GOVERNMENT IS set to deliver on its promise of a permanent command post in the midst of the violence-torn Mountain View Avenue area of eastern Kingston.
Minister of Information, Burchell Whiteman, yesterday said Cabinet had approved the purchase of property at 48A Mountain View Avenue for that purpose. He was speaking at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
He said the two-storey building would be refurbished at a cost of under $7 million.
"Cabinet has approved the purchase of the property... to be used as a command post for the Jamaica Constabulary Force, as part of the security forces' strategy to curtail a pattern of inter-community violence within the area," the Information Minister said.
The building, formerly the Mountain View Medical and Dental Centre, is located near Jacques Road, one of the communities consistently associated with the violence that repeatedly grips the area.
Approval for the purchase of the building came just four days after Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, toured the troubled communities and revealed that Government proposed to buy the property, reportedly being sold for $6 million. He told journalists that he expected the State would own the property within weeks.
Over the past month, a rash of shootings has claimed the lives of almost 20 people in the Mountain View.
In response to the bloo-letting, joint police and military patrols have swarmed the area, instituting curfews and seeking to ease the tension.
