Attack on Parliament

Security experts are calling for an internal review of the measures of protection in place at Gordon House in downtown Kingston, which houses Jamaica’s Parliament, following Saturday night’s arson attack on the building.

Police reports are that about 10 p.m. on Saturday, police personnel attached to the Protective Services Division were on regular duty at the parliament building when they detected the smell of smoke.

After conducting an external check of the building, they discovered smoke at the entrance and picked up an odour similar to kerosene. They observed a partly burnt plastic bottle on the floor and burn marks on the front doors.

CCTV footage reviewed shortly after showed a lone individual throwing a plastic bottle containing an accelerant at the building, igniting it and then fleeing on foot. The fire extinguished naturally, resulting in minimal damage estimated around $80,000.

The police have since launched a high-level investigation into the incident.

Cause for great concern

Yesterday, security consultant Robert Finzi-Smith told The Gleaner that even though the fire did not cause much damage, the fact that such an incident could occur at Gordon House was cause for great concern.

“The building also houses records, Hansard, and the recordings of the sittings of Parliament, all of that. And you can imagine what would happen if somehow everything got destroyed by fire? That alone should determine the level of security of the building, empty or not,” he said.

Stressing that the security of the nation’s Houses of Parliament should be consistently prioritised, Finzi-Smith is adamant that they be enhanced to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

He also dismissed the quality of the recording captured on CCTV, which has been circulating on social media, as subpar, and questioned why better cameras of better recording quality aren’t installed within the perimeters of the building.

Of significance, Finzi-Smith noted, is the fact that Gordon House is located close to residential areas, which, he said, puts it at further risk.

Activities to facilitate the construction of a new Parliament building at National Heroes Park are to start during the current financial year. The construction of the building, slated to cost more than $7 billion, is to be managed by the Urban Development Corporation.

However, Finzi-Smith is urging the Government to address issues at Parliament’s current location before moving to a new building.

“If you can’t control the security of where it is, weh yuh go do ‘bout moving it? If you don’t take it seriously enough with what you currently have, who seh yuh go tek it seriously enough with building something new? It’s just gonna be a newer target,” he asserted.

Emphasising the need for security arrangements to be proactive, John Azar, managing director of security company KingAlarm, stated that the Parliament building is high risk “by its very nature”.

“Because, obviously, if someone has any grouse against any arm of government, the Parliament building is symbolic of that, so when you take into account that there is a higher risk by definition around that, there should be certain measures in place to mitigate against that risk,” he said.

Azar noted that the building, being so close to the main road, makes it difficult to police persons loitering in the area. He also noted that there are no physical barriers to prevent people from getting close to the entrance of the building, which Gordon House’s status as a heritage site makes it difficult to remedy.

Comprehensive investigation

Echoing calls for a comprehensive investigation into the incident, Azar postulated what the findings could reveal.

“It can be one of two things: it’s either the measures are inadequate to deter or prevent an incident like this, or it could be that the measures are adequate, and if it is the latter, then obviously, an investigation would need to be had to see why they didn’t function as per the design,” he said.

He further outlined how Parliament’s administration could enhance its security.

“There certainly are numerous measures and countermeasures in place to prevent an incident of this nature, and this could be a variety of things. It could be electronic security measures, it could be physical security.

In a statement yesterday, Clerk to the Houses of Parliament Colleen Lowe indicated that an “expeditious review of security arrangements at the institution is to take place”.

Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake has also ordered a review and assessment of the security arrangements of a number of premises.

In the meantime, the People’s National Party has expressed alarm at the arson attack on Gordon House and called for the authorities to ascertain the identity of the perpetrator and motive behind the act.

“This incident represents an attack on a symbol of the country’s legislature and lawmaking, necessitating immediate attention from the law-enforcement authorities,” the opposition party said in a statement yesterday.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com