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JAM | Jun 22, 2023

ZOSOs face August expiration date after 60-day extention by Parliament

/ Our Today

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Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) personnel man a checkpoint in Denham Town, Kingston as the community entered its second day under Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO) on October 18, 2017. (Photo: Facebook @JDFSoldier)

The Jamaican Parliament has approved another 60-day extension to the Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs) declared in seven areas across the island last year.

The seven areas are Denham Town and Parade Gardens in Kingston; Norwood and Mount Salem, St. James; Greenwich Town and August Town, St. Andrew and Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland. This brings to four times that the ZOSOs in the seven communities have been extended by 60-days.

The ZOSOs are now slated to end on August 24.

National Security Minister Horace Chang piloted seven resolutions through the House of Representatives on Wednesday, (June 21) approving the 60-day extension.

In piloting the resolutions, Chang, who is also Jamaica’s deputy prime minister told the House that crime has been trending down in these communities, indicative that the ZOSOs are working.

He advised fellow members of parliament that more time is needed to complete the social intervention work being carried out in the crime-plagued communities.

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