Additional Security Measures During Passage of Hurricane Beryl

Additional measures will be implemented by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to secure critical infrastructure throughout the passage of Hurricane Beryl, which is expected to impact the country on July 3.

Addressing Monday’s (July 1) press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Police Commissioner, Dr. Kevin Blake, said enhanced security will be provided for roadways, shelters, businesses and other critical infrastructure.

These include State refinery – Petrojam, airports, business districts, hospitals, major road networks, courts, prisons, and all scheduled premises, including High Commissions and Embassies.

“There are some key, vital infrastructure that we have been looking at that we will be placing emphasis on and looking at protecting, in collaboration with [the] Jamaica Defence Force (JDF),” Dr. Blake said.

“We will also establish our management team, specifically for the Corporate Area, primarily because of the several important infrastructure that exist within (Kingston and St. Andrew),” he further stated.

In addition to providing security at the established shelters, Dr. Blake said there will also be a strong security presence on the roadways.

“During this period, our highway patrols will continue to monitor our thoroughfares across the island to ensure that they remain usable and passable. Our mobile patrol will be concentrating primarily within the domestic spaces and the business districts, and our quick response team, which may be extremely relevant given what may happen on our roadways, will be out in their full numbers to help to respond to incidents, and also to protect our business communities,” he said.

“We are so fortunate to have some heavy equipment that we have strategically placed at our Area level, and these equipment will assist the other external entities to clear debris, and in any search and rescue and disaster recovery,” the Commissioner added.

Dr. Blake advised that the full complement of the JCF will be deployed to ensure security during the period.

“We should cover the entire island in terms of information and responding to any incident. We have enough human resources deployed. We have scaled most of our operations… all our operational persons will be out in their numbers. We will possibly be recalling some persons from leave in order to ensure that we have adequate deployment,” he assured.