Public health workers ‘used to’ violent flare-ups in west Kingston

THE OCCASIONAL flare-up of gun violence within the neighbouring communities of the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) have, over time, caused many of its workers to become accustomed to the sound of bullets being expelled from firearms.

An incident where a stray bullet landed on the lab’s compound is the latest evidence of criminality. The bullet is suspected to be connected to gun violence within neighbouring communities,

Speaking with The Gleaner under condition of anonymity, it was disclosed by a worker that the bullet struck the window of a taxi cab that was parked on the compound as the driver waited to pick up a member of staff to transport home.

The worker stated that this happened in late April.

A senior staff member of the NPHL, who asked not to be named, informed The Gleaner last Wednesday that, while incidents such as this did not occur frequently, it does happen often enough to have resulted in other senior employees becoming “used to it”.

“I’ve been here for over 30-odd years, so I’m used to it somewhat,” she said, adding that the workers were safe, “for the most part” while inside the building due to the construction of high walls and having 24-hour security service offered in some parts of the building.

The NPHL is located along Slipe Road in the Admiral Town area, Kingston 5.

“Every now and again we have a bullet coming through a window, or recently, we had one actually come damage a vehicle on the compound,” she said.

She further stated that to her knowledge, no worker has been struck or grazed by a stray bullet that has invaded the space.

Despite the obvious points of entry mentioned where a bullet could still manage to enter on to the compound, the worker gave the reassurance that she and her fellow senior colleagues were not as fazed while carrying out their duties.

However, the environment would become tense for the younger generation of workers, who would become visibly uncertain and wracked with nervousness and anxiety.

“But when they see us older heads just staying on the job and (remaining) focused, they just jump on board too, and they know we won’t put them in harm’s way,” she added. While acknowledging that such incidents involving stray bullets landing on the compound was not an occurrence that the workers should have to get accustomed to, the worker said it was inevitable.

“But this is Jamaica,” she said matter-of-factly.

She stated that she suspected word had come from the neighbouring community that the area was “gonna get hot”, and as such, it would be safer if the staff left early.

“When I (first) came to the lab it wasn’t on this compound. It was where the parking lot is from across KPH (Kingston Public Hospital) ... and it burnt down. That was scary and that was in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s when we had all the election violence ... but up here, we feel relatively safe,” she explained.

REPORT SIMPLEST OF INCIDENTS

Divisional commander for West Kingston, Senior Superintendent Michael Phipps, informed The Gleaner that there were known gang feuds within the Hannah Town area that could possibly affect the National Blood Transfusion Service (Blood Bank) and the NPHL, given their proximity to the community.

He stated that, while no such reports had been made by the NPHL or by a taxi operator to the police, he was encouraging members of the public who have faced or are aware of similar incidents, no matter how simple they may seem, to bring those matters to the attention of the police.

“We have a ballistics system that is up and running pretty well that can examine and analyse the bullets for us. We can know exactly what type of weapon it was fired from, and everything, and whether or not that weapon would be involved in another crime,” he explained, noting that a stray bullet was a piece of evidence that the police was willing to investigate.

Efforts to get a comment from the Blood Bank on whether it had been experiencing similar occurrences proved unsuccessful.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com