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Cops partner with stakeholders to clean up Half-Way Tree

Published:Friday | October 19, 2018 | 12:00 AM
This man urinates on a wall in the vicinity of St William Grant Park in downtown Kingston last year. On Friday, the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and other stakeholders embarked on a clean-up exercise in Half-Way Tree. File

The Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) partnered with several stakeholders in a clean-up operation in Half-Way Tree on Friday. That exercise is a start to what, the PSTEB said, will be an ongoing strategy to enforce and maintain law and order in public spaces.

Illegal taxis, parking in no-parking zones, removal of tints from public transportation vehicles that are in breach of the specified standards, and restoration of proper sanitary conditions by power washing and deodorising areas where persons urinate and dispose of garbage were some of the areas of focus for the JCF members. The cops were supported by the Ministry of Health, Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, Jamaica Fire Brigade, Island Traffic Authority and the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

Senior Superintendent of Police Calvin Allen, who heads PSTEB said, “The area has been heavily stenched with human waste, mostly urine, which has resulted in a health hazard in areas of Half-Way Tree, in particular Ellesmere and Suthermere roads. Part of what we do at PSTEB is to collaborate with  public order and the safety of our people in mind.”

SSP Allen further stated that these efforts will continue and that anyone seen urinating in public spaces will be arrested and placed before the court. He encouraged members of the public to use the public facilities provided for waste disposal.

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