Rowe said the US revelation that the prosecution has video recordings of Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, tasting cocaine and participating in arrangements for the sale of contraband, will work against him in a big way.

“I see his chances as begin very low. He is on video offering cocaine for sale. I don’t think the entrapment argument has a great deal of effort,” Rowe told Chat! yesterday.

Banton was held in December last year by US Federal authorities at his Tamarac, Florida home and charged with conspiracy to distribute five or more kilogrammes of cocaine. This, following a sting operation at a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) controlled warehouse in Tampa, which resulted in the arrest of two other men who were about to purchase cocaine from undercover agents.

He has since argued that he was the victim of entrapment and his lawyer David Markos, has publicly said he intends to argue along that line when the trial involving Banton begins next month.

“Our intention is to utilize every legitimate means (such as arrests and displacement) to ensure that (by) December 2010, these gangs are dismantled and made inoperable. We are of the view that if this is achieved we will be able to reduce criminal activities involving gang members, build safer communities, dissuade others from becoming gang members and restore citizens’ confidence in the rule of law and order, said the parish’s top cop, Superintendent Dezeita Taylor.

Taylor who was addressing last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce at Hotel Commingle, said the plan was developed with the “strategic objectives of the Jamaica Constabulary Force” in mind.

Viewed against the background of the anti-gang legislation that is expected to come into effect next month, her address was significant. The anti-gang legislation will, among other strategies, facilitate longer prison sentences for convicted gang members and minimise their ability to reorganise.

The Twelve Street and Hot Roses gangs operate in the Savanna-la-Mar Police area, while the Toney Reid gang operates in the Frome Police area.

“We have increased the number of patrols in the Savanna-la-Mar commercial and residential areas; zoned the capital for better coverage and we intend to pursue and arrest offenders as special attention will be paid to transportation centres, financial institution, etc,” said Taylor, noting that increased highway patrols with assistance from two cars from St James have also been implemented in an effort to make the roads safer.

These strategic objectives of the JCF include:

* The reduction of murders, robberies, break-ins and rape;

* The restoration of public safety and confidence;

* Upholding of human rights;

* Boosting morale and confidence of members within the division; reducing corruption within the division; and improving external and internal communication.

Notwithstanding the rise in the number of break-ins since the start of 2010 compared to 2009, Taylor reported a reduction in reported incidents of major crimes, including murders, shootings, robberies, rape and carnal abuse.

Compared to 2009 when there were nine break-ins, 16 have so far been reported, while murders are down by four, to nine; shootings down by three to four; robberies cut by half to eight; with only one incident of rape reported as against five last year. Carnal abuse cases remain at one.

“We know that there is no room for complacency,” said Taylor.

According to police findings, inadequate lock systems and lack of grilled houses contributed to the ease with which hoodlums gained entry to residences. Consequently, Taylor urged citizens to take the necessary precautions, participate in community group activities, and where none exist, take the leadership roles in organising neighbourhood watch groups.

“I must congratulate the citizens of Russia (Savanna-la-Mar) who have worked with the Citizens Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) implemented by the Ministry of National Security, the police, the SDC, and other stakeholders to make their community a better place,” she said.

In addition to the gang activities in the capital and the Frome Police area, Taylor cited the lottery scam in the Bethel Town Police area, coupled with the displacement of criminals particularly from St James and Hanover, and the drugs-for-guns trade, especially in the sea coast areas and those areas with a heavy concentration of ganja cultivation, as challenges to overcome in the crime fight.

Other problems highlighted included the influx of vendors and job-seekers from various parishes to Negril — some of whom end up partaking in criminal activities — and informal settlements, especially in Savanna-la-Mar.

When the Observer West visited the clinic Tuesday, two mothers who took their babies for a check-up had to exit the building and head around the back to urinate, Another escorted her son in the same direction for the same purpose.

“Them claim the toilet is not working,” one of the mothers told the Observer West.

Personnel at the health centre explained that they were unauthorised to comment on the situation and directed the Observer West to their superior Hyacinth Bantin, the parish administrator.

According to the clinic authorities, Bantin had instructed them to direct the Observer West to her Savanna-la-Mar office for an interview. However, minutes later when the Observer West arrived at Bantin’s office, she was said to be locked in a meeting in nearby Whitehouse.

Luther Buchanan, the member of parliament for Eastern Westmoreland which includes Lambs River– a quiet farming community near Darliston–the health clinic’s plight is not unique. He said a severe drought has left several schools and other institutions in his constituency without water for the past four months.

Citing the absence of the Rapid Response water trucks which customarily truck water during periods of drought, Buchanan is calling on Minister of Water and Housing Dr Horace Chang to provide an allowance to the Westmoreland Parish Council to truck water to the affected areas.

“The drought is affecting health clinics, Lambs River in particular. They don’t have a gallon of water to flush or to wash their hands. They are about to close,” Buchanan told the Observer West.

“We have been experiencing drought for the past four months now, but it has worsened since the last two months. It is becoming increasingly difficult to cope as the weather pattern worsens: no rainfall,” he lamented.

The MP is further requesting “clarity as to who is responsible to provide water for schools not connected to the National Water Commission pipelines”. To underscore the negative impact that the lack of water has on agriculture and households in the communities, Buchanan outlined that persons have to be using the toilet twice before flushing it.

“There might be more cases like that but people are afraid to talk because people will see them as nasty,” Buchanan said. Nevertheless, Buchanan who is also a People’s National Party (PNP) deputy general secretary, praised the Westmoreland Parish Council which is controlled by his party, for their “gallant effort to provide water to as many communities in the parish, without water as possible with its one truck.”

Via Jamaica Observer

At last week’s Milo County of Cornwall Athletics Association’s (COCAA) Western Champs, Westmoreland schools finished in the top four of both boys’ and girls’ sections, and made their presence felt throughout the three-day competition. Petersfield was fourth in the boys’ section with 199 points behind winners Munro College, Herbert Morrison and St Elizabeth Technical, while Godfrey Stewart and Frome Technical also scored well. Frome was third in the girls’ section on 172 points while Godfrey Stewart and Maude McLeod High also featured prominently.

Up to a few years ago when Mannings School abruptly pulled the plug on their track and field programme, the parish was always well represented.

From three Girls Champs titles in the 1960s, dozens of national representatives and Western Champs titles through the preceding decades, Mannings was represented by one athlete at Western Champs this year, Omesha Locke, who won the Class 3 discus.

The parish is never short of talent and the top two female sprinters at the primary school level in 2008 — Diana Johnson and Antonika Drummond — represented Holmwood Technical last year. There is a revival in the sport in the parish, however, and schools such as Frome Technical, Godfrey Stewart High and Petersfield, known more for football, are beginning to impose themselves on the track and field scene.

At last year’s Grace Kennedy Champs, Frome Technical was voted the most improved school after scoring five points in the boys’ section and 11 in the girls’.

Later in the year, an unknown, Waynee Hyman of Petersfield, stunned the track faithful at the National Junior Trials at GC Foster by winning the Under-17 200m and making the team to the IAAF World Youth Championships in Italy.

Andre Moodie of Frome was also at the Trials and made the team to the Pan-Am Juniors in Trinidad.

Both Hyman and Moodie were creating history for their respective schools.

The success does not translate into overall acceptance, however, as Westmoreland is still a football-crazy parish and occupies the first three rungs on any sports ladder, relegating everything else to second-class status.

Roderick Myles who guides the Frome programme is not employed to the school and only works with the track team in the afternoons and on weekends.

“At first it was challenging but after the first year we had some success,” said Myles who has been at the school for four years. He is mindful, however, that it is not the first time that a track and field programme has been tried there.

Rochelle Clayton was their first success story, and despite not being able to take part at Champs one year due to late entry, he says the success, especially at Western Champs, is tangible.

Next month at Champs he says he is expecting points from the versatile Daneel Thomas in the javelin and Class 2 discus as well as Stephanie Barrett in the Class 3 800m/1500m after she placed fourth in both events last year.

Barrett, he said, has struggled this year with a knee injury but thanks to the care from physiotherapist Karey Lewis, should be in top condition for Champs.

The success at Petersfield is not by chance, says coach Machell Woolery who has built the programme “from scratch” by first selling the concept to the academic staff.

Once they bought into it, he said, the next step was looking at what the successful programmes in Kingston did. Despite not even having a throwing circle and having to teach on grass, he scored big with Cornelius McIntosh who will leave the island later this year to take up a track scholarship.

Since then, Petersfield has produced a stable of decent throwers with Steven Crooks, who won the Class 3 discus/shot put double last week with a new record 12.77m in the latter, set to be the best among them.

Oshane Turner, who won three events on Saturday, the Class 2 800m and 1500m as well as the Open 5,000m, won the award for the Overall Boys’ Champion. Woolery says he had to sacrifice the girls’ programme early on to concentrate on the boys but says the girls’ team is now coming along nicely. His next step is to start scouting the primary schools for new talent, but while he is enjoying full cooperation from principal Eugenie Spence, he says she is leaving soon and he is not sure who will replace her.

The land at Montpelier will be divested to the Coconut Industry Board for $50 Million and the land at Shettlewood to Ramble Enterprises Limited for $52.46 Million. Both companies made the best offers following public advertisements for sale of the lands.

MCCL was formed after DBJ acquired the assets of the Jamaica Orange Company Limited from the National Commercial Bank in 1999. The 2,877 acres for sale in the two locations are primarily in orange orchards.

True to their spirit, the Reggae Boyz will be looking to counter such belief when they tackle football giants Argentina in a real David vs Goliath friendly international showdown for the Copa Loteria de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Lottery Trophy).

“First of all, I believe it’s a tremendous opportunity to play Argentina,” said Jamaica’s captain, Shavar Thomas. “This doesn’t come everyday. No matter who they bring they will be good and we’re very prepared and ready for the challenge.

“We see this as man against man as opposed to the world football power Argentina vs Jamaica,” Thomas added.

The clash takes place at the José Marilla Minella Stadium in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, at 10:15 p.m. (8:15 p.m. Jamaica time).

Caribbean champions

Jamaica won their last game 1-0 against Canada at the National Stadium two Sundays ago, while Argentina beat Costa Rica 3-2 here in their last game, last month.

Argentina, the two-time champions and almost a permanent fixture at the World Cup Finals, are ranked eighth in the world. Jamaica, the Caribbean champions, have made it to the World Cup Finals once – 1998 in France.

In France, they contested their last international meeting at senior level and the South Americans emerged with a huge win, 5-0 on a hat-trick from big forward Gabriel Batistuta and a double from midfielder Ariel Ortega.

Then, both teams had pretty much their best talent. Today, it is far from the same as both seek pointers for selections geared towards their World Cup programme, which is at contrasting junctures.

Having missed out on 2010 qualifying for South Africa on goal difference to Mexico at CONCACAF’s semi-final group phase, Jamaica, with head coach Theodore Whitmore and his assistant Bradley Stewart, currently seek potential for a pool to lead the charge for a place in the 2014 championship.

The Jamaicans arrived on Sunday after a 26-hour travel schedule. They did light training the same evening, and went through other practice sessions Monday and Tuesday nights.

Whitmore was not too worried about the lingering effects of their travels, but appeared more concerned with their transitional play when moving into attack.

Training session

“This evening we saw a more game-like situation training session and it has gone down well,” Whitmore noted after training on Monday night. “We wanted to keep possession of the football and we wanted to close down our opponents more quickly and try to be more compact.”

He added: “Not all the areas we were satisfied with … I guess in midfield,” he said, noting his concerns. “I guess because we didn’t have a lot of players in midfield, we got the football and just broke away, I don’t want that; and the defensive area, I don’t think we came up quick enough in transition.”

With a high-calibre team that was expected to formalise its place easily, Argentina reacted with last-gasp efforts to secure a spot at the 11th hour for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Head coach Diego Maradona has been quite haphazard in his selections and his picks for this match have swelled the number of players he has drafted in just over a year to over 100.

They had their final training session yesterday morning in Buenos Aires and were due to fly into Mar del Plata near 9 p.m. (7 p.m. Jamaica time) last night.

Only six among Maradona’s squad have never been in the national set-up previously.

Veteran striker Martin Palermo, who did himself and the much-criticised Maradona a huge favour by scoring a winner in injury time that practically sealed their spot at the World Cup Finals in their second-to-last qualifier, is one of their biggest names for this Jamaica match-up.

Though six of their squad includes players born in Mar del Plata – a clear marketing ploy – the proliferation of local-based players summoned with World Cup spots beckoning guarantees a high-energy contest.

The situation is no different for Jamaica, with many of this squad’s members young and on the fringe of a team that already has several established players, who are also near 23 years and playing professionally in Europe and the United States.

Most of those attached in Europe are unavailable, thus opening the door for a starting place to several local-based stars.

Chief among them are the Tivoli Gardens goalscoring duo of Navion Boyd and Keammar Daley, who have shown potential to create the star attraction necessary to lift the programme.

“It’s not everyday you get to play a team like Argentina,” said Boyd. “My expectation is to go out there and do my best, hopefully score, but to try and win the game.”

Premier League scoring ace Devon Hodges, who continues to produce the goods despite his team’s lowly status in the local competition, is sure to figure, while the diminutive and pacy Dane Richards, who is definitely starting material, is very likely to provide offensive spark off the bench.

They will work in tandem with the dangerous and established MLS sharp-shooter, Omar Cummings, a cunning, hard-working striker who beats the ball hard with either foot; as well as belatedly recalled Ryan Johnson, a 25-year-old MLS striker who has been getting goals and looking to play his way into the reckoning following four years of non-selection. Last season, he was voted Most Valuable Player at San José Earthquakes after netting a season-high 11 goals for the MLS outfit.

Central midfield is expected to be patrolled by Richard ‘Shortman’ Edwards, who is not so established in the team but has shown in top level internationals previously that he possesses a level head and can cope; while the bustling Rodolph Austin is a scoring threat from range and ball-winner who really drives the team, but needs to discharge his energy proportionately for a finely-tuned game.

Quality

That quality, from the team all-round, will be necessary to counteract the skilful, fast-playing style of the Argentinians, who generally attack in numbers.

While the Jamaica team in general is fortified in defence by captain Shavar Thomas, Dicoy Williams, Adrian Reid and the outstanding keeper Dwayne Miller, and will be tested by pace and numbers, the door will certainly be opened for counter-attacking, which could be used by the Boyz as a real weapon.

Likely Jamaica starting XI: Dwayne Miller, Shavar Thomas, Dicoy Williams, Jermaine Taylor, Richard Edwards, Rodolph Austin, Navion Boyd, Keammar Daley, Omar Cummings, Lovel Palmer, Ryan Johnson.

“We have the airplanes on the market for US$17 million apiece. They have been on the market since summer of last year. We’ve been scouting but not finding anyone willing to pay that much for the aircraft,” president of the airline Bruce Nobles told the Observer yesterday.

The top Air Jamaica executive said the current “tough economic climate and the fact that they (planes) are not new” have contributed to them not being sold as yet.

Nobles, who had been somewhat reluctant to say the value of the crafts, said based on these factors it was difficult to say if they would in fact be sold at the current asking price.

“We don’t know until we sell them,” he told the Observer.

In the meantime, he said the airline’s debt to the IRS, which was in excess of US$40 million at one point, was decreasing ‘every day’ based on payments being made.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in a statement to Parliament yesterday, said the two aircraft owned by Air Jamaica would be sold to settle debts to the IRS.

“We owe a lot of money. We have had to use diplomatic channels to avoid our planes being seized for non-payment of fees owed to the Government of the United States. It is proposed to dispose of those two aircraft in order to discharge that obligation,” the prime minister told the House.

He said the two aircraft were the only ones owned of the eight operated by the airline.

Responding to queries about the airline’s other assets which are to be divested, Golding said these included the routes and real estate holdings, spare parts and the maintenance facility.

Golding said, too, that negotiations were underway for the sale of five floors of the Air Jamaica Building on Harbour Street in downtown Kingston, the proceeds of which will help to continue the operations of the airline until the negotiations for its sale are complete.

Government is at present negotiating with the Trinidadian-owned Caribbean Airlines for the sale of Air Jamaica.

Redundancy payments to the workers are estimated at US$25 million, Golding said. The airline has more than 1,200 workers, including more than 100 pilots.

“Usain will probably go down as the ultimate sprinter ’cause his 100m is going to get faster, his 200m is going to get faster and if he decides to run the 400, he will shatter that record too,” said Greene, who is in Jamaica as a special guest for tomorrow’s sixth staging of the Douglas Forrest Invitational Meet at the National Stadium.

Bolt established new world records of 9.58 and 19.19 seconds in both events while becoming the first Jamaican to win the double at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Berlin last year.

Greene believes Bolt will lower those marks in years to come, even if he doesn’t improve his sprinting technique.

“We haven’t seen his true capabilities… He still has a boy’s body (and) I believe once his body starts changing and starts to be a man’s body, about 26, 27, if he decides he’s going to keep on running, who knows what he’s going to do then,” Greene said.

The American argued that once Bolt starts running five or six competitive 200m races per season, his speed endurance will improve, which will in turn help him to run even faster in the 100m.

Meanwhile, the current 400 metres world record is 43.18 seconds set by American Michael Johnson in 1999, and Greene thinks it’s only a matter of time before the 23-year-old Bolt breaks that mark as well.

“He will shatter that record also, but that’s only if he wants to do it,” the five-time (three 100m, one 200m and one 60m) World Champion reasoned.

“We’ve seen him jog 19 seconds, so just say in the 400 metres he comes through the first 200 at 20-flat… he just jogged so he’s really not that tired, he’s not that fatigued, so just put a little bit on it, you’re going to tell me he can’t come back in 21-flat or 22 seconds, what will that time be? It’s going to be crazy!” Greene posited.

Just last month, Johnson — a two-time Olympics 400m champion — also backed Bolt to become the first athlete to simultaneously hold world records over 100, 200 and 400 metres.

“I think we can say that records will be broken, but I would venture to say that nobody is ever going to hold the world records at 100, 200 and 400 again if he (Bolt) does it. I don’t think there will ever be a person that could do that,” Johnson said during a visit to Jamaica to shoot a documentary of the Jamaican sprinter.

In the meantime Greene, who posted 52 sub-10 clockings in the 100m during his glittering career, has criticised the new false-start rule introduced by the IAAF, saying it will result in slower times.

Air Jamaica’s government guaranteed debt stands at US$650 million, with another US$200 million in short-term debt, Bertrand said during a lecture titled ‘Meeting the Challenges of the Aviation Industry in the Caribbean-Whither Air Jamaica’ at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

If the airline has to be divested, it will involve another US$50 million to reduce personnel, he suggested.

“Once you are not taking all that debt and you don’t have the tourism obligation (that the Jamaican government demanded of Air Jamaica in past decades) and you had the money to capitalise the airline, then it might not be a bad time for a merger’ between Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica,” Bertrand said.

The International Monetary Fund has specified that the Jamaican government must sell Air Jamaica if it is to qualify for a nearly US$1.3-billion aid loan.

But Bertrand said if anyone had to buy Air Jamaica from that country’s government, they should not spend more than one dollar for it because of its debt.

Another possible option would be for Air Jamaica and Caribbean Airlines to approach aircraft suppliers together, change their machinery to one type of airplane and thus reduce costs.

Prof Norman Girvan of UWI’s Institute of International Relations was also scheduled to comment at the seminar yesterday, but was delayed in Jamaica.

Head of Economics at UWI Martin Franklin delivered Girvan’s comments, which suggested that with Jamaica under pressure from the IMF to divest Air Jamaica, Caribbean Airlines might have ‘considerable leverage’ to negotiate with the Jamaican government.

Caribbean Airlines and Government are continuing discussions with the Jamaican government to explore acquiring Air Jamaica.

Missing are:

* Herman Campbell,

* cousins, Lincoln and Ephrain Frew;

* Wayne Smith,

* Errol Spence, and

* Raphael Morgan.

The men left the Whitehouse community on Monday night aboard the “The Saint”, a 43 by 10 ft fibre gloss boat, for a fishing expedition at the Pedro Banks.

Missing fisherman Lincoln Frew’s distressed wife Perline (centre) and their daughter Celia (left) with Wayne Smith’s wife Amar (right). (Photos: Phillip Lemonte

Yesterday, Lincoln Frew’s distraught wife Perline and their daughter Celia had to be comforted by members of the Whitehouse community, including Amar Smith whose weight has fallen by eight pounds from 242 since her husband went missing.

Smith said two calls she placed to her husband’s cellular phone at about 5:00 am last Thursday, went directly to his voicemail.

A follow-up call to another member of the fishing team also went unanswered.

Owner of “The Saint”, Herman ‘Cap’ Clarke, thinks the seafarers encountered turbulent waters after leaving the Pedro Banks.

Noting that telephone reception is restricted to between 12 and 15 miles offshore, Clarke explained that radio contact was maintained with the other two boats which set out with the Saint.

The crew members of the two surviving vessels reported that they stayed on anchor throughout Tuesday and Wednesday as they were unable to haul their traps due to the weather. They completed hauling on Friday.

The crew members of the other boat became alarmed when they found that crew members of “The Saint” had only pulled a set of traps at one of two locations. They immediately started searching, without success, for their missing colleagues.

In addition to the JDF Coastguard, other Whitehouse-based fishers are searching.

Some residents have pinned their hopes to the fact that about three decades ago a group of four fishers who went missing for 36 days, survived.

adopted from the Jamaica Observer