NEPA MAD ABOUT KILLING OF TURTLE

The killing of a turtle in 9 Miles, Bull Bay, St Andrew, on Wednesday has prompted a major investigation by The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

"All efforts are being expended to locate the persons responsible for the killing of the turtle so that criminal charges can be laid in the parish court," Miguel Nelson, manager for the enforcement branch at NEPA, said.

NEPA said that the killing of the turtle is a breach of the Wildlife Protection Act.

"The turtle is a protected animal. It is therefore a criminal offence to hunt or have any part of the turtle in your possession. Any person found guilty before a parish judge is therefore liable to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months," the agency said.

Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton has called for a "cultural shift" in how persons with mental illness are treated in society.

"We need to create greater awareness. People need to understand that mental illness is not condemnation to a place of no return," the minister said.

He was speaking at a post-Sectoral Debate press briefing at the ministry's head office in New Kingston on Wednesday.

Tufton said he was "disturbed" by reports emerging over recent months about the number of young Jamaicans committing suicide, noting that this has been linked, in part, to some state of mental disorder.

He encouraged school administrators and teachers, as well as civil-society stakeholders, to pay attention to variations in behavioural patterns that may be exhibited by children and adults and treat with these in a manner that reflects efforts to better understand the situation arising.

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Audley Shaw, has called on young people to avoid things that could ruin their lives.

Delivering the keynote address at the valedictory service of the Knockalva Agricultural School in Hanover, on June 1, Shaw said he has seen over the years where many promising youth "have fallen by the wayside", resulting from negative and peer pressure.

"Even as we are about to graduate you young people, where you will be going out there to seek a job or think about what to do next ... there will be those who will try to influence you to get into things like lotto scamming," he said.

The minister said there is nothing glamorous about trying to obtain money by deception, warning graduates that more often than not, such a lifestyle can only have an unhappy ending.

"Lotto scamming, among other things, is one of the things helping to drive negativism among our young people in this country," he added.