good afternoon it's friday december 11. i'm anthony logg with the midday news
a special welcome if you're watching on onespotmedia.com
up first this afternoon norman horn has advised the governor general of his intention to resign
from the senate in a statement mr horn says he has requested that the necessary steps be initiated to
rescind his appointment he says the decision was made after lengthy discussions with family and
close friends on the matter of his u.s citizenship mr horn says this can be a lengthy process further
complicated by covet 19 protocols he says as occurred with a former pnp senator in 2012 it is
common practice that the renunciation process is completed following the appointment of the senate
he adds that after the announcement that there would be an election for a new party leader
he decided not to further pursue renunciation he admitted that despite not having taken an oath
he was remiss in not delivering his resignation to the governor general in keeping with his statement
in the meantime speaking on raider jamaica's call-in program hotline mr horn said his letter
indicating his intention to resign was delivered to the governor general's office today today
why was it only just delivered after you're promising an october 10 letter
to deliver it by the 6th of november 2020. emily that's an interesting place to start
but i guess the matter goes back before that it goes back to the 14th of september
when the then opposition leader advised me to prepare myself for the appointment of senator
the u.s state department has unknown sanctions against six former members of the no disbanded
crime management unit as well as their immediate family members according to a statement yesterday
from secretary of state mike pompeo the six jamaicans were among 17 individuals from various
countries who have been sanctioned more from janella precious the state department announced
the public designation of devon bernard renito adams patrick coke shane lyons lee ford gordon
and roderick collier the immediate family members are also covered by the designation
individuals and the immediate family members who are designated publicly or privately are
ineligible for entry into the united states renito adams was appointed to lead the crime
management unit in 2000. the unit was placed in the spotlight following the controversial killing
of four persons in crawl clarendon on tuesday may 7 2003 45 year old angela richards
38 year old ferris luena thompson matthew james and a man known only as renegade were
killed during an alleged shootout with members of the crime management unit after several
weeks of investigations in the aftermath of the killings mr adams and five members of the jamaica
constabulary force were charged with murder they were however acquitted in december 2005.
four people were killed in planters old habers and catherine in the early hours of the frowning
of the friday morning it's understood that the deceased includes three men and a woman
tbj's kirk wright was on location this morning and filed this report
thank you very much i'm now i mean planters and planters is in the old harbour community in saint
catherine where four persons were shot and killed this morning three male and the female now these
three males are relatives one is richard wright um and his brother omar wright and their cousin
lester harvey residents say to us that um at about 1 30 this morning they heard several shots
in the community and following which um they heard screams on investigation the bodies of the four
persons were found three were found in one house and another was found in a in a separate house
um just across the road the police say they're not sure of the motive for the killing but you
know several persons here have told us that it could be related to the guns for drug trade um
one of the one of the the men who died on my right was a known troublemaker in the community
his mother spoke to us when we asked her about that and i'd say amy is not touchable
maker right he's not so you're calling to make a troublemaker go wrong and pick trouble with people
and pick trouble with people that is that if the person going to him with certain things
then it make affliction that is it mom how do you feel about the whole you lose two sons
i'm feeling very down done because whether then come and then shoot and then take
their life like say it's not smarty i bury them a bird season then go pan the police
in charge of the area uh have said to us that they'll be putting
you know a contingent in the area to prevent any possible reprisals the police will be
maintaining our presence in the community for some hours right and the investigation continues
um can you say though if if you're getting good intelligence so far on this
well we are following some leads right now which we cannot disclose at this moment anthony
thank you uh former education minister rule reed caribbean maritime president fritz pinock
and their three core cues will hear today whether the corruption
chart whether the corruption case against them will be dismissed
chief parish judge chester crooks is to decide on the application filed by their legal team
attorney hugh wildman argued in october that the financial investigations division fid
is an investigative body and does not have legal authority to bring criminal charges or obtain a
fair from the director of public prosecutions to prosecute the defendants mr wildman said the fid
therefore acted illegally the other three accused in the case are mr reed's wife sharon their
daughter cheryl and counselor for the brownstone division kimbron lawrence they were charged in
connection with a fraud and corruption probe into transactions at the caribbean maritime university
and on an editorial note on thursday during our midday newscast we showed the image of constable
fabian morrison on the ground after being hit from his motorcycle on south camp road
this was an error and should not have been aired we apologize to constable morrison's family
friends and colleagues in the force and it's now time for a
break stay with us more stories when we return welcome back continuing the news
not changing course mayor of montego bay leroy williams is standing by his decision
to cancel grand market in the western city vendors in the town protested against the
decision on monday but the mayor is adamant that he will not entertain the event in a bid
to get a grip on the spread of cover 19 in the parish more in this report as mayor of the city
i will not be encouraging entertaining or permitting the gathering of large crowds that
would possibly cause the spread of the deadly coronavirus mayor of montego bay leroy williams
responding to vendors regarding the cancellation of grant market in the western city on monday the
vendors staged a protest demanding that the mayor reconsider the vending times for christmas eve
but mr williams is standing by his decision there will be absolutely no grand market the vendors
have designated streets to vent they know the streets i have met with them
and asked for their cooperation he insists that his decision to not stage grand market is to
prevent a further spike in covenanting cases in the parish in recent weeks westmoreland and st
james have been recording increased cases and so as part of measures to prevent large gatherings
and simultaneously limit the spread of the virus in the city the vendors
will be allowed only eight hours to conduct their business christmas eve the vending time
is from 1pm to 9pm with an hour to pack up
and that is before the curfew time at 10 pm however there's an exception for christmas day
boxing day and new year's day vendors can come out on those days at 10 am
10 am curfew will be from 7 to 5 a.m and that is why i have decided that they can come out
as early as 10. a cluster of covert 19 cases has been detected at the police academy in
twignam parks and catherine news came last night that the saint catherine health department was
called to the facility after a number of persons displayed symptoms of the respiratory illness
280 junior and senior recruits as well as instructors were tested for the virus
47 persons including two instructors were found to be positive for coving 19.
the health department has ordered that the section of the campus be quarantined and the positive
patients isolated medical officer of health for saint catherine dr francine prosper chen
says in coming days 400 instructors as well as medical and grown staff members on the campus
will be tested for covert 19. the health ministry says the cluster has contributed to the increase
in the number of covert 19 cases in twignam park central village is also on its radar now central
village has been named as one of the top 20 communities with active cases of the virus
jamaica's coven 19 death toll remains at 270 as the country recorded no new case in the last
24 hours meanwhile 66 new cases were recorded in jamaica yesterday the country's case count
now stands at 11 509. their ages range from 4 months to 82 years kingston and saint andrew
recorded most of the cases followed by saint catherine and said james the health ministry
says 82 patients remain hospitalized with the respiratory illness eight are critically ill
and industry commerce industry investment and commerce minister audley shaw is expressing
concern over the continued sloganish of the jamaican economy he was speaking at an event in
kingston earlier this week jamaica has a problem for far too long of low growth in the economy
we cannot create wealth without growing economy
and we can't grow the economy unless we significantly increase
in the meantime concern had been raised about the well-being of the
minister when he was sworn in as portfolio minister for investment
industry and commerce but mr shah is in much better spirits presently
the leadership of the passport immigration and citizenship agency pica says its passport
production and issuance operations have been iso 9001 certified the announcement follows
the completion of a nine month preparation process and a stage two audit chief executive officer of
pica andrew winter says the upgrades mean another branch of the agency is now world standard each of
these standards we're demonstrating to the world that pickup is a global and global organization
that means business pica why shouldn't pika be the passport agency for the rest of the caribbean
because we're a world-class agent to deliver in a world-class service and a world-class program
what is stopping us minister without portfolio and the ministry of national security matthew samuda
says the improvements in pika's operation is also good news for border security
because pica is the first point of contact for our visitors that come to our shores on a daily basis
and as we have all seen since the the impact of kovid
create a critical influx of foreign exchange
and are a critical part of our economy so pica both protects us and helps us to grow
to news in sports now the west indies will be haunting quick wickets when player resume
on day two of of the second and final test against new zealand at hamilton
the host will resume 200 will will resume on 294 for six in their first innings when nichols
117 knot out and kyle jameson will return to the crease for the home team on yesterday's
for the home team on yesterday's opening day daryl mitchell also made 42 and will young 43
for the black caps who were sent to back by the caribbean team shannon gabriel has been the pick
of the wendy's bowlers with three for four with three for 57 while debit and shimar holder has
taken two for 65 so far wicketkeeper joshua the silver is also on debut for the wind is in for the
windies in assessing the team's performance shemar hola says they will now be looking to restrict new
zealand to a 350 in the first innings new zealand captain kane williamson is not contesting the
match as he's away on paternity leave the windys are seeking to level the two match
series and that's the midday news i'm anthony logg join us at seven for primetime news
on behalf of the new sports and production teams good afternoon
you