Hanover assault probe, Westmoreland road deaths, and Montego Bay landfill fire lead national news

Officers at the Lucea Police Station in Hanover have opened a manhunt for a man accused of trying to rape a 76-year-old retired woman at her Hanover Court home in Lucea last Friday.

Reports indicate that around 12:30 p.m., while the woman was alone, the suspect forced his way inside, grabbed her by the neck, and demanded sex. When she refused, he allegedly choked her, pushed her onto a bed, and tore at her clothing. She screamed for help, was beaten, but escaped the house and raised an alarm. Neighbours recognised the man and tried to hold him, but he fled on foot.

In Clarendon, 32-year-old Constable Shavain Davey of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch died after a crash on the Bustamante Highway near Swansea shortly before 5:00 a.m. Friday. Police say he lost control of his vehicle, which overturned, leaving him with injuries from which he later died.

At Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St. James, a driver employed with the Jamaica Cooperative Automobile and Limousine Tour Limited was hospitalised in serious condition after being struck by a car. Details of that incident were still emerging.

Westmoreland police are appealing to motorists and motorcyclists after a spate of fatal crashes. On Sunday in Petersville, 19-year-old Rondre Wright died and a passenger was injured when Wright’s motorcycle collided with a Toyota Hiace bus near Petersville Square after the bus stopped and began turning. Wright’s mother, Shirley Myrie, said she is struggling to cope after losing her only companion at home besides her grandson. “I am not coping,” she said, adding that her blood pressure has been unstable since his death. Wright died on Monday; the crash site now stands as a painful reminder for the family. Two other men died in the parish within 24 hours—a 24-year-old motorcyclist on Dean’s Valley Main Road on Sunday evening and a 26-year-old in a crash on Norman Manley Boulevard around 3:00 a.m. Monday. On Wednesday night, 19-year-old Keanu Wright of Macka Point died when his motorcycle hit a Toyota Prado on Collodon Main Road, bringing road deaths in the parish to four in five days.

In Hopewell, Hanover, police have charged 43-year-old Damian Nott after a 38-year-old man was stabbed outside a supermarket on Hopewell Main Street Saturday night. Officers had earlier broken up an argument between the men, but the dispute resumed after they left. Nott allegedly used a ratchet knife, inflicting multiple upper-body wounds. The victim was first treated at Noel Holmes Hospital before transfer to Cornwall Regional Hospital.

The National Solid Waste Management Authority says crews are making progress containing a fire at the Retirement Disposal Site in Montego Bay that began Wednesday in the tipping area, believed to have started from material delivered by a collection truck. Teams from the authority and the Jamaica Fire Brigade are using heavy equipment and cover material to limit spread, though strong winds are hampering work. Chief Executive Officer Richard Azan said resources including trucks and equipment are on site, but smoke may cause discomfort for nearby residents while operations at the facility remain disrupted.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding says a future People’s National Party government would cut the period required to legally claim government land from 60 to 25 years. He has appointed Clarendon Southwestern MP Luton Cousins as opposition spokesperson on land and works following Richard Azan’s decision to step down from the works portfolio. Cousins said the merged land-and-works brief would help coordinate road and settlement policy, defended the party’s housing targets, and urged the public to follow Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting for further steps on Crown land reform.

In international news, a fire at the Huatong Shoes Factory in Jinjiang, Fujian, China, on Thursday killed several workers among nearly 240 inside the five-storey plant. President Xi Jinping ordered an investigation, and the owners were detained.