Ocho Rios, ST. ANN
An American businessman is now in hospital suffering from a gunshot wound he received during a robbery at his home in High Hope Estate, St. Ann's Bay, on Tuesday night.
He has been identified as Robert Griffin, operator of Sunset Cruise pleasure boat in Ocho Rios. Reports are that shortly after 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, gunmen broke into Griffin's home on the estate while he was home alone. The gunmen reportedly demanded money and when the demand was not met, one of the men shot Griffin in the area of the groin then escaped with an undetermined sum of money and a cellphone.
Devon Evans
May Pen, CLARENDON
The Garvey Maceo High School has won the second annual peer counselling competition organised by the Peace in Life Counselling Centre, a non-governmental organisation which is supported by the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica.
The competition, which was held at Hotel Versalles in May Pen, Clarendon, last week, saw Garvey Maceo emerging victorious after competing with four other institutions in an essay contest, a cultural presentation and presenting an overview of its peer counselling project for 2006. Second place went to Denbigh High while Bustamante High placed third.
- JIS News
Maggotty, ST. ELIZABETH
Maurice Robinson, deputy superintendent of Police in charge of operations for St Elizabeth, has warned citizens not to be complacent because they are not directly affected by crime. This, he said, may lead to a "false sense of security."
DSP Robinson made the comments recently, while addressing the annual social of the parish's neighbourhood watch council. The voluntary citizens' group was marking its 19th anniversary. The neighbourhood watch council met at the Apple Valley Park, Maggotty, to review its programme to date, and make plans for the next calendar year. DSP Robinson, in giving his overview of the neighbourhood watch programme, pointed out that persons of influence must speak out on matters of crime, violence and poor behaviour which negatively impact the community.
Analee Bernard
Montego Bay, ST. JAMES
The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) has invested $19.6 million in the construction and rehabilitation of three basic schools in western Jamaica. The institutions are Sanguinetti Basic and Wilson Run in Trelawny, and the Chamber's Pen Basic School in Hanover. Officials from JSIF officially handed over the three schools in separate ceremonies held on December 8.
JIS News
Spn Town, ST. CATHERINE
Kindis Nangle, the Jamaica Public Service Company's (JPS) general manager for customer operations in St. Catherine, recently told Across the Nation that the theft of electricity is costing the company $1 billion annually.
Mr. Nangle said the utility company is suffering as a result of toothless laws and soft penalties given to offenders when they are caught by the company's reinforcement team.
Theft accounts for 11 per cent of the overall losses of the company, and the cost is shared between the JPS and its customers because the company is penalised for losses above a certain percentage. Nangle was speaking at the official opening of the JPS's Portmore branch.
Rasbert Turner
Montego Bay, ST. JAMES
As part of its Values and Attitude programme in schools, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) staged a Christmas Treat for about 200 basic and prep school students from within the parish, at the Meeting Place on Howard Cooke Boulevard, Montego Bay, last week.
Corporate relations manager at the UDC, Joan Smalling, said the Christmas treat for students has become an annual event for the UDC within its project areas. She explained that the UDC's Values and Attitude programme began in 2003, and involves the community development officers from the UDC visiting targeted schools, giving motivational talks to the students and implementing projects within the schools.
JIS News
Springfield, ST. THOMAS
Former U.S. presidential contender the Reverend Al Sharpton gave Jamaica "a fighting chance" in a speech delivered during an annual gala fund-raiser of Upliftment Jamaica at the old Goodyear factory in Springfield, St. Thomas, last week.
He said: "Jamaica is not the bastion of crime and deserves to be given a chance to continue to grow."
In his usual uptempo and charismatic style, Reverend Sharpton used his speech to set the tone for what he hoped would be the platform for Upliftment Jamaica's future expansion. He also said that "many of us don't recognise values of the past, and are too critical of what has gone on before, and not showing any vision for the future in seeking to address what needs to be done does not help in the process of development.'
Arthur Green
