Glenroy Sinclair and Robert Lalah, Staff Reporters
Benjamin
DR. BERNARD Samuel Benjamin, the 71-year-old Dominican national who conceived the Plantation Heights housing development in St. Andrew, was shot and killed by gunmen yesterday morning.
Head of the St. Andrew South CIB, Deputy Superintendent Oswald Ayre, said the general practitioner was murdered about 10:15 a.m. His body was found slumped over the steering wheel of his vehicle, while the back windscreen was shattered by bullets.
The officer explained that based on reports, the housing developer was working with two groups of men in the Plantation Heights area. It is alleged that one of the men operating a tractor was robbed by gunmen. This occurred while Dr. Benjamin was with the other group.
"We were told that Dr. Benjamin then left for an undisclosed location," said DSP Ayre.
ALLEGATIONS
Further allegations are that while driving along one of the roads in the community, the men who had robbed the tractor driver, saw Dr. Benjamin's car coming and signalled him to stop.
He ignored the signal and the men opened fire at the car. He was shot and the car crashed into an embankment.
Dr. Benjamin has been a medical practitioner since 1962. He was chairman of the Health and Welfare Committee responsible for the establishment of the Heart Foundation of Jamaica.
He was also a member of staff of the University Hospital of the West Indies from 1961-66. In addition, he was a member of the Pan American Health Organisation, the Association of General Practitioners and chairman of La Morne Mortgage and Trust Limited. Dr. Benjamin was born in Dominica on March 20, 1934.
