Severed head of wanted man found in St Catherine

Friday, September 05, 2008

The severed head of a man, who the St Catherine North Police say they had wanted for three murders, was found along the Tredegar Park main road in Spanish Town, in the parish yesterday.

The head has been identified as that of 21-year-old Lionel Williams, otherwise called Nannie Boy, who hailed from the said community. Police say Williams was wanted for the murders of a man and two women in the Spanish Town area.

According to the police, shortly before 6:00 am, Williams' decomposing head was found by residents who summoned them. They said no motive has been established for his killing and that they were trying to locate "the rest of" his body.

"At the moment we have no clear motive for the killing or information as to where the rest of his body might be," Superintendent Derrick Champagnie told the Observer.

"Nannie Boy was one of the men on our wanted list. He was a part of a gang which operates in the Tredegar Park area and was wanted for the shooting of a man and two females between 2005-2006," said Champagnie, adding that the gang was responsible for a string of shootings, extortion and other criminal activities in Spanish Town.

Meanwhile, homicide detectives in that division were also probing the murder of a truck driver who was attacked and shot on Wood Street in Frazer's Content also in the parish early yesterday morning.

According to the Constabulary Communication Network, 35-year-old Darren Hutchinson was shot multiple times by gunmen as he drove along Wood Street shortly after 7:00 am.

The cops said that Hutchinson, in a bid to escape his attackers, turned onto nearby Frazer's Boulevard where he came out of the vehicle and collapsed in a ditch. An illegal Taurus 9mm pistol was allegedly found in Hutchinson's truck.

Read More

Jamaicans flee Turks and Caiços in fear of 'Ike'

published: Friday | September 5, 2008

Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

As The Turks and Caiços Islands braced for a Category Four hurricane, Jamaicans living there were expected to be airlifted here last night by Air Jamaica and Air Turks and Caicos.

Jamaicans were urged to get on the next flight out before the dangerous Hurricane Ike makes landfall there late Saturday, Lorna Lindo, a Jamaican teacher living there told The Gleaner.

Late news

Lindo said she learnt of the evacuation late, and was not certain how she was going to leave the extremely flat islands. Of the 33,000 people residing in The Turks and Caiços, some 4,000 are Jamaicans. Many of those Jamaicans are educators and tourism workers.

At 8 p.m. yesterday, the flight, tagged a 'Mercy Flight' by sources at the airline, said an A320 was scheduled to depart the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay to pick up at least 150 passengers, complemented by Air Turks and Caicos which had the capacity to fly more than 30 people.

Yesterday Hurricane Ike continued to rapidly gain strength in the central Atlantic Basin. As of 5 p.m. yesterday, Ike was located 505 miles north-northeast of the Leeward Islands. Maximum sustained winds near the centre were down a bit to 135 mph, but it remained a powerful Category Four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com

Read More

Man shot dead, house burnt Seven-year-old girl seriously wounded

Friday, September 05, 2008

The burnt-out shell of the two-bedroom house where 32-year-old Rodney Simpson was shot and killed yesterday. In the background is the house where the seven-year-old girl was shot and injured. (Photo: Keril Wright)

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Gunmen yesterday kicked down the door to Rodney Simpson's home at Fuller District in Granville, shot him dead then set his two-bedroom house on fire.

The men then peppered the area with bullets, three of which caught a seven-year-old girl who resides next door. The girl was admitted to hospital where she underwent surgery. Her condition was said to be serious.

Simpson, 32, worked as a 'watchman', but the police could not say what was the motive for his murder.

Last night, residents of the volatile St James community said they were fearful that the gunmen could strike again.

"A kill dem waah kill wi off," said one male resident, who added he and his common-law wife hid in a bedroom closet when the gunmen were firing wildly after killing Simpson about 1:30 yesterday morning.

The man, who was fearful to have his name published in the newspaper, said a number of residents were living in fear as attacks by armed men were more sustained and vicious. He said the police recently discontinued daily foot patrols in the area, considered one of the crime hot spots in the parish.

Police Superintendent Steve McGregor, the St James police chief, said the police were stretched, especially with the recent upsurge in criminal activities in several areas in Montego Bay.

"We are working with limited resources," McGregor said yesterday. "It is difficult to sustain these operations in all these areas."

Read More

Air Jamaica livid - Pennicook criticises Government - Tourism minister defends American Airlines deal

published: Friday | September 5, 2008

Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter


Left: Pennicook ... What I do not agree with is that this revenue guarantee is given to American on routes that are currently served by Air Jamaica. Right: Bartlett ... No payment will be made to American until the end of the one-year period.

The Management of Air Jamaica is livid over the Government's decision to give American Airlines (AA) a US$4.5- million (J$324 million) guarantee to encourage flights to the island.

But Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says there is nothing wrong with the decision, which he says will not hurt Air Jamaica and will ensure that there are seats for approximately 156,000 more visitors to come to the island.

That is little comfort for outgoing vice-president of marketing at Air Jamaica, Paul Pennicook.

"I fully understand and appreciate the minister's attempt to bring seats into the island by giving a revenue guideline to American Airlines," Pennicook, who will demit office a the end of the month, told The Gleaner yesterday. "But what I do not agree with is that this revenue guarantee is given to American on routes that are currently served by Air Jamaica, specifically Chicago."

Pennicook, a former director of tourism, was also dismissive of claims that the current administration was following a long- established practice whereby Jamaica Vacations Limited (JamVac) provided guarantees to airlines.

New gateways

"JamVac was established to develop new gateways for Jamaica. It was never established to go and subsidise seats in existing gateways ..." Pennicook said. "This is the first time that we are supporting a scheduled carrier and on a route which Air Jamaica serves."

But Bartlett was unapologetic as he defended the deal.

"This arrangement is unprecedented in terms of its value to us at a time when there are massive cuts in airlifts throughout the Caribbean and the world," the tourism minister said.

According to Bartlett, with nearly 3,000 new hotel rooms this year, the deal would help Jamaica ensure seat security out of North America.

He said the decision to sign an agreement with AA was based on its ability to move persons from across North America to the gateways.

"American will be able to get persons from communities from around the airports and Air Jamaica does not have the planes going into the communities around the gateways," Bartlett argued.

He added that, despite putting up the US$4.5 million, the deal might not cost Jamaica one cent as it was based on the number of passengers that American will take to the island.

"No payment will be made to American until the end of the one-year period (November 30, 2009). This depends on the load factor and the money will remain in escrow earning interest," Bartlett said.

"It is not that it would help Air Jamaica's cash flow as we will not be paying the money every quarter or every month, this is a contingent guarantee that will only be paid if you don't meet the agreed load factor at the end of the period."

Under the deal

Under the deal, AA will not fly its planes into Jamaica if less than 65 per cent of the seats are taken up. However, if the aircraft is more than 65 per cent full but less than 75 per cent, Jamaica will be required to pay the 10 per cent revenue that the airline would lose.

Bartlett said that was a small price to pay for a deal that will see American making 19 new flights to Jamaica each week with the possibility that approximately 156,000 more visitors could make their way to the island over the 12 months.

"This will earn more than US$96 million for Jamaica with the Tourism Enhancement Fund, which is financing the deal, earning US$1.2 million over the period. Even if you were to pay the US$4.5 million, look at the value of the thing," Bartlett added.

Company policy

In the meantime, AA told The Gleaner yesterday that the company policy prevented it from providing details of its agreement with the Jamaican Government.

But the airline noted that, in May, it had announced systemwide capacity reductions, mainly as a result of increasing fuel costs.

American said the cuts impacted on the Caribbean market with minor adjustments in Jamaica.

However, the airline said that, based on an approach from the Jamaican Government, it agreed to continue and expand its service to Dallas from Montego Bay to five times per week and expand with one flight five times per week from Montego Bay to Chicago.

Opposition Spokesman on Tourism, Dr Wykeham McNeill, has expressed alarm at the Government's unprecedented deci-sion to provide revenue support for a scheduled commercial airline flying to Jamaica. This, he said, particularly in view of the fact that the national airline offers scheduled service on two of the three routes on which support is being granted.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com

Read More