Westmoreland top cop wants jobs for Russia youth
Published:Thursday | February 17, 2022 | 12:11 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The head of the Westmoreland Police Division wants the Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO) social intervention committee to prioritise the issue of job placements for youth in the troubled Russia community who have already received training from various state agencies.
Acknowledging that more than 300 young people were certified under various programmes facilitated by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the HEART/NSTA Trust in recent years, Senior Superintendent of Police Robert Gordon says the time has come to elevate them from just being trained.
Gordon made the suggestion at a stakeholders meeting hosted by Homer Davis, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, at Guango’s Jerk Restaurant in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, yesterday.
“They are saying I have been trained, I have my documents, I now need a job,” the Westmoreland police divisional commander explained. “On that side, that is what we might want to look at in a more critical way: how it is we are going to move them from being trained to becoming productive.”
Gordon said the communities of Dalling Street, Dexter Street and Coke Street are somewhat different from Russia.
“I believe all those things are really needed on that side to take them up to that level where they can transition into productivity,” he said of the programmes that come with the social intervention strategies under ZOSO.
Last month, a ZOSO was declared in sections of northern Savanna-la-Mar and covers the communities of Russia, Dalling Street and Dexter Street as part of the Government’s response to the upsurge in crime and violence across the parish.
Assessing the achievements of the month-old initiative, Gordon said that, while the tangibles are yet to be seen, residents are happy at the fact that they can sleep peacefully, knowing that the security forces are in the space.
“Minister, when you listen to the people, just for people to be at ease at their place of residence, where they can sleep without hearing gunshots being fired all over, to me, that in and of itself is an accomplishment,” Gordon noted.
He applauded the citizenry within the ZOSO, arguing that there are more good people there than the few hoodlums committing crimes.