Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter 
Opposition Leader Bruce Golding (centre) in discussion with Assistant Commissioner of Police Keith 'Trinity' Gardner, officer in charge of
Area One, during a tour of Norwood, St. James on Friday. Looking on from left are Member of Parliament for the area, Dr. Horace Chang, councillor Heroy Clarke and Mayor of Montego Bay, Noel Donaldson. - Contributed
WESTERN BUREAU:
OPPOSITION LEADER Bruce Golding says Government must resume its upgrading of infrastructure programmes in the troubled community of Norwood, St. James, which was abandoned in 2003, if the security forces are to effectively police the area.
"It is necessary for that work to be completed, because it is going to continue to represent a nightmare to the police, until we can provide 'patrollable' infrastructure," the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader suggested.
"It is virtually impossible for normal policing strategies to work. The infrastructure in that community does not allow for the kind of patrols that the police do; certainly not mobile patrols, because you don't have roads on which to conduct mobile patrols."
He believes that with Jamaica Defence Force personnel, the police would be better able to execute a more intensive programme of foot patrol, with deeper saturation and penetration of the area.
The St. James police have long argued that they are severely challenged in several inner-city communities, including Norwood, because of poor road conditions.
Mr. Golding was speaking at a press conference in the western city on Friday following a tour of Norwood, which is experiencing increased levels of violence, resulting in calls for a military presence there.
More than 20 persons have been killed in the community since January. The most recent incident occurred on Tuesday when five residents, three men and two women, were viciously murdered.
"The Government needs to address the incapacity of the Jamaica Defence Force to provide the type of tactical support that is required to deal with the problem in Montego Bay," the Opposition Leader argued.
"I think it will be necessary to assign a platoon from the regular Jamaica Defence Force First Battalion and have them based in Montego Bay to provide the logistical support to the police, in dealing with the kind of problem that we are now confronted with in Norwood."
He insisted that much more is needed to stem the bloodbath in Norwood and proposed an élite police unit for Montego Bay. The unit's focus would be on a long-term basis to target criminal elements and gather information for identifying and detaining the ringleaders.
Meanwhile, the Community Organisation for Management and Sustainable Development (COMAND) is seeking the immediate intervention of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller in the crime-ravaged community of Norwood.
