Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter

KEY STAKEHOLDERS at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, have expressed optimism for a secure campus environment ahead of the first semester which starts September.

Both the UWI Public Relations Officer Carol Edwards and Guild of Students President Dayton Campbell said yesterday that the circumstances under which a female resident of Irvine Hall was stabbed and seriously injured by her aggrieved boyfriend Sunday night could not have been easily prevented by the current security set-up on campus.

However, Mr. Campbell has said that there are still some security concerns that need to be dealt with to protect students.

"These concerns were taken seriously and we expect that they will be dealt with in the near future," Mr. Campbell said.

The guild council recommended, among other things, the mending of a fence that separates Taylor and Chancellor halls from Irvine Hall; an increase in security personnel and the equipping of all guards with two-way radios.

Early Sunday morning, Milton Jackson stabbed and seriously injured his girlfriend, his host on Irvine Hall. He escaped from the campus but was later held by police in a University of Technology car park. Jackson had been banned from Rex Nettleford Hall last summer after he attacked a female student.

Jackson has since been charged with wounding with intent.

Not an intruder

A statement signed by UWI's PRO underscored the point that Jackson was not an intruder.

"... The student was attacked by a visitor who was a guest of hers, under circumstances which could not have been avoided by any security measures which the institution has in place," Edwards' statement said.

Head of campus security, Major John Nelson, was not available for comment yesterday.

A notice, bearing a photograph of Jackson was posted at the front of Rex Nettleford Hall which stated: 'Under no circumstances, do not allow this man into the hall.' This however, was not distributed to other halls.

Acting principal Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie met with the residents of Irvine Hall yesterday and counselling sessions for members of the hall have been organised. Also, the UWI has made provisions for the mother of the injured 21-year-old, third-year medical student to travel from Montserrat to stay by her child.