KINGSTON, Jamaica – Member of Parliament for St James Southern Homer Davis, has welcomed the declaration of a State of Public Emergency (SOE) in the parish.

“The people of St James, we don’t have a problem with SOEs,” Davis said, in his contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives on November 8.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, announced the enhanced security measure during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in St Andrew on November 8.

The SOE will be in effect for an initial 14 days.

READ: SOE declared for St James

Davis, who is state minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, said he believes that the SOE has a role to play in crime fighting in Jamaica.

He said that as a Member of Parliament for a constituency that has seen “rampant murders, I know what the citizens are feeling”.

“The people of St James are not fearful of a State of Emergency. What they are fearful of are the criminals who are roaming their communities and committing murder and mayhem at will,” Davis said.

“I think it is full time for us, as a people, to drain the swamp of these criminals that are holding communities hostage,” he added.

The announcement of the SOE follows an increase in gang violence in sections of the parish, including Monday’s shooting death of two primary-school boys and another man who were travelling in a taxi, which was fired on by gunmen.

READ: Students killed in Salt Spring triple murder identified

-JIS