Residents question cops sincerity WESTERN BUREAU: CONCERNED RESIDENTS of Cornwall Mountain district, in Westmoreland, are questioning the sincerity of the police in their bid to apprehend notorious escaped convict Nigel Salmon, who they claim is currently living a normal life in their community. "They (the police) claim that they are looking for him but he is right here every day, walking the streets with his friends," said a concerned resident, who feels threatened by the presence of the wanted man in their midst. "Only last week he was seen cutting his mother's yard in full view of everyone who passed by." Salmon, popularly called 'Joshie', has for months, been on the police list of most wanted men in the western region. However, in stalk contrast to the residents' claim, the police are claiming that they are hot on the wanted man's trail. According to Westmoreland's crime boss, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Denver Frater, the police have not relaxed their effort to apprehend the elusive Salmon, who was among a group of prisoners who escaped from the Tower Street Correctional Centre in 1999. "We have been on his trail for a very long time and have been resolute in our bid to apprehend him," said DSP Frater, who thinks some residents within the community are shielding Salmon. "We are getting very good intelligence on his movement but we have to be careful not to compromise the safety of our informants." Salmon, who was serving time for the illegal possession of a firearm and shooting with intent at the time of his escape, has been in the news within recent weeks. According to reports from residents of Cornwall Mountain, Salmon and some of his cronies had used a combination of intimidation and the threat of violence to secure jobs on a Ministry of Housing and Water Pipeline Project in the area. However, while Black Brothers Limited, the company doing the pipeline project, has acknowledged that they too had heard the reports that Salmon was employed to the project as a watchman, they have no official record of him being employed in any capacity. 'We have heard the rumours but there is no such man in our employment," said Christopher Smith, a senior engineer at the Mandeville-based company, headed by People's National Party (PNP) loyalist Kenneth 'Skeng Don' Black. "We have no such person on our payroll and our records will reflect that." Like Black Brothers Limited, the police have also admitted that they heard rumours about the wanted man being employed on the pipeline project. "Our information is that he (Salmon) might be involved in an extortion racket but that information has not been verified," said DSP Frater, who admitted that the wanted man has been implicated in three recent murders in the parish. "We have people on the ground looking for him because a man like this must be brought to justice."
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