St Catherine SOE puts party promoters in limbo

But last Friday Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced a state of emergency (SOE) for the entire parish of St Catherine due to an upsurge in gang violence in the capital Spanish Town.

An SOE gives the security forces temporary powers to arrest, detain, restrict operating hours of business, limit access to places or search a person or property without a warrant.

Upon first declaration, the SOE is limited to a maximum of 14 days following with the government must receive the support of the opposition for an extension to be granted.

The current SOE expires July 1.

Unsure if it will be extended Samuel says this wait-and-see approach leaves him in limbo.

“Mi pay fi di venue a’redi and the venue affi 60-odd thousand, plus whole heap a little preparation weh pay fa a’redi. Remember my thing is kind of a big event, so mi affi plan fi it in terms of sponsors. Mi av sponsors on board already,” the founder and franchise holder of the popular Overdose party series told Old Harbour News.

The issuing of party permits have been suspended since the declaration of the SOE on June 17, said DSP Mark Harris, commanding officer in charge of the St Catherine South sub-division of Old Harbour.

This will remain the case, he said, until further advised by the police high command.

Promoters are being urged to still submit their request for permit for the staging of events so as to avoid any delay for approval once the SOE is discontinued.

Samuel isn’t optimistic, however.

“Mi and you know se dem ago extend it, so all July it (the SOE) ago still in [place],” he said. “Dem naa go know se so much things a gwaan a Spain (Spanish Town), come up with two weeks and just pull back. That’s impossible.”

Asked to comment on the matter, Fitzroy Gouldbourne stressed “everyone is on a wait and see”.

“There’s nothing we can do at this time. We just have to hope for the best and hope that it naa go extend,” said Gouldbourne, president of the newly formed Old Harbour Bar and Promoters Association.

A new SOE regulation was tabled in Parliament today by Dr Horace Chang, the minister of National Security and Deputy Prime Minister.

If approve, this will see the Emergency Powers (Parish of St Catherine) (No.3) Regulations, 2022, replacing the existing Emergency Powers (Parish of St Catherine) (No.2) Regulations, 2022.

The new proposed regulation now before the parliament, comes on the back of last week’s ruling by the Constitutional Court awarding $17.8 million to St James taxi driver Roshaine Clarke after it found that the plaintiff’s fundamental rights were breached by the state after he was held in detention for seven months during a state of emergency in the parish in January 2018.

In parliament today, Dr Chang revealed that since the latest SOE was declared for St Catherine, the security forces have detained, arrested and charged gangsters under the Jamaica Constabulary Force Act instead of using the powers granted under the current SOE regulation.