THE Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has no bomb squad, the unit that would respond to bomb threats, senior police officers have confirmed.

The officers who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the newspaper, suggested that a lack of resources along with a cultural focus on the gun, were the likely reasons no such unit was here.

But asked whether they were concerned that bombings could reach local shores, the cops said there were trained officers who were "more than capable" to handle such a situation.

"There are several officers stationed across the island who are trained to deal with such a situation," said a senior officer from the Protective Services of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), the unit that deals with such threats.

A recent report about a bomb threat at the Clan Carthy High School in Kingston two weeks ago was one of the latest that the police were called in to address.

Teachers at the Kingston-based school were on Monday, March 23 forced to halt classes and hastily evacuate students from classrooms after receiving a bomb threat from an anonymous caller.

"At about 7 yesterday (Monday) someone called the school and told officials that a bomb was on the school grounds," senior vice-principal Ekle Bailey told the Observer. She said the police were called in and the premises searched, but no bombs were found.

"I have been part of this unit for over 20 years and throughout that time in responding to various reports about bomb threats, the most I have heard of were Molotov c**ktail bombs being found at the scene," said one of the senior NIB officers. "It is just not the culture in Jamaica."

The officer, however, said it was a good idea to look at the issue much closer as persons of all cultures were coming to the island.