The St Mary police are stunned at the callousness of a man pretending to be a relative of a crash victim who stole his valuables, including a cell phone, which he used to call relatives of the victim the same day.

The shocking incident occurred on the Boscobel main road on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, after 51-year-old Nixon Bernard lost control of his Toyota Voxy motorcar and collided with a barrier.

To the dismay of the police, a passer-by came on the scene, pretended to be Bernard’s relative, and left with some of his (Bernard’s) belongings.

“It just goes to show the level of callousness that is in the society,” said the head of the St Mary police, Superintendent Bobette Morgan-Simpson, as she addressed Thursday’s St Mary Municipal Corporation meeting.

She highlighted the shocking incident in her remarks at the meeting. She also expressed alarm at the number of motor vehicle accidents reported in the parish since the start of the year.

Concerning Tuesday’s fatal crash, Morgan-Simpson said the victim had left a party that he staged when the tragedy occurred on the roadway.

“… In this particular accident, the gentleman (Bernard) had a… party the same night, and he was on his way home, met in the accident, was out (unconscious), and somebody actually went there, identified himself as a relative, took the money, departed, took his phone, made a telephone call to somebody to say that he was injured, and that’s it,” the senior law enforcer outlined.

Bobette Morgan-Simpson

She lamented that the passer-by “didn’t care about the man who was there, that probably he was still alive and might need help to get medical care.

“That was (seemingly) not important, and we have seen so many incidents where persons are really just for what they can get,” Morgan-Simpson indicated.

The police are trying to locate the individual.

Meanwhile, Morgan-Simpson said up to Wednesday, May 10, 2023, the police recorded 119 motor vehicle accidents in St Mary, including eight fatalities.

Charles Jr: Onion Importation Not a Threat To Local Farmers.

Onion farmers in Jamaica continue to complain that they cannot market their products due to an abundance of imported onions in Jamaica. But the Agriculture Minister, Pearnel Charles Jr., rubbish the farmers’ claim, citing pricing and storage concerns.

Agriculture Minister Pearnel Charles Junior has refuted the claim that local onion farmers cannot market their products because of an inpouring of imported onions.

His comments come as Opposition Spokesperson on Agriculture, Lothan Cousins, raised concern about onion importation and its effect on local farmers.

Earlier this year, St.Thomas onion farmers complained the importation had impeded their ability to sell products.

However, speaking on Nationwide last Friday, Minister Charles said the issue was instead due to several factors, including pricing.

Charles also says the onion industry is grappling with distribution and storage concerns.

He explains that since the country has two distinct periods of high onion production, the Government plans to upgrade storage facilities to mitigate periods of low.