The Spanish Town police in St. Catherine are pulling out all stops to capture the elusive Donald Brown, aka ‘Negus’, a man who is said to be at the top of their most wanted list. The push to find him has heightened in recent times, following a string of killings in the area recently.
Brown is said to be a ruthless gang member (formerly of the Klansman Gang, but now a member of the One Order Gang) who has been implicated in a number of shootings in the Waterloo, Waterloo Villa, Tredegar Park, Gravel Heights and Lauriston areas near Spanish Town in St. Catherine.
He is 23 years old, approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall, of slim build, dark complexion and weighing approximately 160 pounds. Anyone knowing his whereabouts is asked to contact the Spanish Town police or call 119.
Following reports yesterday that the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) and sent a request to the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) requesting that six of the island’s top athletes be removed from its team as a result of a dispute over training camp attendance, the JAAA has now reportedly withdrawn this request.
The IAAF secretary general, Pierre Weiss, reportedly said that the IAAF put pressure on the JAAA to withdraw the request because the exclusion of these six prominent athletes would undoubtedly reflect badly on the World Championships itself.
It is likely however, that the six athletes will face sanctions / disciplinary action by the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) following the 12th biennial IAAF World Athletics Championships.
Today, Jamaican-Canadian billionaire Michael Lee-Chin, agreed to sell AIC’s Canadian retail investment fund business to Canada’s largest insurer, Manulife Financial Corp. Under the deal, for which a price-tag is yet to be revealed, Manulife Mutual Funds will control all AIC funds in Canada. AIC will continue to perform in the capacity of fund sub-adviser for Manulife Mutual Funds. If the deal is approved, MFC’s mutual funds under management will increase 38% to approximately CAD 13.7B (USD 12.5B).
In what seems to be the finale in an on-going dispute over training camp attendance, Jamaica has reportedly dropped six of the island’s top athletes from its team 2009 IAAF World Championships team.
The six are:
- Asafa Powell, a former 100-meter world-record holder
- Shelly-Ann Fraser, 2008 Olympic 100M champion
- Melaine Walker, 2008 Olympic 400M champion
- Brigitte Foster-Hylton, a hurdler
- Shericka Williams, a sprinter
- Kaliese Spence, a 400M runner
All six are members of the MVP track club and have been odds with Jamaica’s athletics federation recently over their non-attendance at the Jamaican team’s official pre-games training camp in Nuremberg. Earlier this week, Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) president Howard Aris had warned the athletes that they would miss the World Championships unless they appear at the team’s training camp.
There has long been ‘bad blood’ between the executives of MVP track club and the JAAA, as just last year there was controversy associated with Jamaica’s participation in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, as athletes from the MVP club arrived late for a pre-Olympic training camp in Tianjin, China. The MVP track club has insisted that the JAAA’s camp is not up to scratch and interferes with its athletes’ preparations for the games. The JAAA meanwhile has maintained that all athletes must attend these camps.
The National Water Commission (NWC) has been forced to issue a Prohibition Notice for more stringent water conservation measures to be observed, as Jamaica’s water supply has fallen to a critically low level.
According to the NWC, the measures (which came into effect yesterday – August 10), have become necessary due to the prolonged drought that is currently affecting the Hermitage Dam. The water level at this facility has now fallen to a critically low amount.
The tightened measures are in addition to restrictions that were previously implemented on August 3 – where customers now experience no or low water pressure conditions from 7 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. and again from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
The Prohibition Notice requires that persons use the treated water for only those purposes that are very essential, and to avoid the use of the commodity for irrigation of and watering of gardens, lawns and grounds; filling or supplying tanks, ponds, baths or swimming pools (other than dipping tanks for cattle); or elevated reserve tanks not exceeding 200 gallons in capacity and connected to household sewerage; watering or washing roadways, pavements, paths, garages, out rooms or vehicles.
The NWC further states that treated water should not be utilized for any purpose which may require the use of a considerable or excessive quantity of water.
Under this Notice, the prohibition will remain in effect until further notice, and while the prohibition is in effect, no person shall use or cause or permit to be used, any water supplied by or obtained from the pipes of the NWC for any of the above purposes. Any person who contravenes the Notice will be guilty of an offense and liable on summary conviction by a Resident Magistrate, to a fine, and in default of payment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days.
A love triangle took a vicious twist yesterday morning at Burnt Ground, St. Elizabeth, when a woman’s former boyfriend allegedly attacked her and her common-law partner.
The accused, who is on the run and whose name has been withheld, reportedly kicked in the door of 48 year old Melonie Morris’ house, where she was asleep in bed with her companion, Conroy Ledgister at approximately 4 a.m. yesterday morning.
The attacker chopped Morris in the head, and Ledgister was cut on the neck. Morris was taken to the Black River hospital where she was treated and released, while Ledgister was transferred to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was admitted in serious condition.
Morris had reportedly ended an affair with her attacker some months ago.
35 year old Richard Wallace, who allegedly raped a 19-year-old girl in a church yard in Christian Pen, St. Catherine,was offered J$60,000 bail with surety when he appeared recently in the Spanish Town criminal court.
Allegations are that at about 3 a.m. on July 25 of this year, the teenager was going out and asked Wallace, who she knew, to accompany her. While they were strolling through the church yard in the wee hours of the morning, Wallace allegedly grabbed her, threw her to the ground and had sexual intercourse with her against her will. She reported the matter to the police and Wallace was arrested and charged with rape.
He is scheduled to return to court on September 8 when the case will be mentioned.
Members of the public will be able to sign condolence for the late Lady Gladys Bustamante as of today. The condolence books will be open from today (August 3) through to Friday (August 7) at a number of locations islandwide as well as overseas.
Persons in Kingston and St. Andrew who wish to record tribute, can go to the following locations:
- Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) on Duke Street
- The Bustamante Museum on Tucker Avenue
- The Jamaica Labour Party headquarters on Belmont Road
- The Bureau of Women’s Affairs
- Jamaica House
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
For persons outside the Corporate Area, condolence books will be opened at all parish councils, while persons overseas may record their tributes at any of Jamaica’s overseas missions.
Lady Bustamante died suddenly on July 25. Her funeral takes place on August 8 at the Sts Peter & Paul Church on Old Hope Road in Kingston starting at 1 p.m.
