The St James police have expressed concern about the seemingly slow restoration of public electricity supply to hotspot communities in the parish, which could pose a potential challenge to crime fighting.
The viewpoint was expressed by head of the St James police, Superintendent Eron Samuels, at Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation (SJMC).
Following the recent passage of Hurricane Beryl, many communities have been left without electricity across the island. The JPS has reported that it is making headway in its restoration efforts.
Samuels posited that although every community needs electricity, special attention should be placed on the areas “where we know the violence can emanate from, as quickly as possible”.
While not naming all the communities at risk, he pointed to Canterbury where three males, including a 17-year-old, were killed in one incident on Tuesday night.
“What I have a concern with is the restoration of power to hotspot communities,” Samuels told the meeting.
“Most of the communities that we know that – I don’t want to call their names, next thing I get in trouble – but the hotspot communities that we have, I can say Canterbury because… the first incident that happened (recently), happened under the cloak of darkness,” said Samuels in reference to the murders on Tuesday night.
“So, we have to ensure that if we have another storm of this nature, there are some priority communities that we need to work to get the light on in these areas quickly, in order to avoid a lot of these sorts of situations,” he suggested.
The police have since arrested the main suspect in relation to the triple murder.
