Assistant Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds, head of Operation Kingfish/ National Intelligence Bureau, says he has not yet seen the hit list of public figures that Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie has claimed exists.

"I am not aware of the hit list or its existence," Hinds, whose unit is in charge of ensuring security for public officials, told The Gleaner yesterday. "I don't know if any police officer has seen that list, and as far as I am concerned, if the list exists, I am still waiting on the list."

On Sunday, McKenzie told a group of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters at a meeting in Bull Bay, St Andrew, that his name was on a list of public officials marked for death.

Shown by police

Reports reaching The Gleaner are that McKenzie said he was shown, by a police officer, the 11 names. However, no one in the police hierarchy has yet confirmed the existence of such a list.

Karl Angell, director of communications in the Jamaica Constabulary Force, yesterday reiterated that he, too, knew nothing about such a list.

"At the present time, we do not know anything about it," he said. When asked if the matter was discussed at the commissioner's strategic meeting, held every Monday morning, he declined to comment.

McKenzie had placed the threat on his life in the context of the aftermath of the shooting death of Jamaica Urban Transit Company chairman, Douglas Chambers, who was murdered two Fridays ago.

With regard to increased protection for public officials, in light of the claims by McKenzie, Hinds told The Gleaner each case of the protection of public officials was assessed individually. This assessment, he says, occurs periodically.