Tributes for Dean Peart as Westmoreland crime, roads debate and slow population growth top the news

Tributes continued Monday for former People’s National Party Member of Parliament Dean Peart, who died on Sunday at 77. The PNP hailed the Manchester native and former Mandeville mayor as a proud son of the party. Peart held the Northwest Manchester seat in five straight elections and represented the constituency for 22 years. He also served as a minister of state with portfolios covering local government, the environment, and lands and works, and earlier as parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Sports.

Relatives told CVM News the family was still struggling for words. One family member called Peart “a great man, a political giant,” describing him as a pillar and mentor who inspired relatives to enter politics and was valued across the political divide. Another urged relatives, friends and supporters to stay strong during the mourning period.

Separately, Central Westmoreland MP Dwayne Vaz resigned as the PNP’s shadow spokesperson on roads and works after weekend talks with Opposition Leader Mark Golding. The party said it backed his choice to concentrate on constituency duties and thanked him for his work in the portfolio.

Newly named opposition spokesman on land and works, MP Lothan Cousins, pressed the government to disclose how projects were chosen for phase two of the $25-billion SPARK main roads programme. He said the published allocations raised fairness concerns, warned that some works appeared to advance before critical engineering was done, rejected shifting responsibility onto the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NARO), and urged full publication of the selection method, restored consultation with MPs, and more even investment nationwide.

In Westmoreland, police launched a manhunt for three men alleged to have sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in Savanna-la-Mar on Saturday night. About 7:45 p.m., the child was walking to a nearby shop when a silver Toyota Mark X stopped beside her; two masked men pulled her into the car. After the assault, she was left by the roadside, taken to hospital and treated, while officers mounted roadblocks and spot checks around the town.

Also in the parish, 23-year-old Shamona Bailey, also known as Sham, of King Kerron District in Dallas Town, died of injuries from a motorcycle crash on Dean’s Valley main road in White Horn. About 4:35 p.m., she was a pillion passenger behind 24-year-old Ravaldo Mars, known as Valdo, travelling from Dallas Town toward Savanna-la-Mar. At the Thompson Lane intersection, Mars reportedly failed to notice a vehicle signalling to turn and struck its right side. Both were thrown from the bike. Mars died at the scene; Bailey suffered serious head and body injuries, was admitted to intensive care at Savanna-la-Mar Hospital and later died.

In Ballards Valley, St. Elizabeth, a man was shot dead early Saturday during a police operation. About 3:00 a.m., officers answering a mini-mart break-in near Junction met four armed men; a shootout followed and one gunman was hit. He was pronounced dead at Black River Hospital, and a hunt continued for the three others. In related work under Operation Rest, police seized two more firearms in Oxford and Burnt Savannah and arrested two suspects linked to break-ins and robberies across the parish.

The Transport Authority said it had seized more than 200 public passenger vehicles since a new fare structure took effect, targeting overcharging and illegal service. A 16 per cent fare rise rolled out in two phases in June and July. Officials cited breaches in parts of the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region, where hackney carriage operators worked as route taxis outside their licences. Prosecutions have begun, and the Authority vowed fines, suspensions and possible licence revocations for repeat offenders while urging riders to report overcharging.

Jamaica’s population rose by only about 600 people last year — among the slowest gains in decades — according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s Economic and Social Survey, which points to falling births, migration and an ageing society. Sociologist Dr Heather Ricketts said slow growth raised alarms for family life, communities and the labour market, including possible school closures and eventual labour imports. She cited young adults favouring careers, mental health and work-life balance, often limiting family size, and noted that schooling costs weighed heavily. She said many migrants still plan to return after building assets abroad, but fewer children would accelerate ageing and strain social protection and skilled labour supply.