturing two medals at the Games in Beijing, China.

"Getting two medals... I went there with the intention of getting gold, but a silver and a bronze, what more can I ask for?" said Stewart.

"Just to see three Jamaicans on the podium was most fulfilling than any thing else," she added.

Jamaican athletes took Beijing by storm and to celebrate that glorious accomplishment, government leaders will host an "around town" Float Parade in Kingston.

The athletes will board the three Digicel floats - "Olympic Dreams", "Lightning Bolt" and "Golden Girls"; which will make stops in all the major towns in the Corporate Area, including some of the athletes' own communities.

The excitement will hit the streets in the western part of the island on Tuesday when the parade is staged all over again, moving from Montego Bay through to Falmouth.

Read More

9-month-old boy dies after being sodomised by male relative

KARYL WALKER, Crime/Court co-ordinator
Wednesday, October 01, 2008



A nine-month-old boy is now dead after being viciously sodomised by a 21-year-old male relative in the community of Arnett Gardens in South St Andrew on Monday night.
The male relative, whose identity has been withheld by police, is now in the custody of officers from the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse. He was arrested by cops from the Denham Town Police Station.

According to head of the West Kingston police division,
Superintendent Delroy Hewitt, the accused child rapist is believed to be mentally challenged and is suspected of sexually molesting the infant on more than one occasion.
"We believe that this abuse has been going on for some time.
The child died in the Bustamante Hospital for Children last night (Monday). The man in custody is our main suspect in this sordid case," Hewitt, who was clearly shaken by the incident, told the Observer.

The child's anus was severely ruptured and his abdomen was also badly damaged, police said last night.
Police said the child's mother is serving a five-year sentence in the Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre where he was born. He was handed over to a female relative who was identified by the inmate as someone who could care for her baby.

Police say the child's guardian left him in the custody of a neighbour when the assault occurred.

Last night, head of the Department of Correctional Services, Major Richard Reese, said the mother of the dead infant would be afforded counselling to help her deal with the tragedy.

"We have arranged for psychological support for the inmate and arranged for a visit from the child's father,"
Reese said.

The infant is the fourth child to have met a brutal end last month. On Sunday, what is believed to be the remains of 11-year-old Ananda Dean, who had been missing for two weeks, was found in bushes in Red Hills, St Andrew by residents who went to investigate a lingering stench.

The same day Ananda went missing, the dissected body of 11-year-old Aamir Scott was found in a rice bag in bushes at Sandside in St Mary. His head, arms and legs were severed while his torso was cut in two. Police said a teenager has since confessed to the macabre murder and is now in custody.

Aamir was buried after an emotional funeral service at the Port Maria Seventh-Day Adventist Church last Sunday.
On September 9, the decomposing body of 15-year-old Baggio Easy was found in water at the edge of the Riverton City landfill in Kingston. Easy had also been reported missing by his parents, police said.

Read More

Brutal murder - Headless body found in Red Hills believed to be that of missing 11-year-old girl

TANEISHA LEWIS, Observer staff reporter lewist@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, September 29, 2008

Nordia Campbell (left), mother of 11-year-old Ananda Dean, is consoled by a family friend after looking at the remains of a body believed to be that of her daughter. The body was found in Belvedere, St Andrew. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

SCREAMS of anguish bellowed throughout the community of Belvedere in Red Hills, St Andrew yesterday as firefighters removed a heavily decomposed body believed to be that of 11-year-old Ananda Dean from a steep precipice along Cypress Drive - miles away from where she was last seen after she went missing almost two weeks ago.

"A she, a she.. Oh God," Ananda's aunt, Tamika Campbell bawled, after viewing the headless remains and then falling to the ground seconds later. Upon hearing the news, Nordia Campbell, Ananda's mother, also fainted at the thought that her daughter may have been brutally murdered.

Because of the advanced state of decomposition, no one was able to positively identify the body as that of Ananda. However, some family members, including Campbell, are convinced that it is in fact the little girl, mainly because a black size two school shoes and a navy blue uniform, similar to ones owned by the seventh-grade student of Swallowfield All-Age School, were found at the scene.

Yesterday, Deputy Superintendent Carol McKenzie of the police's St Andrew North Division told the Observer that DNA tests would have to be done to determine the identity of the body.

Ananda, who lived with her family on Whitehall Avenue in Kingston, was last seen on September 17 boarding a bus en route to Half-Way-Tree after school. Several of her school books were found a day after she went missing strewn along a pathway in the community of Pembroke Hall, miles away from where she was last seen.

Firefighters help to hoist a wooden box containing the remains believed to be that of 11-year-old Ananda Dean that was found yesterday over a precipice along the Cypress Road in Belvedere, St Andrew. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

The body was discovered about 10:00 am by residents who decided to investigate the cause of a lingering nasty odour that had been plaguing nearby houses for almost two weeks.
"At first we thought it was a dead animal, but after one week passed and we realised that the scent wasn't going away some people decided to go see what it was," a resident told the Observer. "It was when they chopped out the bush and went up there they found out that it was the little girl's body up there."

It appeared that the body had been thrown from the precipice into overgrown bushes, which concealed it until yesterday.
The residents also intimated that they may have overlooked clues that Ananda's body was disposed of in their community.

"People said they saw the uniform on the road for the longest while but they never knew it was the little girl's own," said another resident who did not wish to be named.

The police are speculating that the body may have been dumped hours or a day after Ananda went missing, given the state of decomposition, which resulted in a pathologist being called in to perform an on-the-spot post-mortem. It was naked and headless. In fact, a skull was all that remained of the head. There were also suggestions that she may have been raped. However, this could not be confirmed by the police.

Yesterday, it took the firefighters from the Stony Hill Fire Department almost three hours to remove the body resting more than 10 feet from the top of Cypress Drive. Once they were able to access the body, it was then put in a wooden box and hoisted up onto the road, keeping the scores of residents that gathered to see if the body was truly that of Ananda - the girl whose picture had been posted on fliers, placed on light posts, buses and in stores in the Corporate Area - in suspense.

Read More

A family grieves for two young children - Boy accidentally kills 3-year-old sister with licensed gun

By KIMONE THOMPSON
Sunday, September 28, 2008

GLEN Green last spoke to his three-year-old daughter Gabrielle yesterday morning. She called him and said she had something to tell him which she couldn't tell anyone else.

But before Glen got to hear the secret, he got news that his baby girl, also called Gabby, was dead. She had been shot in the face.
A distraught Orinthia McCalla, grandmother of three-year-old Gabrielle 'Gabby' Green who died at hospital yesterday, is comforted by close friends of the family. The little girl was accidentally shot by her eight-year-old brother at their home in Independence City, Portmore yesterday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)


A distraught Orinthia McCalla, grandmother of three-year-old Gabrielle 'Gabby' Green who died at hospital yesterday, is comforted by close friends of the family. The little girl was accidentally shot by her eight-year-old brother at their home in Independence City, Portmore yesterday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Even more tragic was that the fatal blow was dealt by the girl's eight-year-old brother as the two played innocently with a loaded gun.

"She call mi and say 'daddy hurry up an come home because mi have something to tell yuh, an mi nuh waan tell nuhbaddy else'. An mi sey it so strange because yesterday (Friday) mi an har and har mother go buy some tings and she just stuck on to me. She nuh lef me. Mi carry har go shop an she say 'daddy mi want dis', an mi buy dem give har. An now mi nuh get fi hear wha shi did waan say," he said, using a black handkerchief to wipe the tears that had welled up and were streaming down his face.

And although the impact on the father and other relatives must be unbearable, it is Gabby's brother whose memory will perhaps be forever haunted.

When the Sunday Observer visited the house where he lived with his sister, mother and maternal grandmother in Independence City, Portmore near midday yesterday, he was crying uncontrollably.

He sat at the feet of his grandmother, Orinthia McCalla, laid his head in her lap and wept sorrowfully. He is only eight, but he knew what had happened. He knew his sister had died. He knew he had accidentally caused it.

"Ah [him] mi sorry fah," one woman said. "Di poor thing look like him ah tun eediat. Him nuh stap scratch scratch himself like supp'n ah bite him."

Neighbours soon after took him to the paediatrician at the nearby Child Care Medical Centre to be examined
and counselled.

McCalla said she and her daughter were in the kitchen preparing breakfast at the time of the tragic incident. They thought the children were at the front of the yard where they had left them playing. They didn't know the game had changed or that it had moved inside the house until the ear-piercing explosion rang out, signalling that something had gone horribly wrong.

"Ah di explosion we hear an we bolt go inside. We meet him ah di doorway ah bawl and then we see har," McCalla said, sitting in a chair across from her house as the police processed the scene.

She went from staring blankly into space, glancing up at the skies calling on God.

"Wha mi a go do? Wha mi a go do?," she cried out. "Mi gran' pickney dem, mi gran' pickney dem."

The children, she said, had apparently been rummaging through the suitcase of an uncle who had just returned from abroad. He had told them he carried gifts for them but the children couldn't wait; they went to find it themselves. What they found however, was not sparkly gift wrap or shiny ribbons. It was their uncle's 9mm pistol.

The Gregory Park police reported yesterday that the firearm was licensed, but they took the uncle in for questioning. He was released pending investigation.

"Yuh know why mi feel it so?," asked McCalla. "If mi did have pickney weh bad and weh go outta di way [mi probably woulda seh is pay back, but mi nuh have no pickney like dat. Ah dat mek mi feel it so," the mother of four said. "Mi family come so far. Everybody big now and nutten [bad] neva happen. Why now? Why now Jesus? Satan is a liar. Ah bind him and sen him back to the pit of hell where him belong," she said, her tone sad and low.

Neighbours described Gabby as "nice", "friendly", "pretty" and "bright". "Nobody nuh pass pan di road an she nuh call to them," one man said.

"She was a pretty, pretty baby. She was sweet and sensible, we lickkle sunshine," McCalla said, recounting things her granddaughter had said.

"To how she pretty and bright, mi just say to miself maybe she neva come here to stay."

Read More

Orlando 'bomber' said to be on

BY TYRONE S REID
Sunday, September 28, 2008

THESE days, Lucille Rodney is longing for one thing. She wants her 'son' Kevin Brown to be reunited with his family.
The April 2008 mugshot taken of Kevin Brown, shortly after being taken to the Seminole County Jail in Florida.

For months she has waited and prayed for the day when she'll embrace him again like only a mother can. But from all indications, she will have to wait a while longer as the federal case against Brown is still before the courts and he is still being held in prison without bail.

Many will remember how Brown, the boy Rodney raised from age five like her own, was arrested at the Orlando International Airport last April while the world sat and watched via live broadcasts - and how he was branded "the Jamaican terrorist". Brown, a former American Army veteran, was about to travel to Jamaica to visit friends and family when he was detained at the Orlando International Airport in Florida after a search of his luggage revealed bomb-making material. The story made international media headlines on April 1 when the image of the tall, robust-looking Jamaican sat handcuffed on a pavement outside the main airport building as law enforcement officers conducted their investigation into the 'mysterious contents' of his travelling bag.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the liquid substance found in Brown's luggage was nitromethane, a potentially explosive formula. Galvanised pipes, end caps, two containers of BBs, batteries, bomb-making literature and a rocket igniter were also allegedly found in Brown's luggage. A laptop computer was removed from his carry-on bag for analysis by the FBI. A judge later ruled that there was enough evidence to proceed against him. He was subsequently charged by the FBI with attempting to place an explosive device on an aeroplane and incarcerated at the Seminole County Jail. He has been in police custody since the arrest.

An FBI criminal complaint later stated that Brown told authorities he wanted to detonate the materials on a tree stump in Jamaica, but later said he was going to show friends in his home country how to build explosives like he saw in Iraq.

Speaking with the Sunday Observer recently at her place of business in St Andrew, Rodney said she has to travel regularly to Orlando to visit Brown, who is being represented in court by two lawyers - one of them Jamaican-born. She noted, too, that he is being closely monitored while incarcerated, and is to return to court in early October.

"He's on suicide watch up there. They are watching him very closely. He was on high-alert but then he came off and they are still treating him for his mental condition. He says he is a bit fed up because a lot of mad people are there and he is not like them," said Rodney, who last visited Brown in August. "The lawyers are working very hard to get the case dismissed because some experts that have been consulted say the equipment he was carrying in his luggage did not pose a threat to passengers on the plane. So because of the federal charges, it is not going to be as easy as we hope. The last hearing was on August 27."

Brown, who went to the US to pursue college education, joined the Army in June 1999. With the dawn of 2003 came the Iraq War. Brown went to serve during the second six months and served double time after his stay was extended - leaving Iraq in early 2005, a little before the brutal murder of Sandra Palmer, his biological mother in Negril. She was strangled. And while the three main suspects have been brought in by investigating officers, three years later, the case has been put off several times. They are due in court on October 3.

Brown's mother-in-law Karen Holt said Brown wasn't the same after returning from Iraq.

"This is not [like] him," said Holt, who lives in North Charleston, South Carolina with Brown's young son. "It has to be a mental issue for him. I know if they looked through his medical records... I'm sure they will see... He's not a terrorist."
Just two days before his mother's murder Brown married a fellow Army officer and made plans to honeymoon in Jamaica. His son, now four, was also born around that time.

According to the Rodney family, the former US soldier sank into a deep depression following his departure from Iraq. The depression, they believe, became compounded when he learnt of his mother's murder, and he subsequently began abusing alcohol.

"The war changed him. The war depressed him, because afterwards he had to seek medication. He became unstable because of his experiences. He saw many of his friends die and heard gunshots 24/7 during his stay over there," Rodney explained.

"And I know for a fact that since his mother died three years ago it has been with him. At the funeral, he got off right there. We had to call a doctor for him. He couldn't believe that his mother died like that. The news was hard to swallow," she said.

"I am still baffled as to why he would have that in his luggage. I can't say why. I can't think for him," his aunt Carmen told the Sunday Observer in an April interview.

Psychologist and human relationship expert, Dr Veronica Salter, said grief and mental anguish can severely alter a person's state of mind and functioning.

"Severe grief is a terrible thing and it can cause anyone to have a breakdown. Grief can certainly alter your state of mind. A lot has happened to [Brown], especially his mother's murder and going to Iraq. The sort of stress he's been exposed to is enough to cause serious mental and emotional damage," Salter told the Sunday Observer. "War is a very traumatic experience. The episodes of violence, one right after another, can take a strong toll on anyone. I am very seriously concerned about what's going to happen to him. I am not one to judge, but he's clearly in need of psychiatric help."

In the meantime, Rodney points out that today Brown is physically healthy and is eating at the prison. But she says the expenses she has to foot to travel to and from the United States are eating away at her savings and she fears her textile business might suffer.

"When I go to Orlando, a million media people surround me up there. It's costing me a lot of money and it's really getting on my nerves. But I am trying to cope. The family is trying to cope. It is very hard. But we get emotional support from people because whenever I go to court, two representatives from the Miami Consulate fly up there with me," she said. "Right now, I am hoping for the best because I really want the case dismissed so that Kevin can focus on getting better and getting his life back on track."

Read More

Kartel, Deva Bratt at odds - Deejays claim rights to 'Portmore Empire'

( L - R ) Deva Bratt, Vybz Kartel - File

Incarcerated deejay Deva Bratt has verbally lashed out at fellow deejay Vybz Kartel, accusing the artiste of stealing his 'Portmore Empire'.

In February of this year Deva Bratt, real name Sheldon Smith, was taken into custody in connection with an alleged case of carnal abuse, committed against a 14-year-old girl. He was picked up by police from his home in Westchester, Portmore.

After being given bail for this incident the deejay was accused of raping another girl. He was again taken in custody and the two cases are still before the court.

Felt betrayed and belittled

In an interview published yesterday on the popular Dancehallmuzik.com website, Deva Bratt who spoke from the Greater Portmore police lock-up claimed that he felt betrayed and belittled. He said that he has been left to rot in jail by fellow deejay Vybz Kartel.

He is quoted as saying; "... A hear mi hear Kartel a seh mi not in (Portmore) Empire, but mi neva tek dat serious, cause me a think how mi fi get kick out a Empire when I am Empire? Is me start Empire years ago; yes Kartel buss di ting bigger, but how yuh fi go behind di founder back an register company in your name one?"

Get kick out

He continued; "...him go announce seh me get kick out, and now a throw word against him fren who inna jail? An yuh wonder why dem call him Judas?"

The artiste also said that Kartel along with Munga 'Honourebel' have lyrically thrown words at him with Munga referring to him as a 'pedophile.' Bratt pointed to Kartel's Never Tun A Raper on the Stimulant Rhythm as lashing out at him.

The song states, "when yuh see di gal dem, nuh hold down/ low har nuh/ nuh drape up/ let har go/ nuh bodda fi... I coulda neva tun a rapah/ bun a rapah ... mi nuh tek if yuh nuh gimme though... swear to God mi nah go a court pan no rape charge ... "

Registered trademark

THE STAR was unable to get in touch with Vybz Kartel, however in a release sent to us from his publicist, the deejay is quoted as saying, "the Portmore Empire is a registered trademark of Adidjaheim Records and was registered almost two years ago with the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO). All Portmore Empire artistes are signed to Adidjaheim Records, and only signed artistes are allowed certain privileges or afforded access to certain resources as it relates to expenditures or liabilities incurred by said artistes."

The release further stated that the Portmore Empire does not associate itself with anyone who is involved with any case of carnal abuse or exploitation of women.

In the meantime, Deva Bratt in his interview said that his lawyers are working on getting bail and he was hoping to be released by Christmas.

'Portmore Empire does not associate itself with anyone who is involved with any case of carnal abuse or exploitation of women'

Read More

SPOUSE SHOOTS COP IN NECK - Man was playing with girlfriend's service firearm

A policewoman was admitted to hospital last Friday after she was accidentally shot by her boyfriend who was playing with her service firearm, police told THE STAR yesterday.

The incident happened at the common-law couple's Toronto Avenue home off Molynes Road in St Andrew, police say. Up to yesterday, the 23-year-old constable, who works at the Community Safety and Security branch on Oxford Road, St Andrew, was still in hospital in stable condition.

Man arrested

The boyfriend, Ian Wallace, 35, a tour driver, has since been arrested and charged with shooting with intent, wounding with intent and illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. Police say he is to appear in court next Friday.

Reports reaching THE STAR, are that about 10:30 p.m., the couple, who has been living together for the past four years, was in bed when the policewoman got up to use the bathroom.

While she was in the bathroom, the boyfriend, police say, went into her handbag and took out her 9mm Glock service pistol which had a magazine with 15 rounds. He ejected a round from the breach of the weapon and released the magazine, police say.

But apparently not knowing that another bullet had gone into the breach when he ejected the first one, he pointed the gun at the policewoman.

Police say he was warned twice to put the firearm down, but refused and pulled the trigger, shooting the constable in her neck. The police were called and she was rushed to the hospital where she was admitted, while Wallace was taken in to custody.

Following investigations, he was arrested and charged by Detective Sergeant Quincy Sterling from the Half-Way Tree CIB.

Read More

Bail for cop charged with colleague's rape

published: Saturday | September 27, 2008

A policeman who is accused of raping a policewoman at her home on August 18, appeared in the Home Circuit Court yesterday.

He is 22-year-old Detective Constable Adrian Johnson.

He has been granted bail in the sum of $400,000 with a surety to return to court on October 24.

It is being alleged that, on August 18, the policewoman asked the accused to transport her home. While he was at the policewoman's house, the accused allegedly committed the offences of rape and indecent assault. A report was made to the police that same day.

Statements were collected and submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who ruled that the policeman must be charged with rape and indecent assault.

The policeman was charged yesterday morning and taken before the court.

Attorney-at-law Carolyn Reid-Cameron, in making the bail application, said the accused did not rape the policewoman. She said the complainant and the accused were lovers.

Justice Carol Beswick granted the policeman bail and ordered him to report to the Constant Spring Police Station on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Read More

PM wants new designation for Caricom states Points to peculiar needs, exposure to natural disasters

Saturday, September 27, 2008

PRIME Minister Bruce Golding yesterday called for Jamaica and other Caricom states to be recognised as "small vulnerable and highly Indebted middle-income countries", instead of their current international ranking as "middle income developing countries".

Golding told the United Nations that Jamaica and its Caricom (Caribbean Community) partners were proposing the new designation as a special category of international recognition because of the difficulties created by their peculiar needs, as well as their exposure to natural disasters.

"We call on the international community to devise strategic programmes to address the peculiar needs of middle-income countries with deep pockets of poverty," Golding said.

The prime minister was addressing the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

He said that the focus of development co-operation cannot be too narrowly defined.

Said Golding: "The varied economic and social profiles of developing countries require a more flexible response that recognises investment in human capital, infrastructure and the transfer of technology as critical elements in reducing poverty in a sustained way.

"This is particularly important to developing countries that are classified, based on per capita income, as middle-income countries," the prime minister said.

"This classification deprives them of access to concessionary financing and creative measures to reduce the crippling debt burden that afflicts so many of them. If we are to reduce poverty, the peculiar circumstances of these countries cannot be ignored, since that is where more than one-third of the world's poor are to be found," he added.

Turning to the UN's millennium development goals (MDGs), Golding said that although the process was halfway to the 2015 deadline, it was behind schedule.

"It is time to take stock to see where we are falling behind, who is falling behind and what must be done to make up lost ground," the Jamaican prime minister told the UN.

A critical success factor, he suggested, must be the partnership between developed and developing countries, as defined in the 2002 Monterey Consensus on Financing for Development, integrating aid, debt relief, market access, good governance and foreign direct investment.

"These initiatives were carefully calibrated. Proceeding with some elements without the others will not achieve the goals we have set. Indeed, it might make it worse," he said.

The prime minister said that developing countries must all pull up their socks, if they are to reverse the slippage they have suffered.

"Developing countries must ensure that their priorities are properly structured. Developed countries must live up to their commitment to devote 0.7 per cent of their GDP to official development assistance. This is a modest amount yet, only five countries have to date done so," the prime minister pointed out.

On the issue of global economic governance, Golding said that in 60 years very little change has been made to its governance structure and practices, and he called for a re-engineering of the global financial system.

He said that Jamaica supported the call for reform of the existing financial infrastructure, to reflect the new global realities and make it more proactive and responsive to the needs of the entire world community.

"But, it must involve more than merely expanding the membership of an exclusive club. It must be development-driven, recognising that poverty anywhere, is a threat to prosperity elsewhere," he said.

The crisis currently rocking the world's financial markets reflects the inadequacy of the regulatory structures that are essential to the effective functioning of any market, Golding said. But he said it also represented the failure on the part of the international financial system to facilitate the flow of resources into areas where they can produce real wealth.

"The world is not short of capital. What it lacks are the mechanisms to ensure the efficient utilisation o

Read More

More than $48 m spent on school furniture

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Chief procurement officer in the Ministry of Education, Leon Fraser, has disclosed that more than $48 million has so far been spent on the issuance of contracts to manufacture school furniture, some of which are already being delivered.

"To date, we have ordered furniture in the region of $48 million, and that dollar value will increase as we order more furniture as we go along. Furniture is being distributed to all regions," Fraser disclosed.

But the chief procurement officer said there was a challenge accessing the eastern end of the island with the destruction of the Harbour View bridge.

"There is a challenge with the eastern end of the country, because the bridge at Harbour View was washed out and the ford that was supposed to be built was also washed out.
When the temporary ford was put in place, we managed to get some furniture out to Yallahs and to Seaforth High, and the plan was to get to other schools in that section of the island. But again, we have suffered a setback because the ford was washed out," he said.

He said the ministry was looking at other ways to get the furniture to the affected schools.

"We are hopeful that we can find some alternative route to the ford, we don't know how, but that is the major drawback right now, because we would have really addressed that situation already," he said.

"We don't know how quickly it [the ford] will be repaired so that we can resume deliveries, because we have furniture in production and we are delivering them as they come off the production line. So it's just a matter for us to really get access to the schools," he added.

Fraser said the Ministry had delivered 14,302 pieces of furniture to schools across the island up until Friday, September 19 and deliveries would continue throughout the school year "because we get requests from the regions in an ongoing manner".

"It is very expensive to supply furniture to schools. A set of desks and chairs costs over $4,000, so we need the school management and the students to actually take care of the furniture that is being supplied to the schools. I don't think a lot of them are aware of just how expensive it is, not only to manufacture the furniture ,but to deliver it," he said.

The haulage costs are also high and we want to ensure that all the stakeholders really take care of the furniture, It's one thing to ask us to provide it, but you also need to play your part," he added.

Last year the ministry delivered more than 124, 000 pieces of furniture to schools across the island.

Read More

MORE BEENIE DRAMA - child's mother accuses him of being a deadbeat father

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter




As if Beenie Man does not have enough to deal with, the mother of his five-year-old son, who lives in England, has decided to air her grouses about the deejay over the popular Internet site, YouTube.

In a video entitled, 'Beenie Man, mother of child responds to his lies', posted on September 19, the artiste's babymother responds to what she calls the lies that Beenie Man has said about her in an interview with British radio host Chris Goldfinger. The Chris Goldfinger interview was posted on YouTube on May 24 this year.

It was previously reported on partyxtraz.blogspot.com, that Beenie Man was expected to attend court in the United Kingdom to deal with a child support case brought against him by Shezal Laing. Ms Laing is said to be the niece of popular Sting promoter, Supreme Promotions chief executive officer, Isaiah Laing.

In the interview, Beenie Man discusses the pending court case and acknowledges the child.

Beenie states: "Mi get a son a England, zeen, but mi know bout him now ... mi neva sign him birth paper or nutting ... but di government a seh mi owe child support. how can I owe child support if I neva pronounce dis kid as my kid?"

'Crazy woman'

'The Doctor' goes on to call Laing a 'crazy woman', who is asking for £150,000 pounds in child support. According to Beenie, he is not a deadbeat father but believes the amount requested for child support is too much.

In a five-minute clip posted by Shezal Laing, pictures are shown of Beenie with her son, as well as pictures of herself and the child. She questions the artiste's integrity, accusing him of manipulating the press to his advantage. She brings up Beenie's marriage to D'Angel and the pictures with Beenie and Bar-Bee that were published in the papers shortly after his marriage.

One big mix-up

During the video, Buz Luhrmann's Wear Sunscreen is played, as the remarks of the child's mother are shown on the screen. Laing wrote: "He (the child) will have one good, loving parent and he will never, ever need you ... you love the mix-up, your life is one big mix-up - I do not ... but now you are coming to my country, doing interviews and spreading your lies, enough is enough."

Laing continued: "The five years that my son has been alive, you haven't mentioned him... now it's all over the 'net and in the papers that you are a deadbeat dad you want to spread your lies about him ... whenever you get any bad press you go to the media with your lies and try to manipulate the public's perception of what is really going on and try to make them feel sorry for you."

Pay what you owe

Laing implies that neither she nor her son needs or wants Beenie Man in their lives, saying that Beenie Man has had her fighting in court for child support for five years. She ends the video by saying: "Pay the money you owe me and never, ever mention me or my child again."

When contacted, Beenie Man's publicist, Ray Alexander, told THE STAR that the artiste was currently in New Jersey for a show. According to Alexander, he has not seen Laing's video and could not comment on it.

Read More

Usain BOLTS through Sherwood Content

KERIL WRIGHT
Thursday, September 25, 2008



Triple Olympic gold medalist, Usain Bolt, sure knows how to have himself a grand time - on and off the track.
Easily the star of his homecoming celebrations held on the weekend at his alma mater, the William Knibb High School in Trelawny, the 22-year-old partied the night away alongside an impressive line-up of Reggae/Dancehall stars and leading street dancers.

Whether he was just horsing around onstage or displaying a mastery of the popular street dances he made world-famous in Beijing China, the young track hero showed he was indeed just a young man having the time of his life.

A 10, 000-strong crowd turned out Saturday to welcome the fastest man alive with thunderous applause as he entered a stage set up on the grounds of his old high school. Shouts of "Bolt! Bolt! Bolt!" punctured the air as he "Gully Creeped" his way onstage, before launching into his traditional "Lightning Bolt" pose.

Dubbed the Usain Bolt/Hart Hill Homecoming Celebrations, Saturday's revelry was sponsored by David Phillips of National Meats and No Joke Entertainment. It included a fun day at the Waldensia Primary School, which he attended as a child.
Bolt joins street dancer Ding Dong (2rd right) and his crew in a display of the now world-famous dance move 'Nuh Linga'.


Bolt joins street dancer Ding Dong (2rd right) and his crew in a display of the now world-famous dance move 'Nuh Linga'.

The concert brought together the likes of Diamond-selling Shaggy and counterpart Rick Rock, Richie Spice, Kiprich, D' Angel and upcoming female artistes Timberlee and Tifa, Nesbeth, Twins of Twins and Tony Matterhorn.

Dancers Ding Dong of the Ravers Clavers dance group and Ice, creators of Bolt's favourite dance moves "Nuh Linga" and "Gully Creepa"- were a major hit, participating in a 30-minute set onstage with Bolt participating at every turn.

A number of acts billed to appear at the event did not show up, but this in no way dampened the party spirit as fans who filed onto the grounds of the high school from as early as 7:00 pm celebrated into the wee hours alongside Code Red and Copper Shot, well after the concert had concluded.
In attendance were aunts, cousins and other family members of 22-year-old.

The event also saw the announcement of the Usain Bolt/Hart Hill Early Childhood Initiative, with Phillips pledging the first $1-million toward the fundraising project, being set up to inject much needed finance into Early Childhood Education.

The star athlete was also presented with a sculpture of him in his traditional "Lightning Bolt" pose.

Read More

Ja slips 12 places on corruption index

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Jamaica has been ranked the 96th most corrupt country in the world by the German-based Trans-parency International (TI), down from an 84th ranking last year.

The organisation surveyed 180 countries for its 2008 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and ranks countries according to the degree to which politicians and public officials are perceived to be corrupt by business leaders and non-resident analysts.

According to TI, the index highlights the fatal link between poverty, failed institutions and graft, but also indicates that the strength of oversight mechanisms is at risk among the wealthiest nations.

"The continuing high levels of corruption and poverty plaguing many of the world's societies amount to an ongoing humanitarian disaster and cannot be tolerated. But even in more privileged countries, with enforcement disturbingly uneven, a tougher approach to tackling corruption is needed," said the TI report which was released yesterday.

Countries on the CPI are scored on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being the most corrupt and 10 being the least. Jamaica's 96th ranking and 3.1 score tied it with African countries Gabon, Mali, and Benin, Guatemala in Central America and Kiribati in the Pacific.

Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand were rated the least corrupt in 2008 followed by Singapore, with Somalia rated the world's most corrupt country scoring 1.0.

Zimbabwe, burdened by hyper-inflation and political strife, is ranked at 166 scoring 1.8. In the Caribbean St Lucia is ranked the least corrupt at 21 with a score of 7.1 followed by Barbados at 22 with 7.0.

Haiti, the least developed Caricom (Caribbean Community) country and one of the poorest in the world, ranked 177 with a rating of 1.4. The US ranks at 18, tied with Japan and Belgium and behind the United Kingdom at 16 and Canada at nine.

Read More

JLP politician on murder rap

KARYL WALKER, Crime/Court co-ordinator walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, September 25, 2008

Police will today interrogate Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) politician Lennox Hinds, who was on Tuesday arrested and slapped with murder, conspiracy and shooting charges.

Hinds, who unsuccessfully contested the Edgewater Division in Portmore, St Catherine in last December's parish council elections, was arrested at his Portmore home during an operation by officers from the Major Investigation Task Force and the Flying Squad.

Hinds has been charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and two counts of shooting with intent. His attorneys are expected to sit in on today's question and answer session.

Yesterday, police were tight-lipped about the details of the alleged murder, but a source told the Observer that the investigation is centred around a shooting death in the community of Portsmouth during the December 2007 parish council election campaign.

Hinds lost his battle for a parish council seat to the People's National Party's Alrick Campbell during those elections.

Read More

Drug conspiracy - Security personnel, customs, port officials in narco trade

published: Thursday | September 25, 2008

Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

A recent narcotics intelligence report has linked a number of police personnel, customs officials and employees at the seaports to the growing illegal drug trade.

Head of the Narcotics Police Division, Senior Superintendent Carlton Wilson, said the personnel were playing an integral part in the illegal drug trade.

He did not disclose the identities of the persons implicated, but revealed that on many occasions police personnel have tipped off drug smugglers when the security forces were pursuing them.

"A number of these police personnel are under our microscope," the narcotics chief said.

Yesterday, Commissioner of Customs Danville Walker said while he had not received the report, he would not rule out the possibility of customs officials being involved in the illicit activity.

"I have been focusing on revenue," Walker said.

No report

A spokesperson at the Port Authority of Jamaica said he, too, had not seen or heard of any such report.

But he stressed that security systems are in place at the ports to detect ganja canisters fitted to the hull of ships.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force's Anti-Corruption Unit has arrested more than 50 police personnel since January.

The majority were arrested for collecting bribes from motorists who committed traffic offences.Police intelligence has also revealed that drug smugglers are using wreckers, ambulances and established company vehicles to move illegal substances from one point to another.

This was the case on Tuesday night when the police intercepted a yellow courier Hiace van, which belongs to a prominent Kingston-based company.

The narcotics police said 1,050 lb of compressed ganja was found in the van. The driver, who has been with the courier company for the last 13 years, was arrested and charged.

Also on Tuesday, the Narcotics Police found 1,650 lb of compressed ganja in Slipe district, St Elizabeth.

The police said they have now arrested 4,645 persons since the start of the year on drug-related charges. The figure for last year was 5,496.

A prominent St Ann businessman is among the persons arrested. He has been described as one of the major players in the drug trade, and is now awaiting extradition to the United States.

The police said he was picked up in Clarendon last week, shortly after he collected more $2 million from a businessman.

Wilson said recent drug seizures have started to affect the finances of drug dealers.

"Because they are hurting, they have made several threats against us," he said.

While there has been a lull in cocaine seizure, the police said ganja production continues to increase.

Narco seizures January-August

19,080 kilograms of ganja

39 motor vehicles

Two boats

One shipping container

Last year, the police seized 37,439 kilograms of ganja and 37,196 kilograms in 2006.

Read More

US$2,100 hotel bill lands foreigner in jail

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

MONTEGO BAY, St James - An Estonian man, Stan Puust, a 26-year-old construction worker, is facing charges of obtaining credit by fraud after he found his way into an all-inclusive hotel where he allegedly spent a week, racking up a bill of US$2,100.

The accused man told the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court last Thursday that he was robbed of US$3,000 on the first day he arrived in Jamaica and was 'given' an armband that allowed him access to the hotel property.

He managed to gain access to a room by telling the housekeeping staff he had lost his key and was there for a week before he was discovered. He was taken into police custody on September 17.

Senior Resident Magistrate Winsome Henry asked that INTERPOL be contacted to find out if Puust was a conman.
Puust told the court he landed in Kingston by mistake as he did not know there was an airport in Montego Bay and then tried to get a taxi to take him to Montego Bay.

While on the way from Kingston he said the taxi was stopped by uniformed police who found ganja in the car and he was allegedly asked to pay them US$500.

He said after getting to Montego Bay and finding a hotel, he found out that the money he had stashed in his bag was also missing, but by then the taxi driver had left and he had no way of contacting him.

He told the court he had gone looking for food the next day when he met a man who gave him the armband, which he used to gain access to the all-inclusive hotel.

He said he had tried to make contact with friends in Estonia to send him money so he could pay his hotel bills, but had not been able to get through.

He was surprised when he was ordered remanded, as he said he had called Virgin Atlantic and made reservations to travel back to London and then on to Estonia on Thursday.
He will return to court on October 3.

Read More

Cop arrested for rape of colleague

published: Wednesday | September 24, 2008

A policeman has been taken into custody for the alleged rape of a woman colleague.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green told The Gleaner that the policeman was interviewed yesterday and a ruling from the director of public prosecutions is now pending.

Raped on duty

The Gleaner reported last Tuesday that the woman constable was raped while on duty.

The woman has since been reassigned, The Gleaner understands, and is receiving full support from the constabulary.

The incident had drawn outrage from several quarters, with senior members of the police force condemning the act.

Read More

Falmouth: Comrades call for MP's resignation

FALMOUTH, Trelawny - Approximately 30 People's National Party (PNP) supporters yesterday converged at the constituency offices of North Trelawny Member of Parliament, Dr Patrick Harris, calling for his resignation.

The demonstration was apparently triggered by last Saturday's internal elections in which Portia Simpson Miller defeated Dr Peter Phillips' challenge to her presidency. Dr Harris was a supporter of Dr Phillips.

"Dr Harris has done his time, he needs to go and make way for someone else," one party supporter said.
Harris, a former government back-bencher, was last September named the deputy Opposition spokesman on housing, infrastructure and transport, following the PNP's defeat in the general election.

Since making his support for Phillips' candidacy public, he has come under fire from many PNP supporters in the constituency who were backing Simpson Miller.

Yesterday, he told the Observer that he was not present at the constituency office during the demonstration, as he was on his way to Parliament.

He said, however, that he was not perturbed by the protest.
"I have no problem with the demonstration, as long as it is being done in an orderly way, and I understand that was how it was done," he told the Observer.

"We are living in a democratic country; we have fought for the right to express ourselves freely so people should be allowed to express themselves freely," he explained.
He promised, however, to address the matter but declined to elaborate.

"Give it another day or two and I will address the issue. I will address that one in a fulsome way," he stressed.
Harris has been Member of Parliament for North Trelawny since 2002.

Read More

More PNP resignations - Party dissolves Council of Opposition Spokespersons

Wednesday, September 24, 2008


Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller (2nd left) listens to a point being made by MP Lisa Hanna while Phillip Paulwell (left), sitting in the seat usually occupied by the leader of Opposition business, and Dr Omar Davies peruse documents in Parliament yesterday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

THE Opposition People's National Party (PNP), rocked by the resignation of several of its key spokesmen in the aftermath of another bitter leadership contest, yesterday dissolved its Council of Spokespersons to allow party leader Portia Simpson Miller to name a 'new' team.

Dr Peter Phillips, who unsuccessfully challenged Simpson Miller for the PNP's top job last Saturday, was among the officials who sent their resignations to the party president yesterday. Phillips resigned his posts as Opposition spokesman on national security, and Leader of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives.

He said, however, that he would continue to serve as MP for East Central St Andrew.

Yesterday, Phillip Paulwell, a close ally of the PNP leader and the MP for East Kingston and Port Royal, acted as Leader of Opposition Business in the House.

Simpson Miller promised yesterday that a new Council of Opposition Spokespersons will be appointed before the next sitting of the Parliament.

"The new Council of Spokespersons will reflect the thrust of the parliamentary Opposition to advance the progressive agenda for national development," a party statement quoted the PNP leader.

The Opposition leader, said the statement, "expresses her gratitude to all members of parliament who served previously as Opposition spokespersons for their contribution in these roles over the last year".

Phillips, a former vice-president of the party, served in the security, health and construction and works ministries under the leadership of P J Patterson. He was retained as security minister when Simpson Miller took over the presidency of the party in 2006 and later as security spokesman when the PNP was booted from office last September after 18 years in power.

Simpson Miller created history in 2006 when she won the PNP presidency over Phillips; Omar Davies, the then finance minister; and former water minister Karl Blythe in a divisive contest following the resignation of Patterson. She became the first woman prime minister, but was blamed for the PNP's loss in last September's general election.

In his letter of resignation yesterday, Phillips said: "I have yesterday, formally and in writing, advised party leader and leader of the opposition, the Most Honourable Portia Simpson Miller of my continued commitment, loyalty, and love for the People's National Party and my desire to continue to work on behalf of this great and noble movement," said Phillips in his letter.

Phillips urged members who supported his presidential bid to give the party leader their full support, saying she "ought to be given a free hand to determine the composition of her team".

South St Catherine MP Fitz Jackson, and the man who managed Phillips' leadership campaign, also resigned from the positions deputy leader of opposition business, deputy spokesman on finance and the public service, and Opposition Whip.

Jackson said he was obliged to provide the party president with the opportunity for her to have full discretion in the formulation of the team with which she would work to take the PNP forward.

He, too, reaffirmed his commitment to the party as a faithful and loyal member and that he was willing to support the work of the party.

Maxine Henry-Wilson, a former education minister and key Phillips backer, asked to be relieved of her position of Opposition spokesman on education, science and technology, as well as her membership of the parliamentary committees on which she has represented the Opposition.

In congratulating Simpson Miller on her reaffirmation as president by the delegates, Henry-Wilson said it was in the best interest of the PNP for the president to have full discretion in determining her team that would take the party forward.

In a separate correspondence to the chairman, Robert Pickersgill, Henry-Wilson said that she would not be seeking election to any party position in the forthcoming internal elections.

On Monday, Dean Peart quit as the PNP's spokesman on local government and the environment, while Rosemarie Shaw, a former Jamaica Labour Party councillor and mayor of Morant Bay, said she would resign as the St Thomas Western constituency caretaker yesterday.

Read More

Beenie to be a granddad - 17-y-o daughter pregnant - Another deejay said to be the father

It appears that Moses 'Beenie Man' Davis is soon to be a grandfather. The deejay's daughter, who turned 17 last week, is rumoured to be pregnant for popular deejay Aidonia.

Aidonia has, however, denied that he is the father.

When contacted, Aidonia's manager and brother, Lav said, "He is not the babyfather. She is only 16-year-old, so why would Aidonia be involved with somebody that young? Furthermore, we are family with Beenie Man, nothing more. We are close family with Beenie Man, so I don't know where people are getting this from."

Lav said other persons, including members of the media, had been calling the deejay for confirmation of the rumours. He said the rumour would not affect Aidonia's career.

No effects

"It won't affect his career in any way. As I said, Beenie is like family. Aidonia has been going through a lot of things over the years, so this is just one more thing that he will have to get over," he said.

Rumours quietly began circulating that Beenie's daughter was pregnant for the popular artiste last week.

When THE STAR spoke to a source close to Beenie Man, he confirmed that the deejay's daughter was expecting (for a well-known deejay). The source said, "She's pregnant and she's overseas in Florida staying with a relative."

Beenie Man, who is currently in New Jersey, USA, for a show, was unavailable for comment up to press time.

Shocked

However, according to the source, 'The Doctor' was shocked to discover the news of his child's pregnancy but has since adjusted to the situation. The source explained that Beenie has been on tour back to back and it was when he recently came off tour that he heard that his daughter was pregnant.

"As a father, to know your 17-year-old is pregnant, worse when yuh have good ambitions for her of going to college, it's not something you take so easy, but it's a given part of life ... . He was shocked," the source said.

When asked if Beenie was going to support his daughter, the source commented: "Beenie is gonna be supportive. He just has to live with it and support her all the way, let her know that this is not the end of her life and she's gonna continue school."

According to the source, he didn't believe this would affect Beenie's career in any way.

hi5 page

Photos posted on the daughter's hi5 page also confirmed the pregnancy. The daughter, whose photos were proudly displayed on the page in a folder titled 'Sexy Mother', is seen lying on a bed, her protruding stomach very visible. There is also a photo of the ultra-sound posted on the page. The ultrasound bears her name, as well as the name of the doctor who performed the procedure, and the date it was done, September 2. The image of the foetus is clearly defined.

Read More

Eleven persons killed over the weekend

Kimmo Matthews
Monday, September 22, 2008



Police yesterday reported that a total of 11 persons were killed in separate incidents over the weekend, nine by the gun and two by the knife, keeping the murder tally on track for another record year.

Crime statistics released by the police for the first eight months of this year, revealed that 1,105 persons were murdered up to the end of August.

Yesterday's blood-drenched list of the persons murdered weekend read:

. Clive Ellis, 43, otherwise called "Latimore" of East Road, Kingston 12, shot dead by a gunman along Water Street in downtown Kingston yesterday.

. Ricardo Smith, 27, nicknamed "Taffy" of John Lane, Kingston, shot dead by unknown assailants in downtown Kingston Friday.

. Ricardo Allison, 25, construction worker shot and killed in the community of Short Town Manchester Friday.

. Oniel 'Bunny' Clarke, shot and killed at Whitfield Avenue, Kingston 13 Friday.

. Germaine Crooks, 22, chef of Shortwood Road, Kingston 8, shot dead at Grants Pen Road, Kingston 8 Saturday.

. Oral Roberts, 20-year-old of West Street, killed at a gambling house in the community Saturday

. Kevin Easy, 23, of Savanna Cross, killed at a wake in the Clarendon community.

. Anthony "Tony" Shaw, 46, and Dwayne "Cash Brush" Edwards, both of Mountain View Avenue in Kingston killed during an altercation at Mountain View Avenue, Kingston 2 Saturday.

. Enoch Robinson, 34, of Eastwood Park Road in the Kingston 10, stabbed to death Saturday at Harbour Street in downtown Kingston.

. Wesley "Con" Bent, 54, of All Sides, Trelawny stabbed to death in the district Saturday. Joseph Fisher, 78, also of All Sides district, was charged with the murder.

Police also reported Saturday they had charged a 16-year-old youth with murder for the brutal mutilation killing of 11-year-old Sandside, St Mary resident, Aakim Scott last week. The teen, one of five boys held in connection with the killing, is expected to appear in court this week.

Scott's dismembered body was found by police and residents last Tuesday stuffed in a polyethylene bag in bushes, two days after he went missing on Sunday, September 14.

Read More