GUN POSSESSION convict got light sentence because he was charged under wrong section of law – DPP Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn has admitted that the St Catherine man handed a four-year sentence for illegal possession of firearm and ammunition last Friday was indicted under the wrong section of the Firearms Prohibition Act passed in November. The error resulted in 28-year-old Dennis Mundell being given a discretionary sentence that drew the ire of hundreds of social-media users and triggered strong criticism of the judiciary. Mundell’s sentence of four years and six months each for unauthorised possession of firearm and unauthorised possession of ammunition was also inconsistent with the Governmenttoutedmandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment. In a Gleaner interview at the weekend, Llewellyn disclosed that Mundell, who was the first person to be sentenced under the new law, should have been indicted under Section 5 of the act instead of Section 45. The development has now forced a suspension of matters related to the taking of a guilty plea or trial in relation to the illegal possession of a firearm under sections 5 and 45 of the new act. Senior Deputy DPP Jeremy Taylor has been assigned to lead a team of prosecutors in reviewing all charges under the sections. BAHAMIAN PRIME Minister Philip Davis, chairman of CARICOM, said his country has not ruled out sending troops to assist Haiti to combat gang violence that has ravaged the country. “This would not be the first time that we as a country would have provided assistance by allowing members of our security force to go into Haiti to provide peacekeeping initiatives, and so in that regard, we are discussing doing the same thing again, if we are called upon to do so,” he said at the CARICOMHeads of Government press conference on Tuesday. Davis’ statement is in accord with a recent declaration by Prime Minister AndrewHolness that Jamaica would be willing to participate in a multinational security team geared towards stabilising the nation. Davis, too, stressed that Bahamas’ action would be in tandem with the international partners as “CARICOM, by itself, does not have the capacity to effectively bring stability to Haiti”. “What we in CARICOM have come to appreciate is that we do not have the resources to be able to deal with the Haiti problem ourselves, and we do need outside help. And we are looking to the North, Canada and the United States, to come to the fore to help and it has to be a Haitian solution, not an American, Canadian or CARICOM solution,” he said. THE MONTHLY GLEANER | FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 22, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 5 [News You May Have Missed] Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke (left) and Prime Minister Andrew Holness in a tete-a-tete in Parliament Tuesday. KENYON HEMANS/PHOTOGRAPHER Then Major General Rocky Meade (right) meeting with Prime Minister Andrew Holness at Vale Royal on January 1, 2019. Meade was appointed Monday ambassador plenipotentiary with responsibility for national strategic initiatives. FILE REELING FROM backlash since the February 1 implementation of the Road Traffic Act and Regulations, the Government has made several concessions, including scrapping the requirement for children to be restrained in special seats in public passenger vehicles. There will also be a three-month window for additional amendments to the act. Taxi drivers railed against the provisions, refusing, in some cases, to transport children for fear of being ticketed. Following days of discontent, including a patchy withdrawal of cab service in several parishes, Transport Minister Audley Shaw outlined the concessions in a brief statement to the House of Representatives on Tuesday. He sought to remind the public that the child seat provision had always been a requirement but was not previously enforced. “In the case of licensed public passenger cars or buses, children under one year old must be restrained by an adult. One to three years oldmay travel with no restraint or be restrained by an adult. Three to six years old may travel without restraint, restrained by an adult, or seat belt. Six to nine years oldmay travel without restraint or with a lap belt, and children over nine years may travel without restraint, with a lap belt or a three-point seat belt ... ,”Shaw told colleague lawmakers. “Only children of the weight and size to use an adult seat belt are permitted to travel in the front passenger seat. In addition, where an adult is restraining a child, the adult should not be in the front. Children under one year old are to be restrained by an adult in all forms of transport.” All other children must be transported using appropriate restraints based on their size and weight, Shaw said. Shaw said the Government listened to feedback and acknowledged that the realities of public transportation system placed undue burden on parents whose children travel on buses and taxis, whether accompanied by an adult or not. Opposition members asked that a number of other issues be considered, such as offering a reprieve for malfunctioning lights on a vehicle on first-time offences, the requirement for all cars being imported to have rear seat belts, and who will determine age when some children are overdeveloped. Shaw also promised that public education will be stepped up. Gov’t strikes compromise in traffic law controversy JAMAICA’S DEBT-TO-GDP is expected to hit a more-than-two-decade low by March 31, a paradigm shift from a record high of 145 per cent. Tabling a historic trillion-dollar Budget on Tuesday, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke said that overall public debt is projected to end the current fiscal year at 79.7 per cent of GDP. He said that is forecast to decline further to 74.2 per cent of GDP by fiscal year 2023-2024. Gross domestic product, or the total value of goods and services produced in Jamaica, was $2.32 trillion as at December 2022, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica has reported. “Should it (the 74.2 per cent) be achieved … it would mark the first time since the nationalisation of the financial-sector crisis, through FINSAC, in the latter half of the 1990s, that debt has entered the domain of pre-FINSAC levels,” Clarke said. The positive debt-to-GDP data and the recent Article 4 consultation report from the International Monetary Fund are likely to be considered when next Jamaica’s economy is examined by international ratings agencies. Jamaica’s upcoming Budget is $23 billion, or 2.3 per cent, more than the $998-billion final Budget for financial year 2022-23, Clarke revealed. The total recurrent, or day-to-day, expenses are just under $947 billion, while the money allocated for capital projects is just over $75.37 billion for a grand sum of $1,021,672,645,000. Factoring annual inflation up to December 2022 of 9.4 per cent, that means that the 2023-2024 Budget is, in real terms, 7.1 per cent less than the previous edition. Reacting to Clarke’s initial presentation, Opposition Leader Mark Golding said there was nothing to celebrate in the trillion-dollar Budget, noting that the cost of living has risen sharply and the Jamaican dollar has depreciated over the years. Golding told The Gleaner that he is awaiting details of the Budget to see whether it contains significant support for the Jamaican people. “The fact that it is a trillion dollars indicates that the value of each dollar has really depreciated between inflation and depreciation of the currency over the years,” Golding said. Gov’t tables trillion-dollar Budget Bahamas joins Jamaica in pledging support for Haiti FORMER ARMY chief Lieutenant General Rocky Meade, who last September declined a controversial appointment as Cabinet secretary, has been named ambassador plenipotentiary with responsibility for national strategic initiatives. The appointment means that Meade, who has nearly four decades of leadership experience, has full powers to sign treaties or otherwise act on behalf of the country. He is also expected to advise Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Cabinet on, as well as coordinate, national strategic initiatives and projects across ministries, departments and agencies within the Government, a statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on Tuesday said. His appointment took effect on Monday. Meade named ambassador with sweeping authority BUNGLED! Paula Llewellyn
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