Dunkirk killings worrying MPs
Published:Saturday | December 16, 2017 | 12:00 AMRyon Jones
Member of Parliament for East Kingston and Port Royal Phillip Paulwell and his Comrade in the neighbouring Central Kingston constituency, Ronald Thwaites, are praying that the temporary employment to be provided through Christmas programmes will lead to a lessening of the tension in the McIntyre Villa community and save the festive period for residents.
A cloud of fear hung over the area better known as 'Dunkirk' when our news team visited last week, as gangsters from the section known as 'Site', which is in east Kingston, and those from the section known as 'Top Road' in central Kingston engage in a deadly dispute.
"We are still doing our Christmas programme and we are making sure that 'Site' is fully involved in the work programme, which is to repair some of the drains and bushing," said Paulwell.
"We are also going to still be having our treat for the elderly and there are treats for the children, and I am funding all of those," added Paulwell, as he urged the police to keep a strong presence in the area.
Christmas work
Thwaites also highlighted that Christmas work will be undertaken in that section of his constituency, but he argued that more has to be done for peace to return to the area.
"The tension in Top Road, similar to other areas, is due to high unemployment, very low skills and a chronic state of violence fuelled, I am told, by many persons from other areas taking refuge in the area, and the kind of rivalry between one section of the community and another, which has already produced some deaths," said Thwaites.
"These are grave systemic issues which no work programme has the capacity to deal with. My strong recommendation to the Government is that they need to turn criminal gangs into gangs of construction, which would ease the tension and improve the resources of the community," added Thwaites.