Cripple gun trade like you did ganja – Davis
Published:Thursday | September 26, 2019 | 12:14 AMAdrian Frater/News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
With St James already registering more than 100 murders since the start of the year, Montego Bay Mayor Homer Davis is appealing to Jamaica’s international partners to do more to stem the flow of illegal guns into the island.
Speaking at a Caribbean Policy Research Institute forum under the theme ‘Scamming, Gangs and Violence in Montego Bay’ at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre on Monday, Davis listed the United States of America and Haiti as the main countries from which illegal weapons are shipped to Jamaica.
“If we can stop the flow of guns, we would not empower these gangsters or these scammers,” said Davis, alluding to the mulitibillion-dollar lottery scam targeting mainly elderly Americans which has its epicentre in the parish. “There would not be anything for them to buy. We are not in agreement with scamming. We know that people such as pensioners have suffered immensely as a result of the action of these scammers.
“What we are saying to our partners is, ‘Help us to police our space. Help us to restrict the flow of arms’. We have over a thousand kilometres of shoreline. We are a thousand kilometres from the United States of America, we are less than 500 kilometres from Haiti, and these are the points of departure for these weapons that come into Jamaica,” added Davis.
The mayor said he would like to see the same zeal that was used to stamp out the ganja trade when it was rampant in Jamaica to be employed in addressing the shipment of illegal guns into the island.
“We are getting help from our partners, but we would love to see more being done,” he said.
As it relates to lottery scamming, Davis said it is a case of “a good turning bad” as the call centres, which provide sustainable jobs for several thousand Jamaicans, gave birth to the illicit practice.
Despite the vices, Davis nonetheless expressed satisfaction with the state of development in Second City.
“Even with the prevalence of murder, we have seen the economy of Montego Bay growing at a much faster rate than the national economy,” he said.