Security forces to decide end of Mt Salem ZOSO
Published:Friday | June 10, 2022 | 12:07 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
MINISTER OF National Security Dr Horace Chang says while there has been significant changes inside the Mt Salem community, lifting the zone of special operations (ZOSO) rests with the country’s security forces.
“It is something we take the advice of the security forces on and we will also measure what outcome was expected,” Chang said of the timeline in arriving at the end of the ZOSO, which has been in place since September 2017.
He told The Gleaner that it has been relatively calm in the community, despite having one of two re-entry of criminal elements into the space, for which the police have been able to move quickly and decisively in making apprehensions.
According to Chang, the residents of the community have developed a new level of trust and confidence for the police and are providing information to help the police develop their own intelligence gathering.
“There is a level of confidence in the security forces which has been restored, and therefore, that provides the foundation on which we will maintain order and reduce the level of killing and violence that takes place,” he noted.
In terms of the quality of life among residents in the community, Chang said they have improved with a more aesthetically appealing space consisting of better roads and the removal of zinc fencing.
“We are fixing the school (Mt Salem Primary and Infant School), we have a good police force which will be able to maintain order, and which provides not only a heavy security but has the facilities and other accessories that will allow the community to get involved and work with the police in keeping the community safe, ‘’ the national security minister reasoned.
However, Winsome Barnes, president of the Mt Salem Committee Development Committee Benevolence Society, says although there have been several extensions for the continuation of the ZOSO in the community they are somewhat operating on their own.
“That is something I would have to ask of my people because everybody has their own views on this,” said Barnes, when quizzed as to whether the community is ready for the ZOSO to be lifted.
At the same time, the CDC and Benevolence Society president said the community has been operating on its own without the heavy presence of the security forces for some time now.
“We have been on our own for about a year or so when they moved from Barnett View into Norwood,” she noted.
“We have had limited presence of the security forces here. It’s just like the normal policing from the Mount Salem police that is here, so from my standpoint we are back to normal because they are not here,” Barnes noted.
Almost a year ago on June 20, a ZOSO was declared for the community of Norwood, bringing to two the number of ZOSOs in the parish.
The Norwood ZOSO was declared as internal gang-related conflicts reigned supreme, accounting for some 15 murders from 14 incidents of shootings in the space.
Along with that data, at the time the country was informed that Norwood was home to six gangs who was responsible for 66 murders committed in that space since 2019.