WESTERN BUREAU — A man was fatally stabbed along a busy Montego Bay street shortly before noon yesterday, after he was accused of stealing customers from another informal tourist guide.

Oral Reid, a 34 year-old labourer of Sign District in St James, was stabbed while on St James Street in the vicinity of Lloyd’s Mall.

“The man a quarrel wid (Reid), say him t’ief him tourist dem,” said an onlooker who did not wish to be named. “Then him tek out one likkle knife and stab him right under him breast.”

Reid was taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he died from his injuries. His death pushed the parish’s murder toll to 72; 12 more than those for the corresponding period last year.

According to superintendent in charge of the parish, Newton Amos, there has been a downward trend in the number of murders committed with illegal firearms but knife killings are on the increase.

And while he acknowledged that the parish’s murder figures are generally high, Superintendent Amos stressed that the figures have to be viewed against the backdrop of the national crime statistics and the inroads he and his men have made.

“We have a lessening of serious crimes with the gun… We have recovered 55 brand new firearms since the start of the year with over 1,000 rounds of ammunition. While I am concerned with what is happening, we have to judge it against the national crime trend,” he said. “Quiet parishes like St Thomas now have an increase in crimes. Why should St James be spared from this?”

The superintendent maintained that the illegal drug trade has led to the majority of the murders in the parish.

“More than half of the murders that happen in St James are drug related. We need to correct the drug problem… the drugs are here and the tourists are here,” he said.

Superintendent Amos also pointed out that the same person was sometimes responsible for multiple crimes.

“We can look at Athol Bernard. We had over seven murders on him,” he cited.

Bernard was killed last Sunday while allegedly trying to rob C&D Restaurant and Sports Bar in Hopewell, Hanover. He was shot by a policeman who was also a patron in the bar, while two of his cronies reportedly escaped in a white Toyota Corolla motor car.

Since he took control of policing the parish earlier this year, Amos has moved to implement a raft of measures aimed at curbing the parish’s crime figures. In addition to blanketing problem areas with his men, he has also gone on a campaign to tighten the issuing of gun licences in the parish.

Yesterday, he made it clear that he had not backed down from his vow to have more rigourous control over the gun-licensing process. He told the Observer that 127 legal firearm holders who have not renewed their licences will have to face the courts next month.

“They are going before the courts. They are afraid to face me because they know I am going to check them out,” he said. “They have this rumour that I am an antagonist.”