In the first incident on Wednesday, the Constabulary Communications Network (CCN) reported that two brothers and a colleague, Clifford Johnson were killed in a gun battle with the police on the Robins River main road. An illegal gun was seized in the incident. Dead are taxi operator, Sylvester Malcolm and David Malcolm aged 26 and 28 respectively, both of Bath district in the parish and an unidentified man. According to the CCN, at about 9:15 p.m., the police were patrolling the Robins River main road when they signaled the drivers of two Toyota Corolla motor cars to stop. One of the drivers sped away and the other vehicle crashed.

Five men alighted and opened fire at the cops. The lawmen returned fire and after the shooting , the three were found suffering from gunshot wounds. An AK47 rifle – serial number DP4855-74- with a magazine containing twelve 7.62 rounds, was found beside them. All three were taken to the Savanna la mar Hospital were they were pronounced dead. While on Thursday, the police shot a man dead after he allegedly pulled a gun on them during a search of his house. He has been identified as Keith Beharie, 42 years old of bath district, Westmoreland.

McNeil made the disclosure following a tour of both facilities with security minister Senator Dwight Nelson, Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin; Major General Stewart Saunders, chief of staff of the Jamaica Defence Force; ACP Denver Frater, commander of the Area One police division; the two other Westmoreland MPs Roger Clarke and Luther Buchanan; members of the Westmoreland police hierarchy and other stake-holders.

“The new station is inadequate. The site of the old station has everything, it is a perfect site. But it is going to take a lot of work. We have had some preliminary discussions and I think the medium and long-term plan is to rebuild a police station there,” he said.

McNeil was responding to concerns raised from the floor during last week’s crime forum in Savanna-la-Mar, headed by the security minister. The meeting was precipitated by a sharp rise in murders in the Westmoreland police division.

The security minister revealed that up to last week, 51 murders were committed in the parish, representing an increase of 82 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

Senator Nelson disclosed that Savanna-la-Mar, the parish capital, was responsible for most of the criminal activities in the Westmoreland police division, followed by Little London and Frome respectively.

Little London took the spotlight after recording seven murders since the start of the year.

Earlier this year, the hierarchy of the Westmoreland police staged a crime forum in the Little London community geared towards finding a solution to the community’s escalating crime rate.

Nelson also stated his intent to ask MPs to lobby the labour ministry to revive a job bank at the ministry of labour which was initiated by the previous administration.

“Certainly I am going to ask the members of parliament to prevail on the ministry of labour to ensure that this bank is resuscitated and that the citizens of Westmoreland are made aware of its existence and how to become registered at this bank,” he said.

@ Observer West

The note has the following security features:

Front

1. Fine engraved lines on the portrait of Hugh Lawson Shearer, former prime minister of Jamaica (1967-1972).

2 . The black vertical serial number on the left side of the note should match the red horizontal serial number on the right hand side.

3. A wide Optiks silver thread featuring images of the Jamaican coat of arms (reversed front) is embedded in the paper. Optiks is a new security feature for Jamaican currencies.

4. When the note is held up to the light, the complete Optiks thread with ‘BOJ 5000′ repeated vertically on both sides becomes visible.

5. When viewed under ultraviolet light, two parallel fluorescent green bars are visible along the edge of the Optiks thread.

6. When viewed under UV light, the yellow background of the Jamaican coat of arms displays a red map of Jamaica on a green background.

7. The denomination numerals in the corners and the words ‘BANK OF JAMAICA’ and ‘FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS’ are embossed.

8. When the note is held up to the light, a watermark of Hugh Lawson Shearer and an adjacent bright ‘5000′ electrotype are visible.

9. The chequered pattern on the image at the top right of the note becomes clearly visible when the note is held up to the light.

Back

1. When the note is held up to the light, the image at the top left of the note, which appears chequered in plain view, becomes clearly visible.

2. The honeycomb pattern should be one consistent colour.

3. An image of Highway 2000 is in the centre of the bill.

4. The silver metallic oval created by the Optiks window should have a complete image of the Jamaican coat of arms within the oval.

5. When held up to the light, the 18mm wide Optiks window is visible with images of the Jamaica coat of arms and the ‘BOJ 5000′ text repeated at the edges.

6. Under UV light, the text ‘BOJ’ is visible along the edges of the Optiks thread.

7. There are finely engraved lines on the frangipani flowers on the right.

Charged with possession of, dealing in and taking steps to import one pound of cocaine (0.45kg) is 24-year-old Ashanti Bryan.

The allegations are that on the day in question, Bryan entered the island on a flight from Suriname. She was searched and the pellets were found hidden inside her body.

When the matter was mentioned in court, Bryan told Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey she did it because she did not have anyone to support her. She told the court she was a resident of Suriname, but was Guyanese by birth.

Bryan was sentenced to $150,000 or six months for possession, $200,000 or six months for dealing and $300,000 or six months for trying to import the drug. In addition, she was given a mandatory 12-month term.

Charged with possession of, dealing in and taking steps to import one pound of cocaine (0.45kg) is 24-year-old Ashanti Bryan.

The allegations are that on the day in question, Bryan entered the island on a flight from Suriname. She was searched and the pellets were found hidden inside her body.

When the matter was mentioned in court, Bryan told Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey she did it because she did not have anyone to support her. She told the court she was a resident of Suriname, but was Guyanese by birth.

Bryan was sentenced to $150,000 or six months for possession, $200,000 or six months for dealing and $300,000 or six months for trying to import the drug. In addition, she was given a mandatory 12-month term.

@ Jamaica Star

Charged are Michael Manning, 29, an operations network manager at Claro, Romico Slack, 24, an IP and Data Engineer also employed to Claro and 25-year-old Ricardo Bedwood,a banker employed to the National Commercial Bank.

The men appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday and a trial date of November 24 was agreed on.

The allegations are that, between June and August, 120 Blackberry phones were stolen from the Claro warehouse. Manning was subsequently found with one of the stolen phones. When questioned, he reportedly told the police he bought the phone from Slack. Slack reportedly admitted he had sold the phone to Manning, but told the police, he had bought the phone from Bedward.

When the police arrested Bedward, he claimed he had bought the phone from a man he met through a friend. When this man was contacted, he said he had not sold Bedward any phones, and instead said he had been sold phones in the past by Bedward.

The men are due to return to court on the trial date.

Charged are Michael Manning, 29, an operations network manager at Claro, Romico Slack, 24, an IP and Data Engineer also employed to Claro and 25-year-old Ricardo Bedwood,a banker employed to the National Commercial Bank.

The men appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday and a trial date of November 24 was agreed on.

The allegations are that, between June and August, 120 Blackberry phones were stolen from the Claro warehouse. Manning was subsequently found with one of the stolen phones. When questioned, he reportedly told the police he bought the phone from Slack. Slack reportedly admitted he had sold the phone to Manning, but told the police, he had bought the phone from Bedward.

When the police arrested Bedward, he claimed he had bought the phone from a man he met through a friend. When this man was contacted, he said he had not sold Bedward any phones, and instead said he had been sold phones in the past by Bedward.

The men are due to return to court on the trial date.

Overseas registration is so prevalent that many artistes catalogue their entire discography with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) or the Performing Right Society (PRS) in the UK, instead of the Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS) and the Jamaica Association of Composers and Authors and Publishers (JACAP).

It results in royalties derived from local radio play and show performances being sent overseas.

“Yes, we are losing foreign exchange,” said Clevand Brownie who sits on the JAMMS and the Recording Industry Association of Jamaica boards. “A lot of artistes and writers generally do not have confidence in the local offerings, and it is sad.”

Producer Stephen McGregor and dancehall artiste Sizzla respectively have over 600 and 400 songs/rhythms registered on ASCAP. Their registrations double that of Elephant Man, Bob Marley, Vybz Kartel and Sean Paul which range between 100 and 200.

“If it ain’t broke why fix it,” said Vybz Kartel’s publicist Claude Mills about Kartel’s 102 ASCAP registrations. “ASCAP adheres to international standards of transparency and accountability. We particularly like the accountability.”

Local and international collection bodies are linked to the same database from which royalties are administered, yet many artistes prefer overseas collection bodies, said Carol Simpson, executive director of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office.

“So when [artistes] earn the royalties from the local radio stations or show promotions, those funds will have to be paid over to ASCAP,” she added.

Music industry sources suggest that three-quarters of JACAP’s collections are sent overseas. It isn’t known what portion of this represents local artistes registered overseas versus international artistes.

Sunday Observer queries sent to JACAP over a month ago went unanswered.

Caribbean music copyright societies collected euro 3.5 million or J$437 million for 2007 based on the latest data released this month by the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC). The Caribbean was defined as Jamaica, Cuba, Trinidad, Barbados, Belize and Saint Lucia, which suggests that Jamaican musicians received the bulk of the royalties based on the relative popularity of reggae/dancehall.

JACAP, formed in 1999, represents authors and composers of music. JAMMS, formed in 2006, represents record labels and producers. Previously, artistes would register with the now defunct local branch of PRS, said Brownie. Vintage artistes have generally not switched to the local collection bodies because PRS London has assumed the collection.

Reflecting on the issue, Brownie offered the same analysis as Mills: “If it is not broke, don’t fix it.”

[press]

Bolt never got close to his world record of 19.19 seconds in Berlin last month, but clocked a decent 19.57 to win in bad conditions for a meet record.

World bronze medalist Wallace Spearmon of the USA finished second, a massive 0.62 seconds behind.

Meanwhile, Jamaicans Asafa Powell and Brigitte Foster-Hylton also won their events.

Powell clocked 9.90 second in victory in the men’s 100 metres, defeating American Tyson Gay, 10 seconds flat and Foster-Hylton won the women’s 100-metre hurdles in 12.48, beating Canada’s Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, 12.49.

In the women’s 100 metres, Olympic and World Champion gold medallist Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser, 10.98, finished second behind American Carmelita Jeter, who won in 10.88.

Jamaicans Kerron Stewart was third in 11.05 and Veronica Campbell-Brown fourth in 11.10. The other Jamaican Sherone Simpson finished eighth in 11.39.

The new rates, which took effect at midnight, Saturday, caught many motorists by surprise and showed up the lack of preparedness of the authority to implement its new fee structure.

At the Vineyards Plaza in St Catherine, The Sunday Gleaner found that only the fee for class three vehicles was mounted on the display board

Similar story

It was a similar story at the Portmore Plaza, where only the toll for class one vehicles was on the display board.

Despite a notice appearing in the media last week, one motorist said she was surprised by the new toll rates.

“I went to the booth and gave the attendant $100 and she said $20 more. I did not know there was an increase. Luckily, it is Saturday when a lot of people are not using the road, or else it may have been chaotic,” another motorist said.

The Toll Authority of Jamaica had said the increases were being proposed in keeping with the amendment to the Tolling Policy Agreement of a year ago, which allows the operators of the highway to apply for an annual increase rather than making a bi-annual application.

In an advertisement, it had invited persons to make submissions concerning the proposed increases.

Up to press time yesterday, it was not clear how many submissions had been sent to the toll authority.

Rates

Vineyards Plaza

Old – New

# Class one – $230 – $270

# Class two – $310 – $370

# Class three – $580 – $700

Spanish Town

Old – New

# Class one – $70 – $80

# Class two – $90 – $110

# Class three – $180 – $210

Portmore

Old – New

# Class one – $100 – $120

# Class two – $140 – $170

# Class three – $280 – $340

[press]

“He will most likely be named on the poor relief committee as well as the health and water and infrastructure committees,” said Sav-la-mar’s mayor, Bertel Moore, who chairs the Westmoreland Parish Council.

Vanriel, 63, a former councillor for the Petersfield and Cornwall Mountain divisions, polled 2,104 ballots to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP’s) Keith Barnes’ 1,922 in the July by-election to win the Cornwall Mountain division which became vacant earlier this year, following the death of the PNP’s Michael Smith.

Moore said yesterday that all the Westmoreland councillors are looking forward to working closely with Vanriel, who had previously given more than 18 years of service to the council.

“We are happy to have him back and we look forward to his expertise,” Moore said, adding that Vanriel had a very good relationship with the council during his stint at the local body.

Meanwhile, Vanriel has pledged to create employment opportunities and to establish training facilities in the division during his tenure in office.

“My main areas of focus will be to improve water, roads and light. Myself and the member of parliament for the area, Roger Clarke, will have to work as a team to satisfy the needs of the people,” he told the Observer West.

The Opposition PNP has control of all the 14 parish council divisions in Westmoreland, as well as the three constituencies in the parish.

[press]

According to Comissioner of Corrections June Jarrett, yesterday’s gesture was made possible through a new unit launched by the correctional services two months ago to assist children whose parents are imprisoned, with a view to prevent them from falling prey to criminal activities.

“In this unit, we have social workers who assist the children with counselling,” Jarrett told the Observer West. “Our duty is to ascertain the welfare of the children”.

Jarrett, who used her personal cash for yesterday’s donation, expressed the need to launch a project to generate cash for the new initiative in light of the fact that several other children are being assessed.

She said the Westmoreland student was selected after interviewing inmates. “When contacted we found out that the child needed books, a bag and shoes to go back to school. So yesterday during a visit I handed over money to the grandmother of the child. We were accompanied by social workers and probation officers from area,” she said.

The young student, whose father is serving a 10-year sentence for a charge of manslaughter, was grateful.

“I am so very happy for what you have done for me and
I hope this happiness and joy will be spread to other children,” she said.

Her grandmother was so overwhelmed that she could not hold back the tears.

Meanwhile, to complement to the new welfare unit, the Department of Correctional Services last week staged a parenting seminar at Fort Augusta for inmates who will be released within the next three months.

[Press]