Chambers

The murder of the controversial chairman of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company, (JUTC), Douglas Chambers, yesterday, sent shockwaves through the island.

Chambers was shot outside of the Spanish Town Depot in St Catherine.

According to police reports, some time after 5 p.m. Chambers took a break from a meeting with representatives from the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) and the JUTC.

The police said he went to the entrance of the depot to buy cigarettes when he was approached by a group of men who fired shots at him.

Chambers received multiple gunshot wounds all over his body and died on the spot.

As news of the murder spread, several Government ministers headed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding rushed to the scene.

By then, a large crowd had gathered there. Up to news time, the police had not established a motive for the murder.

Chambers was appointed chairman of the JUTC by the Jamaica Labour Party Administration in October last year to help to cut the huge losses at the government-owned bus company.

Major losses

The JUTC has been losing up to $100 million a month.

Chambers, who was a chartered accountant, took leave from his accounting firm Chambers, Henry and Partners to turn the JUTC into an efficient company.

Transport Minister Mike Henry, who also visited the murder scene, said he was shocked by the incident.

"If anyone feels that this is the way to deal with a situation when a man who is trying to do an honest and honourable job on behalf of the Government, then it is certainly a sad day for the country," said the minister, adding that Chambers' tenure as chairman was coming to end.

The Opposition also expressed horror at the killing of the JUTC chairman.

In a statement, Opposition Spokesman on Transport Robert Pickersgill said the People's National Party condemned, in the strongest possible terms, the dastardly and cowardly act.

He said the incident was a manifestation of the criminality that had overtaken the country and which seemed to be impacting persons at all levels of the society.

Cooperate fully

Pickersgill has urged anyone with information about the circumstances of the killing to provide help to the police and to cooperate fully with the investigations.

Lambert Brown, president of the UAWU also denounced the killing.

"The UAWU absolutely condemns the murder of the chairman of the board. It is a totally unnecessary act, we were in a meeting and we were making excellent progress," said Brown.

"He left the meeting to come back to us in 15 minutes with some information. Apparently he went outside the compound and was fatally shot, " Brown added.

The JUTC has been in turmoil for the past few weeks after several redundancy exercises and major restructuring.

Reports had also emerged of an acrimonious relationship between Chambers and workers.