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Robbery at Ministry of Labour in Mandeville

Monday, February 17, 2014 | 4:48 PM     4 Comments

MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Work was disrupted at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in Mandeville after the office was discovered Monday morning ransacked and computers stolen.

Public Assistance administrator Alton Gregory said that a member of the ancillary staff made the discovery when she went to the office early in the morning to do her job.

He said that the perpetrator(s) gained access through windows on an upper floor where louvre blades were removed. The windows on that floor are not grilled.

Gregory said that about five of the more computers were stolen.

“We won’t be as effective. In fact we were already short on computers and equipment and this is definitely a further setback for us,” he said.

Gregory said that it seem that attempts were also made to take a vault in a section of the Ministry.

“To know that we provide services to the most vulnerable in society it is really ‘heartrending’ to see this happening,” Gregory added.

He said that other businesses at Mandeville Plaza where the Labour Ministry is located have been experiencing break-ins from late last year, adding that the office has been at the location since 2000, and this is the first break-in.

The administrator said that well over a hundred people visit the office on a daily basis on matters such as the farm work programme, labour relations, Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), the National Insurance Scheme, National Council for Senior Citizens Programme and Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities programme.

Members of the Mandeville Criminal Investigation Bureau are investigating the matter.

— Alicia Sutherland