Police following leads re bomb threats to public schools- Morris Dixon

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Dr Dana Morris Dixon, has said the police are following leads relative to the bomb threats that were recently issued to a number of schools locally.

At the same time, Morris Dixon declared that the persons who are issuing the bomb threats to the nation's schools are "terrorising" students.

She made the overall comments at Wednesday's post-Cabinet press briefing, two days after a bomb threat was issued to Meadowbrook High School in St Andrew, resulting in classes being dismissed early. The threat was later determined to have been a hoax.

The latest threat is part of a disturbing pattern of similar incidents that affected schools like Kingston College and Campion College earlier this year.

The minister said the bomb threats have "obviously" become an issue.

"I'm trying not to speak about it too much because I don't want to be giving these people who are doing it (issuing the bomb threats) anymore airtime than they really should get," Morris Dixon stated.

Added the minister on that point: "They (the persons who are issuing the bomb threats) are terrorising our children; they're preventing them from doing their work, (and) it is not something that we should be giving a lot of publicity to."

She said that the police are actively probing the various bomb hoaxes.

"The police are on it, and they have some leads, and they are dealing with it, and we get updates periodically from the police on it, but it is something that is completely unacceptable," Morris Dixon said.

A series of similar bomb threats occurred over a one-week period last November, with more than 69 educational institutions being disrupted, and forcing the authorities to mobilise resources to respond to the threats.

A courthouse and a hospital were also impacted by similar threats last year.

Earlier this month, several businesses in New Kingston were similarly affected by such threats, which  were subsequently determined to have been hoaxes, by the authorities.