Gang trial judge presses for agreed facts, NEPA warns on St. Elizabeth monkeys, Portmore disputes school fence delay claim

Supreme Court Justice Dale Palmer, presiding over the gang trial of Tesha Miller and 24 co-accused, has urged defence counsel to concentrate on disputed issues and agree where facts are not in contention. Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, he asked whether the Crown and defence could settle undisputed points as the prosecution nears the halfway mark of a witness list expected to exceed 100 people, with about 50 already heard.

Palmer said progress on witnesses was encouraging, but the time spent on testimony suggested the case could be further advanced. He questioned spending days proving that someone is deceased or that ballistic material was sent to a laboratory when both sides accept those facts. A trial lasting a year and a half, he said, could instead be finished in seven months, five months, or even six months—a long stretch in itself given the court backlog. He commended earlier agreements among the parties and said some witnesses and facts might have been conceded given the limited questioning and challenges raised. The concluded One Don gang trial, which ended in October 2023 with 33 defendants over more than two years, is cited as the Caribbean’s largest.

The National Environment and Planning Agency, working with partner bodies, is still trying to locate and safely capture non-native white-faced capuchin monkeys reported in parts of St. Elizabeth. Coordinated efforts with technical staff and community support have not yet succeeded. NEPA asked the public to report recent sightings to help track movement and plan capture operations, and warned people not to approach, feed, handle, chase, or try to capture the animals, which may turn aggressive or carry disease risks for humans, livestock, pets, and wildlife. Non-native primates threaten Jamaica’s ecosystems, crops, nesting birds, and endemic species. The agency also wants information on illegal importation, possession, and trade of exotic animals, and plans stakeholder sensitisation on environmental, legal, and public-health risks.

Portmore Mayor Leon Thomas has rejected claims by Senator Dr. Dana Morris Dixon, Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, that bureaucratic red tape caused an 18-month delay in approval for a perimeter fence at Nag Head Primary School in St. Catherine. Dixon raised the matter last Friday in Senate debate on the bill to establish the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, displaying a building permit as an example of obstacles the legislation is meant to address. Thomas, addressing the municipal corporation’s general meeting on Wednesday, called for an apology to the council and Portmore residents. “Get your facts straight,” he said, insisting the school could proceed and had clearance more than a month ago after a no-objection letter from NEPA. He said the delay arose from a dispute over an access point between the school and a church on land leased from the National Land Agency—a matter now settled with the church and the ministry. Pentecostal City Mission Church said in February last year that the school began a perimeter wall without consultation, effectively enclosing the church without access. Deputy Mayor Audrey Campbell, who chaired the meeting that issued a stop order after a breach in the partly built fence, said the council helped resolve the issue well before the 18-month period cited. Councillor Finley Douglas, representing Waterford, said more than a week had passed without correction of what he called a falsehood and that the school erred by starting construction without council approval. He set out a timeline: NEPA’s first no-objection letter in November 2024, the municipal authority’s on 31 March 2025, and the Ministry of Education’s on 1 May 2025, and said the 18-month figure was inaccurate and should be withdrawn.