The Ministry of National Security has labeled the community of Mount Salem, St. James as a success story, following the implementation of the Zone of Special Operations in September 2017. Parliament has voted to extend the ZOSOs in the community as well as those in August Town, Greenwich Town and Denham Town for a further sixty days.
Minister of National Security, Dr. Horace Chang says the work of the enhanced security measures is not yet finished. Dr. Chang says the first ZOSO declared in September 2017 in Mount Salem, St. James is a success story.
However, he says more work is needed in Denham Town, West Kingston which was declared a zone just one month later in October 2017.
The objective of the ZOSO is to clear, hold and rebuild communities.
CVM LIVE visited Denham Town on Monday to observe the behavioral and infrastructural changes to find out what stage the community is in. Upon arrival there was evidence of physical upgrades and the deep rooted behavioral attitudes still exists.
Three years later, the Community-Police relationship is strained, there is no active Police Youth Club, and criminal elements are still rooted in the community. In September, the community was rocked by a triple murder just meters away from a Police checkpoint.
Greenwich Town and August Town were the latest communities to be declared as ZOSO, both in July. Residents there say they do not want the Military presence to leave.
The four ZOSOs across the island will be extended. In the meantime, the ZOSO legislation is expected to be reviewed to evaluate the effectiveness of the current framework to meet the desired outcome of citizen security and community development in the declared spaces.
Jamaila Maitland reports:
