PRIME Minister Andrew Holness yesterday declared two new states of public emergency (SOE) in the island, drawing immediate criticism from Opposition Member of Parliament and former Minister of National Security Peter Bunting that the measure is being overused and has failed to serve as a deterrent to crime.

SOEs were declared in the Kingston Central and Kingston Western police divisions where Holness said there have been increases in criminal activities since the second quarter of the year.

The commissioner said murders and shootings in Kingston and St Andrew represent 42 per cent of the national figure and are characteristic of long-standing and deadly inter- and intra-gang conflicts.

He pointed to divisions with ongoing SOEs, noting that there has been a 64 per cent decrease in murders in the Kingston Eastern Police Division since the declaration of an SOE earlier this year.

The boundaries of the newly announced SOEs are as follows:

To the west, the boundary extends from the coastline by the Petrojam oil refinery a north-easterly direction on to East Avenue then on to Maxfield Avenue to the intersection of Rousseau Road.