‘There was no kinder man in MoBay’ - Security further tightened as Second City reels from businessman’s murder
Published:Tuesday | September 3, 2019 | 12:24 AMAdrian Frater/News Editor
Western Bureau:
The strong security presence that has been a feature of the Second City under the state of emergency (SOE) in western Jamaica was even more pronounced yesterday as Montego Bay still tried to come to terms with the murder of popular businessman Andrew George Chin.
“We will not be sparing any resources in our effort to make downtown Montego Bay as safe as is humanly possible,” said Superintendent Vernon Ellis, the commanding officer for St James. “We understand the concerns being raised, but we just want to reassure residents that we [are] working around the clock to make the city and its occupants as safe as possible.”
Chin’s killing has increased scrutiny of the effectiveness of the SOE, which has been in place since April, as gun-toting gangsters are still running amok, resulting in 91 murders in St James since January.
PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
“This SOE is not working properly, as only taxi operators and street vendors are being targeted,” a vendor told The Gleaner yesterday. “When criminal kill a man like Andy (Chin), it is like kicking food off several tables at one time. In addition to the number of persons who he had employed at his business place, there was not a kinder man in all of Montego Bay.”
The police say preliminary investigations indicate that the 54-year-old Chin was kidnapped from his Albion home in Montego Bay some time after 4 a.m. by unknown assailants and taken to his business place in the heart of the city, where he ran a major lottery outlet.
It appears that he was forced to open a vault, from which the killers are believed to have taken money and other valuables.
It is also believed that the killers stole Chin’s licensed firearm.
“We regret the loss of this man as he was well-loved and respected,” said Ellis. “The investigations are going quite well so far and, hopefully, within the next 48 to 72 hours, we are hoping to make a major breakthrough,” Ellis said. “We are urging anyone with information to tell the police what they know because this man’s death should not go unpunished, and we need to get these killers who are causing so much hurt for so many families.”
Chin, who was born in Montego Bay, attended Cornwall College, where he was reportedly an outstanding student with a penchant for business.
“It is a Jamaican youth, right through and through,” a former school friend told The Gleaner. “Andy was always easy-going and was always real fun to be around. He was kind to the point of almost being stupid … . Montego Bay has lost a man who was making the lives of many persons better.”