PM Urges Salt Spring Residents Not to Let Killing of Boys Go in Vain

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, is urging persons who have information about the killing of seven-year-old Justin Perry and nine-year-old Nahcoliva to come forward and tell what they know.

He said that the deaths of the children must not go in vain.

“If the people of Salt Spring are really serious about bringing this matter to some form of closure in their minds and conscience, then [tell what you know],” he said.

The two boys were among three persons killed when a taxi in which they were travelling was shot up by gunmen in Salt Spring on Monday (November 6). The other person killed was 26-year-old Tevin Hayle.

Prime Minister Holness said he has directed the security force to do all in its power to apprehend the persons responsible for the heinous crime, including those who support and enable such actions.

“So, all the gang wars that are going on and all the people who claim that they are dons, we are going to slowly dismantle the ecosystems that protect them,” he pointed out, noting that those individuals are not “Robin Hood” but are there to kill the innocent.

Prime Minister Holness said there is need for a cultural shift and a change in the psychology that glorifies gun possession.

He said that the people of Jamaica must take a stand against gang-related violence.

“If you know someone who has a gun, you have a duty under common law [to report it] because that is a serious offence. Use the secure channels and communicate it because we are not only going to be investigating who has the gun, we have to start looking at who knew you had a gun, who assisted you in getting the gun,” he stressed.

Following the visit to school, Mr. Holness went to the Salt Spring community to meet with the families of the slain students.

He highlighted the various social intervention initiatives in the community over the years and urged the citizens to not let the area fall into a state of rampant crime and violence.