Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang (right), participates in the handover of tablet computers to students at the St. Andrew-based Greenwich Town Primary School, on June 21. Others pictured (from left) are Anita Bennett, student; Principal of the school, Andrea Richards, and another student, Jerdane Dixon.

Nightly curfews have been imposed in several sections of St. Catherine by the police.

This is in addition to a State of Public Emergency which was declared for the entire parish, for 14 days, on June 17 by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness.

A Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Curfew Order indicates that the operations, which commenced on Friday, June 24, are being carried out in Tawes Pen and Ellerslie Pen and 31 St. John’s Road in Spanish Town; Central Village; and Gregory Park.

They will run from 8:00 p.m. until five o’clock the following morning, ending at 5:00 a.m. on Friday, July 1.

The curfews are pursuant to Regulation 21 of the Emergency Powers (Parish of St. Catherine) (Number 3) Regulations, 2022.

The boundaries of the operations in Tawes Pen and Ellerslie Pen are: North – along St. John’s Road and Williams Street, from the intersection with the Spanish Town Bypass to the intersection with Young Street; South – along the Spanish Town Bypass, from the intersection with March Pen Road to the Old Harbour Road Roundabout; East – along Young Street and March Pen Road, from the intersection with Williams Street to the intersection with the Spanish Town Bypass; and West – continuing along the Spanish Town Bypass, from the Old Harbour Road Roundabout to the intersection with St. John’s Road.

The boundaries in the area of 31 St. John’s Road are: North – along St. John’s Road and Williams Street, from the intersection with the Spanish Town Bypass to the intersection with Young Street; South – along the Spanish Town Bypass, from the intersection with March Pen Road to the Old Harbour Roundabout; East – along Young Street and March Pen Road, from the intersection with Williams Street to the intersection with the Spanish Town Bypass; and West – continuing along the Spanish Town Bypass, from the Old Harbour Road Roundabout to the intersection with St. John’s Road.

The area for the curfew in Central Village covers: Southern Section – North – along Nelson Mandela Highway, from Andrews Lane in the east to the dirt road between Union Estate and Twickenham Housing Scheme – approximately 878 metres; South – along the northern bank of the Rio Cobre, from the western boundary (end of Big Lane – Board Jungle) to the eastern boundary (where the river bends in a north/south direction) – approximately 1,417 metres; East – along an imaginary line from Nelson Mandela Highway, along Andrews Lane and continuing along the western bank of the Rio Cobre to the intersection with the southern boundary – approximately 746 metres; and West – along the dirt road between Union Estate and Twickenham Housing Scheme, turning right onto Central Road and continuing to the northern bank of the Rio Cobre – approximately 1,150 metres.

For the Northern Section, the boundary runs North – along an imaginary line in the vicinity of the football field at Zambia, stretching across to Windsor Heights Road above Compound – approximately 662 metres; South – along the eastbound lane of Nelson Mandela Highway, from the vicinity of the ackee factory, to the entrance of Compound (taxi stand) – approximately 708 metres; East – along an imaginary line, from the eastbound lane of Nelson Mandela Highway to the intersection with the northern boundary (where the road turns to the left) – approximately 383 metres; and West – along an imaginary line, from the eastbound lane of Nelson Mandela Highway to the football field at Zambia intersecting with the northern boundary – approximately 344 metres.

The boundary for the operation in Gregory Park runs: North – along Dyke Road, about 1,759 metres from the roundabout to Portmore Villa Boulevard and Dyke Road; South – along the train line from the intersection of Dyke Road, to the intersection of Municipal Boulevard – about 2,080 metres; East – along Dyke Road, about 695 metres from the intersection with Portmore Villa Boulevard to the train line; and West – along Municipal Boulevard, about 1,322 metres from the intersection of the train line to the round-a-bout.

The police advise that all persons in these areas are required to remain indoors during the hours of the curfews.

Office: 58a Half Way Tree Road, Kingston 10 Jamaica, W.I

Tel: 1 (876) 926-3590-4 1 (876) 926-3740-6

Email: Send us your query

Initial Officer Training Programme (IOTP) provides basic military officer training to Officer Cadets (OCdts) and their equivalents from law enforcement and uniformed services. The programme falls within the tactical level of the Professional Military Education (PME) framework of armed forces and is modelled from the Royal Military Academy Sandhursts’ (RMAS) Commissioning Course.  It was designed with the direct support and guidance of RMAS Instructing and Support Staff.

Traditionally, the Jamaica Defence Force’s (JDF) longstanding partnerships with militaries across the world has seen its OCdts being trained in academies in the following countries: United States, England, Canada, China and India. Upon the return of OCdts to the JDF, there is a requirement for doctrine and operating procedure standardization due to the varying concepts and differing contents of the training they had undergone. This is normally done at the Unit level and later, through a Young Officers’ Course. The advent of COVID-19 added a new level of complexity to travel, thus negatively affecting the process of sending OCdts overseas. Additionally, the ongoing expansion and restructuring of the Force to cauterize the ballooning threats to national security has caused an increased demand for newly commissioned Second Lieutenants.

Due to the carefully adapted military and academic curricula, IOTP serves as the course to treat with the aforementioned considerations. The methodology used addresses each issue directly and the course, through the delivery of a bespoke training syllabus, is fit for the JDF and is also relevant to the militaries and organizations within the Caribbean region and in other parts of the world.

Having the RMAS approach to training at its core, IOTP is designed with a syllabus that sees male and female integration throughout training. The course focusses on developing military skills and command with a leadership ‘golden thread’. The course structure allows the Instructing Staff to educate, build, develop and scrutinize an OCdt’s ability to decide and communicate accurately and ethically while under pressure and or stress. The expectation is that on commissioning, an OCdt will be fully cognizant of the responsibilities and personal conditions that being an Officer imposes upon them. The product of the IOTP will be an ethical and robust Officer who has the knowledge, skills, attitudes and intellectual agility to adapt their decision-making process and approach to any environment.

The home of IOTP is the Caribbean Military Academy (CMA) Newcastle, which is located at the Newcastle Hill Station, St Andrew, Jamaica.

Nestled in the cool hills of upper St Andrew and amidst beautiful trees, ferns, ground orchids, delicate wild flowers and a profusion of ginger lilies, is the Newcastle

Training Depot founded in 1841 by Major General Sir William Maynard Gomm (later Field Marshall). Gomm, a veteran of the wars against revolutionary France and Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica from 1840 to 1841, relentlessly badgered the War Office in London to establish a mountain station for British soldiers in Jamaica soon after taking up his post.

The idea of the hill station was first raised by Gomm in a letter dated April 7, 1840 to Governor Sir Charles Metcalfe. Gomm pointed out that while Up Park Camp was an ideal location for a barracks, it was subject to the ravages of yellow fever. In Jamaica the

British garrison was stationed on the plain at Up Park Camp, Stony Hill, Fort Augusta and Port Royal. Here, on the average, 1 soldier died every 2½ days. According to Russell, the year 1838 was considered a ‘good’ year: only 91 men died. In 1839, 110 men perished and in the following year 121. Initially, the British government was conservative in approving a hill station for the troops in Jamaica. They were concerned about the expense of the venture.

In May 1841, London finally sanctioned Gomm’s efforts to build what is thought to be the first permanent mountain station in the British West Indies at Newcastle. The site selected was a coffee plantation protruding from the southern face of the grand ridge of the Blue Mountains. The British government paid £4,230 for the Newcastle site.

At the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945), life at Newcastle changed a little. The British regiment was replaced by Canadian regiments which remained at Newcastle for the duration of the war. With hostilities over in 1945, the Canadians left and once again a British battalion was stationed there.

In 1958, the West Indies Federation was founded and the infantry regiments of the various Caribbean islands were disbanded and reorganized into the West India Regiment. Newcastle became a training depot, training recruits from all over the West Indies as part of the

newly formed West Indies Federation. In 1962 when Federation was disbanded, the West India Regiment was also disbanded. Jamaica simultaneously sought her independence, which was achieved on August 6, 1962. With independence, Newcastle was given to the Jamaican government as part of a general settlement of all military lands in Jamaica.