Adrian Frater

UTech western campus attracts 120 new students

Published:Thursday | August 24, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

WESTERN BUREAU:With the new academic year getting under way, some 120 new students have been enrolled at the University of Technology's (UTech) western Jamaica campus, which is located in downtown Montego Bay, St. James.Addressing the new students...

JTA rejects Gov't's wage offer

Published:Tuesday | August 22, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:The delegates of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) flatly rejected the Government's wage offer, which was presented to them during a closed session at the association's 52nd annual conference in Montego Bay yesterday.While not...

Western parishes hit 300 murders and counting

Published:Thursday | August 17, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:Despite a range of new initiatives, the parishes of Hanover, Westmoreland and St James, which are home to the nation's two main tourist resort towns (Montego Bay and Negril), remain the hub of the nation's bloodletting, with a...

Armed thugs standing up to cops in MoBay

Published:Wednesday | August 16, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:The police in St James are now said to be facing a worrisome situation as marauding gunmen are reportedly standing up to them and engaging them in gunfights on the streets of the western parish.The revelation came in the aftermath of...

Montego Bay woman accused of scamming still not charged

Published:Monday | August 14, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:The St James woman who was arrested on Sunday after she was allegedly found with identity information associated with the lotto scam has still not been charged, albeit she remains in police custody and could find herself in deep...

Sex warning from a dentist - Expert fears that oral sex could be causing problematic gum disease in Jamaica

Published:Saturday | August 12, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Researchers at the Montego Bay, St James-based International Postgraduate Medical College (IPMC) are raising concern that the practice of oral sex in Jamaica could be responsible for the outbreak of a gum disease which is proving challenging to...

Cops say ‘no’ to tonight's Granville’s street dance

Published:Friday | July 28, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:The residents of Granville, St James, who were looking forward to putting on their dancing shoes tonight to celebrate Jamaica 55 with a street dance, will have to make alternate arrangements as the St James Police High Command has...

JPs out west concerned about ‘special zones’

Published:Wednesday | July 26, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:While it would appear that the Government is now ready to roll out the new zones of special operations initiative, lay magistrates, who are expected to play a pivotal role in its implementation, are still unsure of what role they will...

MoBay is ready - Mayor says city ripe for zones of special operations

Published:Tuesday | July 25, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau: As St James continues to bleed, with the murder toll racing past 160 following the killing of two persons in a brazen gun attack in Salt Spring on Monday, it would appear that Montego Bay's mayor, Homer Davis, is ready to embrace the...

Spicy Sumfest Friday night

Published:Sunday | July 23, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:If not for the 'dissing showdown' between Alkaline and Tommy Lee Sparta, which generated the show's most excitement, Sumfest Friday night's unofficial 'artist of the night' title might have fallen into Spice's lap.She was rolled on...

LASCO Money opens in Montego Bay

Published:Thursday | July 20, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

WESTERN BUREAU:The city of Montego Bay is now home to a branch of LASCO Money following last week's official opening at the Dump Up Beach and Events Park on Howard Cooke Boulevard. The entity is located at Bay West Shopping Centre on Union Street....

Prominent MoBay businessman executed by shottas

Published:Wednesday | July 19, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:The Montego Bay business community was thrown into mourning yesterday afternoon when prominent 52-year-old businessman Winston Chue, of a Westgate Hill address, was murdered gangland-style on Miriam Way in the downtown section of the...

Double murder has left Paradise tense

Published:Tuesday | July 18, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau: Tension is now high in the Paradise Crescent community in Montego Bay, St. James, where two brothers were killed gangland style early Monday morning in the aftermath of an overnight quarrel, which turned deadly, much to the chagrin...

Alleged Hanover gangster arrested, firearm seized

Published:Sunday | July 9, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:The relentless drive by the Hanover police to rid the parish of notorious gangsters was met with more success on Saturday as a man said to be a member of the One Voice gang was arrested and a loaded firearm seized during a police...

Security forces should decide areas for special zones - Sinclair

Published:Wednesday | July 5, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

WESTERN BUREAU:While fully supportive of the proposed Zones of Special Operations Bill, which is expected to significantly affect St James, the nation's undisputed murder capital, government Senator Charles Sinclair says that he has no desire to...

Bloody west at crossroads - Cops hopeful, stakeholders mulling solution

Published:Monday | July 3, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:With more than 260 murders since the start of the year, the police's Area One division is the nation's undisputed murder capital and should be significantly impacted when the Zones of Special Operations crime-fighting initiative comes...

Kala was one of the best, says principal

Published:Monday | July 3, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

WESTERN BUREAU:Tears flowed at Glendevon Primary and Junior High School in St James yesterday, as teachers and students struggled to come to grips with the fact that nine-year-old Kala Bailey, who was one of the sparkling gems in her grade three...

MoBay’s medical college going global - Accreditation being sought from Ireland’s Royal College

Published:Saturday | July 1, 2017 | 11:12 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:The Montego Bay based International Postgraduate Medical College (IPMC) is now on the verge of getting accreditation for its Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Programme, which is a master's degree programme, from the Royal College of...

Boy, 14, implicated in fatal shooting of nine-year-old girl in MoBay

Published:Saturday | July 1, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:At 14-year-old boy is now in police custody following the fatal shooting of a nine-year-old girl in the volatile Hendon/Norwood community in Montego Bay, St James, last Friday.The dead child has been identified as Kala Bailey of the...

Cornwall Regional Hospital's ‘old chimney’ under the microscope

Published:Thursday | June 29, 2017 | 11:11 AMAdrian Frater

WESTERN BUREAU:With noxious fumes still plaguing the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James despite the extensive work being done to fix the problematic ventilation system, an old chimney, thought to be the source of the latest bout of the offensive...

Full assault on criminals out west - ACP Clarke

Published:Sunday | June 25, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:The police's bid to tame lawlessness in the Area One police division, which has churned out more than 100 murders since the start of the year, is now getting significant new resources,...

Stakeholder-driven crime plan needed - Senator Sinclair

Published:Monday | June 26, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:As stakeholders continued to grapple with a solution to crime in St James, government senator Charles Sinclair is calling for a summit to examine all the contending views."It is my view that there needs to be a joint sector leaders'...

'We should have some peace now' - DSP Beeput says Hanover most wanted was a multiple murderer

Published:Sunday | June 25, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Western Bureau:With alleged multiple murderer Shernado Leslie now out of the way, Deputy Superintendent of Police Sharon Beeput, the commanding officer for the Hanover Police Division, is confident that some measure of peace should return to the...

‘A police kill mi son’ - ACP Clarke rejects mother’s claim that rogue cops murdered her son near MoBay courthouse

Published:Saturday | June 24, 2017 | 12:00 AMAdrian Frater

Joan Rattray, the mother of Elvis Malcolm, the man who was murdered metres from the St James Parish Court just over one week ago, is convinced that her son's killers were rogue cops."It was a carefully planned, professional execution," Rattray told...

Wickedness in the west - Top crime-fighter in western Jamaica blames long-running social issues and policy deficiencies for high crime rate