PM, Most Hon Andrew Holness visited the communities in his constituency earlier today

Prime Minister Andrew Holness is assuring residents of Olympic Gardens that several strategies, including increased police presence and the installation of cameras, will be used to address the gang violence that is affecting the area.

Holness’ assurances come after a spate of shootings in the community which resulted in at least two double murders on Tuesday, with a reported six deaths in total over recent days

A curfew, which began at 8pm on Tuesday and will continue until 8 pm on Thursday, has been imposed to address the violence in the area.

Holness, accompanied by the Minister of National Security, Dr. Horace Chang, and  Police Commissioner, Major General Antony Anderson, on Wednesday walked sections of the community of Olympic Gardens that is located in the prime minister’s West Central St Andrew constituency.

In describing the murders as “gruesome”, Holness said they were likely gang-related.

“It would appear young men from the community involved in gang activities ended up in conflict, which has resulted in the loss of six lives,” he stated.

“We also believe that in addition to the gang conflict, there may be retaliation where innocent lives are involved,” he said.

The prime minister said the police have assured him that they are investigating the developments and that they will leave no stones unturned in their probe.

“So far residents are fearful. They have expressed their fears, and so I am here to reassure them that we will have full coverage of the area, both in terms of static and dynamic police presence, but also in terms of intelligence gathering,” said Holness.

“We cannot allow such heinous crimes to be committed and the perpetrators face no consequences.

“This is my constituency; I love the people here; they are like my family and wherever crime happens – here or wherever in Jamaica – I literally take it very personally,” he declared.

To that end, he pledged the security forces’ commitment to ensuring that the necessary resources “are brought to bear and the perpetrators are brought to justice”.

In addition to the increased security manpower, Holness said over time, cameras will be installed in the community help to identify those who are committing the murders.

“There are some other measures which we will put in place as well, including cameras.

“We have a project in place, unfortunately, it is stuck in procurement and it’s not yet come to fruition. But I am going to try and fast-rack that because as you can see, these areas are properly laid

In noting that the mode of the commission of the recent murders was by drive-bys involving motor vehicles, Holness said the cameras would have been “very useful in identifying the vehicles and, possibly, the license plates.”

The prime minister said the residents have expressed fear, but they are not in support of the gang conflicts.

“I am expecting that we will get valuable and useful information to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Holness declared.