Ja: Terrorists chase PC official from job

CHRISTOPHER POWELL, secretary-manager of the St. James Parish Council, has taken administrative leave with immediate effect after his home was riddled with bullets by unknown assailants early yesterday morning.

For months the Parish Council official had been receiving threats on his life, which he reported to the police, he told The Gleaner.

Powell has now asked for an immediate transfer from the parish, having been in the job for two years.

The Council administrator, who lives in the upscale Leaders Avenue neighbourhood in Montego Bay, said he heard shots fired from outside his gate at about midnight. The bullets hit the verandah, kitchen and a side door.

"When I heard the shots, I rolled off the bed in order to protect myself," he told The Gleaner.

Hours after the incident he said he had no intention of returning to the Council at the end of his leave.

"Whoever wants the job can have it; it's not worth it," said Mr. Powell. He said he had received enough death threats in the past six months to make him take heed.