Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared a Zone of Special Operation (ZOSO) for sections of Westmoreland’s capital, Savanna-La-Mar, in response to the spate of murders sweeping the town.

Holness, who made the announcement at a virtual press conference on Sunday (January 16), explained that the crime-fighting measure will initially last for 60 days in the Savanna-la-Mar South police division.

The newest ZOSO, now the seventh imposed islandwide and the first outside of the Corporate Area and St James, encompasses the communities of ‘Russia’, Darling and Dexter streets.

• RELATED: ZOSO declared for Central Kingston’s Parade Gardens

A contingent of Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) personnel were deployed at midnight.

Acknowledging the perpetual “conditions of terror” faced by residents, Holness said that the Government will be offering needed social and infrastructural investment.

“The parish of Westmoreland has several communities captured by gangs and currently in the grips of barbaric gangsters executing brutal terror on our people. These communities are in need of social and infrastructural investment. Some of these communities are urban in nature and their profile fits its application of Zones of Special Operations,”

“This morning, we declared a Zone of Special Operation in Sav-South to include the communities of Russia, Darling Street and Dexter Street. It will give the residents of the community a well-needed break. The Government intends to keep people safe. We intend to save lives and protect communities,”

Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson indicated that while making strides in targeting suspected gang members and getting guns off the street, Westmoreland, with 128 murders last year, had the fourth-highest figure recorded nationally.

“However, for 2021, Westmoreland accounted for 128 murders, an increase of 60 per cent when compared to the corresponding period of 2020—which is the fourth-highest number of murders recorded in all police divisions,” he noted.

The bloodlust in Westmoreland has continued, according to Anderson—citing poor infrastructure and blight as contributing factors to the areas appeal to organised criminality—with the security force upping their presence to thwart further gang-related activity.

“It is in this context, and in consultation with the (Chief of Defence Staff), that we requested the Zone of Special Operation in the southern part of the Savanna-la-Mar community. The zone encompasses the epicentre of gang activity in this part of Westmoreland and is one of the top 10 communities with the highest murders across the country,” the JCF head said.