(Jamaica Observer) Threats were on Monday issued at China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) officials less than 24 hours after four men transporting a J$2-million payroll for workers on the Linstead to Moneague leg of Highway 2000 were murdered and robbed by gunmen.
“At this time, officials are uneasy and are calling on the authorities to look into the matter,” a source with knowledge of the development told the Jamaica Observer on Monday. CHEC is also the contractor for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri expansion project.
The source, who asked not to be named, said that, in light of the development, work that was to be carried out today on the site has been suspended until the matter is dealt with.
Up to late Monday, the police were meeting with officials from CHEC to address the issue. The police also said they would be continuing a high-level probe and a manhunt for the criminals responsible for the brutal murders.
The four men — Craig Harris, 29; Kirk Foot, 33; Carlton Scott, 43; and Courtney Coulbourne, 42, who was a community liaison with CHEC — were ambushed by criminals armed with high-powered weapons and shot dead in Bowers Wood, a community on the outskirts of Bog Walk, St Catherine, at approximately 3:30 pm on Sunday.
The murders have created tension in the community and Monday’s threats, our source said, were made by individuals demanding to know when they will be paid and what will be done to strengthen security in the area.
On Monday, the Government said that security changes are to be made in relation to activities at the site.
Transport and Works Minister Dr Omar Davies said officials from the ministry were taking steps to meet with the commissioner of police with a view to putting in place a number of security measures to address concerns.
Davies said the “dastardly and cowardly act” was aimed at undermining the rule of law and order in the country.
“I am extremely saddened that someone could be so cruel and heartless and attach so little value to human lives,” the minister said.
Natalie Neita-Headley, the member of Parliament for North Central St Catherine, also sought to allay fears and said the murders would not force a permanent halt to work in the area.
On Monday night, CHEC expressed sadness at the killings and extended its “sincere sympathies to the families, friends and other loved ones of the men who were senselessly gunned down during the vicious robbery”.
The company also pledged its full commitment to working with the police to bring the killers to justice.
However, inside information obtained by the Observer on Monday suggests that the police may have a hard time solving this case as a number of political activists have been involved in the project to ensure completion by the 2015 deadline.
“We wouldn’t send a vehicle into a community with that kind of money to pay labourers,” an inside source at CHEC admitted on Monday, while confirming that the Chinese engineering firm has nothing to do with the method of paying labourers which led to Sunday’s murders.
